Christie Blathcford Wiki – Biography
Christie Blatchford was born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, living there until her family moved to Toronto during grade 11. She attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute, graduating in 1970. She then studied journalism at Ryerson University, and worked for the student paper The Ryersonian. Her nephew is sports reporter Andy Blatchford.
Blatchford had a number of journalists in her family. Her grandfather, Andy Lytle was a sports writer and editor for the Vancouver Sun in the 1920s and again in the 1950s and a sports editor at the Toronto Daily Star in the 1930s and 1940s. Her uncle, Tommy Lytle, was a Toronto Star editor until his retirement in 1974.
Christie Blathcford Age
She was 68 years old.
Family, Education and Career
Blatchford was born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, living there until her family moved to Toronto during grade 11. She attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute, graduating in 1970. She then studied journalism at Ryerson University, and worked for the student paper The Ryersonian. Her nephew is sports reporter Andy Blatchford.
She began working part-time for The Globe and Mail in 1972, while still studying journalism at Ryerson, and was hired full-time a year later, working as a sports reporter and then sports columnist at the paper from 1973 through 1977, where she was billed as Canada’s first female sports columnist and was at the time one of only six female sports reporters in North America.
Who is Devon Cunningham? Wiki, Biography, Age, Husband Jay Bouwmeester, Family, Net Worth
Displeased when a Globe column was edited against her wishes, she then abruptly jumped to the competing Toronto Star, where she worked as a feature writer from 1977 to 1982, and began covering criminal trials in 1978, a beat she would return to throughout her career.
Looking to transition from a news reporter to a columnist, she proposed a light humour column to the Toronto Sun in 1982, chronicling her new relationship with a younger boyfriend, as well as her interactions with other friends and family. The Sun agreed to the proposal, although at a pay cut from her rate at the Star. Blatchford remained at the Sun for 16 years, eventually transitioning back into news reporting and harder news features.
She returned once again to the National Post in 2011 and would remain there for the rest of her career. She was also a frequent panelist, commentator, contributor and guest on CFRB radio for several decades.
Cause of Death
She died Wednesday morning in hospital at age 68.
In the same month as her diagnosis, Blatchford was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame. She could not attend the ceremony, but her award was delivered to her hospital room by Mayor John Tory.
After having to cut short her assignment covering the 2019 federal election campaign due to nagging muscle pain, Blatchford was diagnosed in November 2019 with lung cancer which was found to have metastasized to bones in the spine and hip by the time it was detected. Blatchford was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame the same month, but was unable to attend the ceremony.
She took leave from writing her column in order to undergo treatment at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and died of the disease after several months of surgeries and chemotherapy. She died in Toronto on February 12, 2020.