Michele Landsberg

2003 Distinguished Visitor in Women's Studies

Articulate, tenacious, progressive and persuasive, award-winning Toronto Star columnist Michele Landsberg is one of Canada's best known feminists and social justice activists. A fearless advocate for women and children over many decades, she uses words, in print and in person, to fight injustice, to attack oppressive power structures and policies, and to champion the cause of human rights, race and gender equality, peace and pluralism.

Whether dealing with feminist issues, media, politics, health care, education, homelessness, poverty, George Bush's "right wing war on women," or the plight of women around the globe, she writes as she speaks and as she lives-with passion, insight and wit. A breast cancer survivor, she has written about her personal struggle with the disease and she continues to probe for links between the current epidemic and environmental causes.

Through her columns, she gives a strong public voice to many of those who would otherwise have no voice. Her readers energize her, and she takes very seriously her "privileged position" as a member of the mainstream media in being able to speak out on their behalf. Never apologetic, and often irreverent and controversial, her writing both inspires and provokes, engages and enrages, attracting virulent antagonism as well as accolades. But, her columns have clout.

A tireless supporter, adviser, and activist to feminist, anti-poverty and social justice endeavours, she has served on the boards of organizations for assaulted women, global feminism and the cause of peace in the Middle East. She is the author of three best-selling books (Women and Children First, Michele Landsberg's Guide to Children's Books, and "This is New York, Honey!" A Homage to Manhattan, with Love and Rage) and, for 20 years, has been a regular reviewer of children's literature on CBC Radio.

Her many honours include two National Newspaper Awards (one being the first-ever award for column writing), the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, the Robertine Barry Prize for distinguished contribution to women through journalism, the Dodi Robb award from MediaWatch, the Florence Bird Award from the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, several honorary degrees and, in 2002, the Governor-General's Award in Commemoration of the 1929 Persons Case.

Her zest for wanting to change the world has its roots in her childhood: growing up as a Jewish girl in 1950s Toronto, where sexual stereotyping and objectification were rampant and overt anti-Semitism was acceptable. Despite her beloved mother's admonition that "little ladies should never talk back," she was determined to fight back.

A rebellious teenager who loved books, she enrolled in English language and literature at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1962. Dissuaded from pursuing a master's degree by her male professors, she became a reporter at The Globe and Mail. Time out to raise a family followed, then freelance work and a writer/editor position at Chatelaine. In 1978, she first joined The Toronto Star as a columnist.

While living in New York in the 1980s, she wrote a weekly column on New York life for The Globe and Mail. Her husband, Stephen Lewis, now the U.N. Secretary General's Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, was at that time Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations. The couple has three grown children: Ilana Naomi Landsberg-Lewis; Avi David Lewis and Jenny Leah Lewis.

An exuberant writer, feminist, mother, grandmother and gardener, Michele continues to believe in the potential for human progress: "Basically I'm an optimist, even if I get heartbroken at times." She wants to keep on writing: there is more to say, and poems and books to do. Countless causes and citizens of conscience hope she does.