Kit Coleman

Born Kathleen Blake in Ireland in 1864, Kit Coleman became a widely read newspaper journalist in Canada in the 1880’s and 1890’s, without for some time advising her readers as to her gender. By the time she was known, however, even the nation’s Prime Minister was counted among her staunchly supportive readers. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, “Kit of the (Toronto) Mail” took her place instantly beside the soldiers without a backward glance, daring, as it were, anyone to deny her the right to her place as a war correspondent for any reason -- gender notwithstanding.