Table of Biography
Christie Blatchford was a famous newspaper columnist, journalist, and broadcaster from Canada. Christie Blatchford was Canada’s first female sports columnist who reported on sports between 1975 and 1977. Moreover, Blatchford published four non-fiction books.
Early Life and Childhood
Christie Blatchford was born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada on May 20, 1951. Blatchford had a Canadian nationality and followed the Christianity religion.
Regarding her family background, she was the daughter of Ross Blatchford (Father) and Kathleen Blatchford (Mother). Her father oversaw a hockey rink in Noranda while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War Two.
After Blatchford’s father was appointed manager of the North Toronto Memorial Arena, the family relocated to Toronto when Blatchford was in grade 11.
Christie Blatchford – Education
Speaking of her educational background, She graduated from North Toronto Collegiate Institute in 1970. She later attended Ryerson University to study journalism and began working for the school newspaper, The Ryersonian.
Career and Professional Life
Talking about her career, While still enrolled in Ryerson’s journalism program, where she went on to graduate first in her class, Blatchford started working part-time for The Globe and Mail in 1972.
Moreover, She was hailed as Canada’s first female sports writer and one of just six female sports reporters in North America at the time when she was hired full-time by the Globe in 1973. She first worked as a general assignment reporter for the newspaper from 1975 to 1977.
She then unexpectedly switched to the rival Toronto Star, where she had covered criminal cases since 1978 when she had worked there as a feature writer from 1977 to 1982.
In an effort to make the switch from news reporter to columnist, she pitched the Toronto Sun a light-hearted column in 1982. The Sun accepted the offer despite receiving less money than she did at the Star.
After Paul Rimstead passed away in 1987, her column was transferred from the leisure section of the newspaper to the prominent page 5 feature column area.
In the late 1990s, Blatchford returned to news reporting and tougher news features after spending 16 years at the Sun, where she covered high-profile trials like those of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.
Caption: Christie Blatchford book FIFTEEN DAYS Source Amazon
More about her career
Blatchford relocated to the recently established National Post in 1998. She won the National Newspaper Prize for column writing in 1999. She spent eight years as a columnist with The Globe and Mail until leaving the Post in 2003.
Moreover, She visited Afghanistan four times from 2006–2007 and wrote four articles about the experiences of Canadian soldiers. She based her book Death from Inside the New Canadian Army, Fifteen Days: Tales of Bravery, Friendship, and Life, on these events. The book eventually won the non-fiction category of the 2008 Governor General’s Literary Prize.
In 2011, she returned to the National Post for a second time, where she would work for the remainder of her career. She was also a regular contributor, panelist, commentator, and guest on CFRB radio for many years.
Net Worth 2024
Christie Blatchford had earned a huge amount of money through her hard work and brilliance. Her estimated net worth at the time of her death in 2020 is around $4 million. However, Blatchford never became part of brand endorsements.
Personal Life
Regarding her love life, Blatchford married twice, first she married Jim Oreto in 1997 but they separated in 1981. After him, she married David Rutherford. Besides that, nothing is known regarding her romantic relationship and private life.
Caption: Christie Blatchford with David Rutherford source: CTV News Toronto.
Rumors and Controversies
Concerning the Grand River land dispute, her book How the Law Failed All of Us, and Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy caused some controversy. The several University of Waterloo students protested her speaking engagement, which led to its cancellation due to security concerns.
She called the outpouring of sympathy following the passing of federal NDP Leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian Parliament Jack Layton and made reference to Layton’s “canonization” in an article published online by the National Post on August 22, 2011.
An uproar was directed toward Blatchford as a result of this. Rehtaeh Parsons’ father accused Blatchford of victim blaming as a result of Blatchford’s comments regarding Rehtaeh Parsons’ suicide in 2013.
Death and Illness
Blatchford was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2019 after having to cut short her work covering the 2019 federal election campaign owing to persistent muscle pain.
By the time the disease was discovered, it had spread to bones in the hip and spine. The following month, Blatchford was honored by the Canadian News Hall of Fame, but she was unable to attend the ceremony.
She took a leave of absence from her column and traveled to the Princess Margaret Cancer Institute for treatment, where she underwent several months of operations, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. She passed away on February 12, 2020, in Toronto.
Body Measurements
Christie Blatchford is very beautiful and attractive undoubtedly. She had a dark brown pair of lovely eyes and brown hair color. Besides that, further information regarding her height and weight is not available.
Social Media
Christie Blatchford had a Twitter account @blatchkiki with 15.3K followers. Besides that, Blatchford was not active on any other social media sites including Instagram and Facebook.