Rex Murphy Passes

Rex Murphy, the sharp-witted intellectual who loved Canada, dies at 77

Even while he battled his illness, Murphy still filed in recent months, writing about Hamas and Christmas and interviewing Pierre Poilievre with his distinctive panache

Rex Murphy, the loquacious and voluble National Post columnist, radio host and podcaster, has died.

For decades, Murphy was a fixture of the Canadian media and punditry scene, a regular on the public-speaking circuit, and, perhaps less well-known, an aficionado of The Simpsons and, at least until the pandemic, when he was forced to learn how to toss together Kraft Dinner, a dreadful cook.

Murphy died at age 77 after a battle with cancer.

He died just one day after his column on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s stance on the Hamas atrocities of October 7 appeared on the front page of the print edition of the National Post.

“Rex could not be held back,” said Rob Roberts, editor-in-chief of National Post. “He filed what turned out to be his last column on Monday, so driven was he to voice his support for Israel and Canada’s Jewish community. It mattered immensely to him in his final days.

“His last email to me on Tuesday: ‘Did the piece make the online edition?’” said Roberts.

Read Rex Murphy’s National Post columns

Even while he battled his illness, Murphy still filed in recent months, writing about Hamas and Christmas and interviewing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre with his distinctive panache.