Kathy Shaidle (7 May 1964 – 9 January 2021)[1] was a Canadian author, columnist, poet and blogger. A self-described "anarcho-peacenik" in the early years of her writing career, she moved to a conservative, Roman Catholic position following the September 11 attacks, and entered the public eye as the author of the popular Relapsed Catholic blog. Citing some points of friction with Catholicism, Shaidle launched her own blog in 2007 called FiveFeetofFury.[2] Her views on Islam, political correctness, freedom of speech, and other issues ignited controversy.[3][4][5][6]
Literary career
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Shaidle studied at Sheridan College. Beginning in the mid-1980s she worked in Toronto, eventually taking up a post at the Catholic New Times magazine. In 1991, she left the publication to write full-time on government grants, only to discover a few weeks later that she had developed lupus erythematosus.[3][7] Her four-year illness provided the subject matter for her 1998 essay collection God Rides a Yamaha.
In the early 1990s, Shaidle published two poetry chapbooks with the Toronto indie press Lowlife Publishing, which also published works by Lynn Crosbie and Maggie Helwig. Her book-length poetry collection, Lobotomy Magnificat was nominated for a 1998 Governor General's Award. Critic Wendy McGrath, writing in the Edmonton Journal, praised the poetry for how it "effectively relates sacred images or text to present day events and images."[8] In contrast, the Montreal Gazette's reviewer was critical of the book's "diet of smart phrasing... and fabricated insights."[9]
Blogging
Shaidle wrote the blog Relapsed Catholic from 2000 to 2007[10][11] and a column for the Catholic weekly Our Sunday Visitor. She left the latter post in April 2007 after the newspaper refused to publish a column she had written criticizing Earth Day.[12] In September 2007 she began a new blog, Five Feet of Fury.[2][13] Shaidle also guest hosted and moderated the popular Canadian conservative blog, Small Dead Animals.[14]
Defamation
In 2008, human rights lawyer Richard Warman sued Shaidle, Ezra Levant, Kate McMillan of Small Dead Animals and the National Post over links to comments criticizing him at a Canadian internet forum, freedominion.ca. The National Post settled with Warman soon after the suit was launched and, in June 2015, Shaidle, Levant and McMillan all settled in exchange for undisclosed amounts and the issuance of public retractions and apologies.[15]
