Article content continued

Her first choice of war correspondent notwithstanding, Blatchford became a superstar of journalism through her coverage of crime and the courts. Her writing changed the face of court coverage.

According to lawyer Alan Shanoff, who vetted Blatchford’s columns in her days at the Sun, she pushed the boundaries of justice writing, pulling court coverage into the modern era and testing the rules of contempt. She added comment and opinion to what had been previously a dry recital of facts and events.

“It took a brave person to push the limits, to challenge the law. And she was right,” said Shanoff.

“I often told her she would have made a great lawyer.”

The result was riveting reading that brought an audience right into the courtroom.

Blatchford worked for every major newspaper in Toronto: TheNational Post, the Sun chain, Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.

Besides crime and the courts, she wrote everything from sports and politics to personal lifestyle stories.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Blatchford began her career at The Globe and Mail almost 50 years ago, starting while she was still a student and landing a full-time job in 1973 when she graduated from Ryerson. Within two years, she broke gender barriers by becoming a sports columnist at the paper. There were no more than about six women writing sports in North America at that time.

She moved to the Toronto Star as a general assignment reporter before taking a job at the Toronto Sun (in the lifestyle section) in 1982. She returned to writing news in 1988 and moved to theNational Post in 1998. There was a return to the Globe in 2003, but she eventually went back to the Post in 2011.