LANG: school commemorates the war journalist's legacy

LANG'S LOVE continues from page 1

“We’ve always had two newspapers coming into the house, we discussed a lot of news at the time,” Sandra said. “She was very well informed, and she loved to write.”

Catherine said politicians and officials, “learned to duck,” when they saw her coming.

“She lambasted them on many occasions, and drew attention to the shortcomings in the delivery of healthcare in Alberta,” she said.

“She worked incredibly hard, and was often the last reporter to leave the office.”

Kelly Cryderman, a Globe and Mail journalist and a former colleague of Lang’s at the Calgary

Herald, also reported from Afghanistan. In an interview with The Voice, she said Lang did a lot of research before going overseas. “She met with everyone who had been there already and peppered them with questions,” Cryderman said.

“We often talked about the dangers, but we talked about the important stories too, about women, about poverty, about the Canadian

Forces’ work there, about telling Canadians as much as we could about what was going on a world away.”

Cryderman said she remembers Lang as a tenacious yet kind reporter, who cared about accuracy and communicating the facts.

“I’ll never forget her sitting across from me, and her beautiful smile, and her interest in everything,” Cryderman said.

In December 2009, Lang left for Afghanistan. She had only been in the country for two weeks when the light armoured vehicle she was travelling in was hit by a series of improvised explosive devices.

Lang and four Canadian soldiers were killed.

Catherine Lang says the event has left an “inescapable” impact on her family.

“We lost a loved one. Canada lost a fine journalist,” Catherine said. “I carry it with me all the time, as of course do all her family and friends. It comes with a sense that life is ever so fragile and that we are obliged to be vigilant in preserving it.”