Barbara Amiel

Barbara Amiel Black, Baroness Black of Crossharbour (born Barbara Amiel in Hertfordshire England, December 4 1940), is a journalist, and, since 1992, the wife of newspaper magnate Lord Black of Crossharbour.

Related Topics:
Hertfordshire - England - December 4 - 1940 - Journalist - 1992 - Lord Black of Crossharbour

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Her parents divorced when Barbara was eight, when her father left her mother for another woman. Her mother remarried and Barbara moved to Hamilton, Ontario with her mother and step-father. The family dissolved and Amiel left home at the age of fourteen and entered a short-lived marriage as an underage youth.

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She was a longtime columnist for Maclean's, and has served as a vice-president of Hollinger. In the 1970s, Amiel was a broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She was subsequently a columnist for the Toronto Sun in the 1980s and 1990s, also serving as the daily's editor-in-chief from 1983 to 1985 before returning to Britain.

Related Topics:
Maclean's - Hollinger - 1970s - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Toronto Sun - 1980s - 1990s - 1983 - 1985 - Britain

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She was married to fellow journalist George Jonas from 1974 to 1979. Her memoir, Confessions, was published in 1980.

Related Topics:
George Jonas - 1974 - 1979 - 1980

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From 1986 to 1994 Amiel was a columnist for The Times of London and The Sunday Times. In 1994, she moved to Conrad Black's Daily Telegraph.

Related Topics:
1986 - 1994 - The Times of London - The Sunday Times - Daily Telegraph

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She is Jewish, and has been outspoken about what she sees as anti-Semitism, anti-Israeli sentiment, and its acceptability in some circles. In December 2001 she caused a furor by comments in The Spectator about anti-Israel remarks by an unnamed French diplomat, who described it as "that shitty little country"; this picked up on a previous Petronella Wyatt column about London's chattering classes. However, in 1992 she became notorious for a defence of David Irving and has also defended Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Related Topics:
Jew - Anti-Semitism - 2001 - The Spectator - Petronella Wyatt - Chattering classes - David Irving - Jean-Marie Le Pen

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In 2003 she attacked BBC current affairs coverage, claiming that it has been seen as a 'bad joke' for decades. Lady Black lost her position as a columnist on the Daily Telegraph in mid-2004, putting the phone down on its editor Martin Newland.

Related Topics:
2003 - BBC - 2004 - Martin Newland

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In 2005, she rejoined Maclean's as a columnist under new editor Kenneth Whyte.

Related Topics:
2005 - Kenneth Whyte

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