Michele Landsberg

{{Short description|Canadian journalist, author, and social activist (born 1939)}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Michele Landsberg | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC|size=100%}} | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1939|07|12|df=yes}} | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Journalist, author, and activist | language = | citizenship = | alma_mater = University of Toronto | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = {{marriage|Stephen Lewis|1963|2026|end=died}} | partner = | relations = | relatives = David Lewis (father-in-law) Naomi Klein (daughter-in-law) | children = {{hlist | Ilana | Jenny | Avi }} | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} '''Michele Landsberg''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC}} (born 12 July 1939) is a Canadian journalist, author, and feminist social activist. She is known for writing three bestselling books, including ''Women and Children First'', ''This is New York, Honey!'', and ''Michele Landsberg's Guide to Children's Books''. She has written columns for the ''Toronto Star'', ''The Globe and Mail'', and ''Chatelaine'' magazine,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nsb.com/speakers/view/michele-landsberg |title=Michele Landsberg » Speaker Profile » National Speakers Bureau |publisher=Nsb.com |date=2009-01-16 |accessdate=2012-09-12}}</ref> and was one of the first journalists in Canada to address sexual harassment in the workplace, racial discrimination in education and employment opportunities, and lack of gender equality in divorce and custodial legal proceedings.<ref name="utoronto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.news.utoronto.ca/michele-landsberg-receives-u-t-honorary-degree |title=Michele Landsberg receives U of T honorary degree | U of T News |publisher=News.utoronto.ca |date=2008-06-20 |accessdate=2012-09-12}}</ref>

In 2005, the Canadian Women's Foundation established the Michele Landsberg Award in her honour, to recognize outstanding young women (ages 18–30) and their accomplishments in media and activism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dev.cdnwomen.org/en/section09/2_9_4-michele_landsberg_award.html |title=Canadian Women's Foundation |publisher=Dev.cdnwomen.org |date= |accessdate=2012-09-12}}</ref> In 2006, Landsberg was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.<ref name="mcmaster1">{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/article/mcmaster-4-called-to-order/ |title=McMaster 4 called to Order | McMaster Daily News |publisher=Dailynews.mcmaster.ca |date=2006-07-27 |accessdate=2012-09-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4828 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080203104741/http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4828 |archive-date=February 3, 2008 |title=Governor General announces new appointments to the Order of Canada |url-status=dead |accessdate=August 30, 2016 }}</ref> {{As of|2012}}, she is a member of the Women's College Hospital Board of Directors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.womenscollegehospital.ca/about-us/board-of-directors146 |title=Women's College Hospital - Board of Directors |publisher=Womenscollegehospital.ca |date=2006-01-01 |accessdate=2012-09-12}}</ref>

== Personal life == Michele Landsberg was born on 12 July 1939, in Toronto, Ontario. She attended high school in North York. In 1957, following her high school graduation, she traveled to Israel, where she spent a year of study and work as a kibbutz volunteer. After returning to Ontario, she attended the University of Toronto, graduating in 1962 with a Bachelor's degree in English and literature. She has also received an honorary degree from McMaster University,<ref name="mcmaster1"/> and in 2008, the University of Toronto presented her with an honorary doctor of laws degree.<ref name="utoronto1"/>

In 1963, Landsberg married Stephen Lewis (1937–2026), who went on to serve as the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, the Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, and the inaugural United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Lewis died in 2026. The couple had three children: activist and administrator Ilana Naomi Landsberg-Lewis, casting director Jenny Leah Lewis, and current New Democratic Party leader Avi Lewis, who is married to writer Naomi Klein.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cole |first=Susan G. |url=http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=170376 |title=Michele Landsberg celebrates 70 years | NOW Magazine |publisher=Nowtoronto.com |date= |accessdate=2012-09-12}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Journalist === In 1962, Landsberg joined the staff of ''The Globe and Mail''. She married Stephen Lewis soon after signing on with the ''Globe'', but maintained a byline under her birth name, since her editors preferred that it not be known that she was married to a socialist politician. When her children were born, she resigned her column with the ''Globe'', opting to work on a freelance basis.<ref name="utoronto1"/>

In 1971, Landsberg returned to full-time work, serving as a staff writer and editor for ''Chatelaine'' magazine. She additionally wrote a regular column for ''Chatelaine'', working with editor and women's rights activist, Doris Anderson. In 1978, Landsberg joined the staff of the ''Toronto Star'', where she served as a regular columnist on feminist issues for over 25 years. During the 1980s, she was living in New York, where she wrote a weekly column on New York life for ''The Globe and Mail''. She eventually retired her column with the ''Toronto Star'' in 2005.<ref name="utoronto1"/>

=== Author === Landsberg has written three bestselling books, including ''Women and Children First'', a collection of her campaigning columns; ''Michele Landsberg's Guide to Children's Books''; and ''This is New York, Honey!'', which is a memoir of her time living as the spouse of Canada's ambassador to the United Nations.

She wrote "The Women's Dayenu", reflecting on the roles of women in Judaism: {{blockquote|"If Eve had been created in the Image of God and not as a helper to Adam, DAYENU

If she had been created as Adam’s equal and not been considered a temptress, DAYENU

If Lot’s wife had been honored for compassion for looking back at the fate of her family in Sodom, and had not been punished for it, DAYENU

If our mothers had been honoured for their daughters as well as for their sons, DAYENU

If our fathers had not pitted our mothers against each other, like Abraham with Sarah and Hagar, or Jacob with Leah and Rachel, DAYENU

If the Just Women in Egypt who caused our redemption had been given sufficient recognition, DAYENU

If Miriam were given her seat with Moses and Aaron in our legacy, DAYENU

If women had written the Haggadah and placed our mothers where they belong in history, DAYENU

If every generation of women together with every generation of men would continue to go out of Egypt, DAYENU."}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virginitymovie.com/2014/04/the-women’s-dayenu/ |title= Want to inject a bit of feminism into your Passover Seder? Try "The Women's Dayenu" | How to Lose Your Virginity|website=www.virginitymovie.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410111232/http://www.virginitymovie.com/2014/04/the-women%E2%80%99s-dayenu/ |archive-date=2015-04-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://njjewishnews.com/article/26726/to-the-pulpit-by-way-of-the-classroom#.VR4BXor3bCQ |title=To the pulpit by way of the classroom | NJJN |publisher=Njjewishnews.com |date=2015-03-30 |accessdate=2015-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401235732/http://njjewishnews.com/article/26726/to-the-pulpit-by-way-of-the-classroom#.VR4BXor3bCQ |archive-date=2015-04-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Activist === Landsberg is an outspoken critic of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation and is known for challenging the credentials of foundation advisors, saying that they "are people who really do have powerful motivation to deny the truth".<ref>{{cite news|title=U-turn on memory lane|last=Stanton|first= Mike|work=Columbia Journalism Review|issue=2 |date=Jul–Aug 1997|volume=36|pages=44–49}}</ref>

== Honors and awards == Landsberg is the recipient of two National Newspaper Awards, the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, the Dodi Robb Award from MediaWatch, 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, several honorary degrees, and the Canadian Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the 1929 Persons Case and Democratic Development, an award acknowledging contributions to equality for women which have resulted in positive change.<ref name="utoronto1"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Schnoor|first=Randal F.|title=Michele Landsberg |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_11844.html|publisher=Encyclopaedia Judaica|accessdate=17 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Governor General Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case - Status of Women Canada |url=https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/commemoration/gg/recip-laure/2002-en.html#archived |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=cfc-swc.gc.ca|date=26 November 2020 }}</ref>

== Published works == * Landsberg, Michele (1982). ''Women and Children First'', Macmillan of Canada, 239 pages. {{ISBN|978-0771597268}} * Landsberg, Michele (1986). ''Michele Landsberg's Guide to Children's Books'', Penguin Books Australia, 274 pages. {{ISBN|978-0140071368}} * Landsberg, Michele (1987). ''Reading for the Love of It'', Simon & Schuster, 327 pages. {{ISBN|978-0135798225}} * Landsberg, Michele (1989). ''This is New York, Honey!'', McClelland & Stewart, 304 pages. {{ISBN|978-0771046544}} * Landsberg, Michele; and Fran Newman (1993). ''Children in Crisis'', Scholastic Canada, 207 pages. {{ISBN|978-0590730884}} * Landsberg, Michele (2004). ''The Grubby Pleasures of Gardening'', McClelland & Stewart, 240 pages. {{ISBN|978-0771046575}} * Landsberg, Michele (2011). ''Writing the Revolution'', University of Toronto Press, 304 pages. {{ISBN|978-1897187999}}

== See also == * List of newspaper columnists

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == {{Archival records|title=Michele Landsberg fonds|location=|inventory_number=Fonds 250|description_URL=http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/torontodetail.html?key=209933|dates=|access_conditions=}} * {{IMDb name|1073196}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/issues/divorce.html |title=Ignore the spin: that divorce settlement was unfair |accessdate=2006-12-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210182758/http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/issues/divorce.html |archivedate=2007-02-10 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landsberg, Michele}} Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:Activists from Toronto Category:Canadian activists Category:Canadian columnists Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers Category:Canadian feminist writers Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Toronto Star people Category:20th-century Canadian women journalists Category:20th-century Canadian journalists Category:Lewis family (Canada) Category:Writers from Toronto Category:Canadian women columnists Category:Jewish Canadian journalists Category:Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners Category:21st-century Canadian women journalists Category:21st-century Canadian journalists Category:Canadian women civil rights activists Category:Jewish feminists Category:Jewish women journalists