Re Kathy English

The Toronto Sun lost a gifted journalist in the 1980s with the departure of Kathy English.

She spread her wings in a variety of media jobs in the past two decades and is now the Toronto Star's new public editor.

"It is an important liaison between our large, diverse readership and the Star," Publisher Jagoda Pikethe said in announcing the appointment yesterday. "Kathy is perfectly suited to enhance this well-established office and increase public awareness of the role of journalism and newspapers in Canadian society."

Kathy, 49, who first worked in media as a copy messenger at the Brantford Expositor 30 years ago, is an effervescent people person, so her new position at the Star should be a perfect fit.

She has covered a lot of media bases in three decades, including her Sun years and her 1980s stint at the Star as a reporter, feature writer, editor and assignment editor.

Kathy also taught journalism at Ryerson for 10 years, worked at the Hamilton Spectator and London Free Press and most recently was the Globe and Mail's reader response editor.

"I'm delighted to be coming home to the Star,'' Kathy said in the Star story. "In my 30 years as a journalist and journalism educator, what's mattered most to me is the journalism of integrity and excellence."

Although gone from the Sun newsroom for 20 years, Kathy still has a spot in her heart for the Sun and was one of 150 former and current staffers who attended a 35th anniversary reunion in November.

Congrats, Kathy. We are sure all of your former Sun colleagues wish you well as the Star's new public editor.

Kathy will be doing what Alison Downie did at the Sun as readership editor until Alison and the position were quietly axed by Quebecor last November.