Star feature writer receives fellowship
Amy Dempsey receives a free year of study at Toronto’s Massey College
Amy Dempsey, a feature writer for the Toronto Star, has won a prestigious fellowship with Massey College at the University of Toronto.
Dempsey was awarded one of five William Southam fellowships at the 2018 Canadian Journalism Foundation awards gala Thursday evening: the St. Clair Balfour Fellowship.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Massey community and I’m grateful to the college and the Balfour family for this incredible opportunity,” Dempsey said of the honour.
Dempsey began her work at the Star eight years ago as a summer intern. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Carleton University.
In 2014, Dempsey won a National Newspaper Award (NNA) for explanatory work for her story on Richard Kachkar, who was found not criminally responsible for the murder of Toronto Police Sgt. Ryan Russell.
In 2017, Dempsey’s feature about Glen Race, a Canadian man with severe mental illness, was nominated for an NNA.
Recently, Dempsey has received acclaim for extensive work into the murders of Bill, Bridget and Caleb Harrison in Mississauga. The three deaths — all within the same house, although years apart — were the source of her investigation “Improbable Cause,” which ran in the Star in April.
The story tracks the case from its onset, looking into lives upended, and documents the failures of authorities to properly probe the first two Harrison deaths.
As a result of the investigation, the Ontario chief coroner has launched a review into “concealed homicides,” dating back to the death of Tammy Homolka, including some cases related to Elizabeth Wettlaufer, who pleaded guilty to killing eight residents at two nursing homes where she worked.
Dempsey joins a formidable group of Star journalists who have received the fellowship. City hall bureau chief David Rider, feature writers Jim Rankin and Katie Daubs, housing reporter Emily Mathieu and visual arts writer Murray Whyte have all received the honour in the past.
The St. Clair Balfour Fellowship is part of a series of fellowships given to journalists in the middle of their careers to encourage “improvement in journalism,” and funds an academic year at the University of Toronto’s Massey College for them.