Mary Patricia Campbell (born October 18th, 1964) died Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, seven months after being diagnosed with encephalitis.
Mary was the daughter of John and Dolores Campbell. Her first address was on the Esplanade in Sydney’s North End – a stone’s throw from the house where she spent the last chapter of her life. The year before Mary was born, her parents and most of John’s clan founded the weekly newspaper The Cape Breton Highlander, and Mary spent many hours during her childhood hanging around the offices, seeing the work of producing a paper up close, and providing illustrations or holding a prizewinning turnip for a photo, as needed. No wonder she got the bug.
Mary graduated from the University of King’s College with a Bachelor of Journalism (Hons). Her first job was at The Eastern Graphic in Montague, PEI. Mary credited the owner and publisher Jim MacNeill and editor Heather Moore with showing her the ropes of reporting on the community where you live.
After two years at the Graphic, Mary moved to Montreal, and then to Toronto, where she held down a variety of day jobs which all became fodder for her freelancing (including an Our Times piece called “I was a Customer Service Rep from Hell”). In 1996, she moved to Prague. She took her first steps in the brave new world of online journalism at the news site Russia Today, and over 14 years worked as a reporter and editor for a series of business publications, including New York-based FINalternatives. During her time in Prague, Mary amassed an extraordinary group of friends – expat Americans, a few Canadians, Europeans of all stripes and some cats and dogs. Those friendships have endured, and since her passing, expressions of grief have poured in from those who always expected to see her again.
In 2010, Mary came back to Cape Breton. In 2016, inspired by the work of The Highlander, she founded The Cape Breton Spectator, a weekly online publication whose mission was rooted in Mary’s firm belief that people need to be informed for a democracy to function. The editor of the Halifax Examiner, Tim Bousquet, describes the Spectator as ‘no holds-barred adversarial reporting, taking on the power structures and economic self-dealing of the ruling managerial class.’ Her tone could be cutting. She raised hackles. But her work was always based on meticulously-researched fact. Mary cared about her community and about words and it was her ability as a writer – concise, smart, and hilariously funny – that won her many devoted readers. The Spectator site remains active. Read her.
MaryP lived simply, and read insatiably. She loved her cats. She made pop-up books. She was a stellar aunt who organized treasure hunts and played horseshoes and really listened to what her nephews and niece had to say. She was proud to be her parents’ daughter. She was the consummate storyteller, and the most entertaining guest at any gathering. She shrieked a lot watching fireworks and hockey and when she saw people she loved after a long time away. She was happiest at Irish Cove, with family and friends on the deck, a G&T in hand. Last August, at the end of what turned out to be her last summer in the place she loved best with the people she loved best, she marveled again at what a wonderful time it had been.
Mary was predeceased by her father, John Colin. She is survived by her mother, Dolores, her siblings Susan (Manuel Rodriguez), Archie (Katie Hawkins) and Flora (John Lively), her nephews Antonio, Alex, Nolan, Iain and Ben, and her niece Rebecca, as well as her aunts and uncles and cousins too numerous to mention.
The family would like to give special thanks to Cathy and Roman Fedurko, Brian Dalton, and Margaret, Tom and Peter Campbell for their support throughout Mary’s illness. And thank you to Sue Dodd, Trish Murphy, and Katie Campbell for surrounding Mary with some semblance of normalcy during these many months.
A memorial mass will be held Sunday, May 5th at 10 AM at Holy Rosary Church, Westmount, with Fr. Douglas Murphy presiding. A celebration of life will be organized at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Cape Breton SPCA or the Cape Breton Hospital Foundation’s Cancer Patient Care Fund are welcome.
