Simma Holt

Simma Holt (née Milner, March 27, 1922 – January 23, 2015) was a Canadian journalist, author, and the first Jewish woman elected to the House of Commons of Canada. Before entering politics, she had a 30-year career at The Vancouver Sun newspaper as a reporter, feature writer, and columnist.

Early life and education

Born in Vegreville, Alberta as Simma Milner, the sixth of eight children, Holt received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with majors in English and psychology, in 1944 from the University of Manitoba.

Journalism

Her interest in journalism began as a child when the sole operator of the Vegriville Observer would welcome her observing his production of the paper. Partly due to male students at the University of Manitoba participating in the Second World War, Holt became the first female managing editor of the student newspaper The Manitoban and university correspondent for the Winnipeg Free Press. On D-Day, her first day using the machine, Holt mistakenly clogged up the teletype machine at the Canadian Press in Calgary.

A few months later, she started her career at The Vancouver Sun. At the start of Holt's journalism career, women were rarely employed as professional journalists. She gained a reputation as a tough reporter by working in traditionally-male beats such as crime and waterfront reporting. Holt's style was seen as tough advocacy or crusading investigative journalism in potentially-controversial topics such as prostitution. Sexism incidents included coworkers handing her photos of nude women and being told by her editor she would be fired if she again snuck into the male-only Terminal Club to cover a story. In 1996, Holt was also inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame — the first female journalist in B.C. to receive the distinction.

Personal life In 1949, she married Leon Holt. They remained together but childless until his death in 1985.

After purchasing what turned out to be one of Vancouver's notorious "leaky condos" in 1999, Holt waged a publicly vocal, seven-year legal action seeking financial compensation for repairs.

After 2010, she lived her final years in the Seton Villa Seniors' Centre in Burnaby. She died at the age of 92 in January 2015. Sex and the Teen Age Revolution (1967) The Devil's Butler (1972) — Drugs, hippies and murders by Satan's Angels Motorcycle Club. The Other Mrs. Diefenbaker (1982) — Biography on Edna Diefenbaker. Memoirs of a Loose Cannon (2008) — Personal memoirs.