Kathy Shaidle (7 May 1964 – 9 January 2021) 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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

position following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, 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. Her views on

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

political correctness "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

, and other issues ignited controversy.

Literary career

Born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Shaidle studied at

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology, is a public polytechnic institute partnered with private Canadian College of Technology and Trades operating campuses ...

. 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 is a collection of autoimmune diseases in which the human immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks healthy tissues. Symptoms of these diseases can affect many different body systems, including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart, ...

. 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 A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...

with the Toronto indie press Lowlife Publishing, which also published works by

Lynn Crosbie Lynn Crosbie (born 7 August 1963) is a Canadian poet and novelist. She teaches at the University of Toronto. Life and career Crosbie was born in Montreal, Quebec, and now lives in Toronto, Ontario. She received her PhD in English from the Uni ...

and

Maggie Helwig Maggie Helwig (born 1961) is a Canadian poet, novelist, social justice activist, and Anglican priest. Academic career Her early education was at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario, graduating in 19 ...

. Her book-length poetry collection, ''Lobotomy Magnificat'' was nominated for a 1998

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

. Critic

Wendy McGrath Wendy McGrath is a Canadian poet and novelist. She was the inaugural winner of the $50,000 Prairie Grindstone Prize (2023-2024). Career McGrath's most recent poetry collection ''The Beauty of Vultures'' (NeWest Press 2025) is inspired by and inc ...

, writing in the ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'', praised the poetry for how it "effectively relates sacred images or text to present day events and images." In contrast, the 's reviewer was critical of the book's "diet of smart phrasing... and fabricated insights."

Blogging

Shaidle wrote the blog Relapsed Catholic from 2000 to 2007 and a column for the Catholic weekly ''

Our Sunday Visitor Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) is a Catholic publishing company in Huntington, Indiana, which prints the American national weekly newspaper of that name, as well as numerous Catholic periodicals, religious books, pamphlets, catechetical materials, ...

''. She left the latter post in April 2007 after the newspaper refused to publish a column she had written criticizing

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) includin ...

. In September 2007 she began a new blog, Five Feet of Fury. Shaidle also guest hosted and moderated the popular Canadian conservative blog,

Small Dead Animals Small Dead Animals (SDA) is a Canadian blog, focusing largely on politics (Canadian, U.S., British and international) from a conservative perspective. Saskatchewan-based blogger Kate McMillan founded the blog and is the primary contributor. Small ...

Defamation

In 2008, human rights lawyer

Richard Warman Richard Warman is an Ottawa-based lawyer who is active in human rights law. Warman worked for the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) from July 2002 until March 2004. He is best known as the primary instigator of actions related to Internet c ...

sued Shaidle,

Ezra Levant Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, the'' Western Standard''. He is als ...

, Kate McMillan of

and the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'' 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.

Other work

Also in 2008 Shaidle and journalist Pete Vere wrote and published ''The Tyranny of Nice'', a critique of the Canadian human rights tribunals. Shaidle's writing also appeared in outlets such as

FrontPage Magazine ''FrontPage Magazine'', also known as ''FrontPageMag.com'', is an American right-wing, anti-Islam political website edited by David Horowitz and published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The site has also been described by scholars and w ...

Pajamas Media PJ Media, originally known as Pajamas Media, is an American right-wing subscription-based commentary website. It was founded in 2004, with its majority owner being software entrepreneur, billionaire and angel investor Aubrey Chernick, founder o ...

, Examiner.com and

Taki's Magazine ''Taki's Magazine'', called ''Takimag'' for short, is an online magazine of politics and culture published by the Greek paleoconservative commentator and socialite Taki Theodoracopulos and edited by his daughter Mandolyna Theodoracopulos. It ...

. She appeared on the Michael Coren Show,

The Agenda ''The Agenda with Steve Paikin'', or simply ''The Agenda'', is the flagship current affairs television program of TVOntario (TVO), Ontario's public broadcaster. Anchor Steve Paikin states that the show practices long-form journalism. Each hour-l ...

(on

TVO TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates flagship station CI ...

), the Charles Adler Show,

The Political Cesspool ''The Political Cesspool'' is a weekly far-right talk radio show founded by Tennessean political activist James Edwards and syndicated by the organizations Liberty News Radio Network and Accent Radio Network in the United States. First broadc ...

Vatican Radio Vatican Radio (; ) is the official broadcasting service of Vatican City. Established in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, DRM, medium wave, FM, satellite and the Internet. ...

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

, and

Radio. She was also on the board of advisors of the

International Free Press Society The International Free Press Society (IFPS), founded in 2009, is a creation of the Danish Free Press Society. The stated purpose of IFPS "is to defend freedom of expression wherever and by whomever it is threatened". It has been described as a k ...

Awards and recognition

* 1998: poetry finalist,

s * Canadian Church Press: four awards (humour, best national columnist, etc.)

Death

Kathy Shaidle died on January 9, 2021, at the age of 56 from

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''Gas Stations of the Cross.'' Toronto: Lowlife Publishing, 1990. * ''Round Up the Usual Suspects: More poems about famous dead people.'' Toronto: Lowlife Publishing, 1992. *''Lobotomy magnificat,'' Ottawa: Oberon, 1997. (hardcover), (paperback).

Essays

* ''God Rides a Yamaha: Musings on pain, poetry, and pop culture.'', Northstone, 1998. . * ''A Seeker's Dozen: The 12 Steps for Everyone Else.'' CafePress, 2004. CafePress product number 10267680. * ''A Catholic Alphabet: The Faith from A to Z.'' CafePress, 2005. CafePress product number 17385236. * ''Acoustic Ladyland: Kathy Shaidle Unplugged.''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

, 2007.

Digital download Digital download may refer to: *Downloading, the processing of copying data to a computer from an external source *Digital distribution, a method of downloading software or audio-visual media as opposed to buying it at a traditional point of sale * ...

only.

Nonfiction

* ''The Tyranny of Nice'' (co-authored with Pete Vere). Interim Publishing, 2008. .

References

External links

Five Feet of Fury
website and blog by Kathy Shaidle
Audio: Shire Network News Interview
with Kathy Shaidle and Kate McMillan of

about the Warman lawsuit
Free Press report re London ON speaking engagement
News report on London speaking engagement {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaidle, Kathy 1964 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Roman Catholics Canadian columnists Canadian critics of Islam Canadian Roman Catholic writers Canadian women bloggers Canadian women columnists Canadian women journalists Canadian women poets Catholic poets Christian critics of Islam Deaths from ovarian cancer in Canada Deaths from cancer in Ontario FrontPage Magazine people Journalists from Toronto Sheridan College alumni Writers from Hamilton, Ontario Poets from Toronto