Oct. 10 (UPI) — Famend leisure journalist and Deadline founder Nikki Finke has died after a chronic sickness. She was 68.

“At her finest, Nikki Finke embodied the spirit of journalism, and was by no means afraid to inform the laborious truths with an incisive type and an enigmatic spark. She was brash and true,” stated Jay Penske, founder, chairman and CEO of Penske Media, which acquired Finke’s weblog in 2009. “It was by no means simple with Nikki, however she is going to all the time stay one of the memorable individuals in my life.”

Finke, a Lengthy Island, N.Y., native and Wellesley Faculty alumnus, had a lengthy profession in journalism, together with a stint as a international correspondent for the Related Press in Moscow and London and for Newsweek in Los Angeles and Washington.

She additionally coated leisure for The Los Angeles Instances, the New York Observer and New York Journal.

Finke based Deadline in 2006 as an Web model of her LA Weekly column “Deadline Hollywood,” which started in 2002. The web site gained prominence for protection of the 2007-08 author’s strike and shortly grew to become a staple of Hollywood protection.

Finke was recognized for her willingness to criticize main trade gamers and for “live-snarking” public occasions, offering stay updates with humorous and cynical commentary whereas protecting awards ceremonies just like the Oscars and Golden Globes.

In 2010, Finke was ranked 79 on Forbes’ checklist of the world’s strongest girls.

In 2013, she left Deadline.

Finke died Sunday in Boca Raton, Fla.