Landsberg, Michele

LANDSBERG, MICHELE (1939– ), Canadian journalist, author, feminist, social critic. Landsberg was born in Toronto. After high school she spent a year in Israel and returned to Toronto to earn a B.A. in English language and literature from the University of Toronto in 1962. From the 1960s she was active as a reporter, freelance writer, and columnist for both the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star news-papers. In the 1970s she also served as writer and editor with Chatelaine, a popular Canadian women's magazine. She wrote covers stories on contemporary feminism, politics, media, women's health, the environment, education, urban life, and gardening. Her work at the Toronto Star earned her two National Newspaper Awards, including the first ever awarded for column writing, and she was among the paper's top-read columnists.

Michele Landsberg was also the author of several books, including Women and Children First (1982); Michele Landsberg's Guide to Children's Books (1986), also published in the United States and England, where it was a London Times Book of the Year; and This is New York, Honey!, which was number one on the bestseller list in 1989. A passionate and sometimes controversial social critic and voice for progressive causes, Landsberg has also served on the boards of a number of agencies and volunteer organizations working to assist assaulted women, global feminism, and the cause of peace in the Middle East. Some of Landsberg's honors include the Robertine Barry Prize for journalism from the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Florence Bird Award from the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, and the 2002 Governor General's Medal in Commemoration of the Persons Case, an award acknowledging contributions to equality for women which have resulted in positive change. Landsberg is married to Stephen Lewis, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.