Long time Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner was found dead in his home on Nov. 27. Penner made headlines in 2007 when he began living as a woman and changed his name to Christine Daniels. A year later he transitioned back and lived as Mike Penner again. He was 52.
Police suspect suicide, but the case is still under investigation.
In August 2007, Christine Daniels was honored by the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association at its convention in San Diego after she told her story publicly in the LA Times.
“I am a transsexual sports writer,” Penner wrote in his first column discussing his transition. “It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words.”
The newspaper was supportive of Penner’s decision and continued to employ him even after he changed his name to Christine. The paper also supported Penner when he began living as a man once again.
“Mike was a first-rate journalist, a valued member of our staff for 25 years, and we will miss him,” Times editor Russ Stanton said in the newspaper’s story.
Penner is survived by his brother, John, a copy editor at the Times, and his former wife, Times staff writer Lisa Dillman.
