Ruth E. Ryon (July 16, 1944 – March 28, 2014) was a celebrity real estate columnist for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', who retired in April 2008 after more than 23 years of writing the paper's popular "Hot Property" celebrity real estate column. Ryon is widely credited with having created the celebrity real estate journalism genre.

Professional career

Ryon's tenure at the ''Los Angeles Times'' dates back at least to the 1970s. Her first byline with the paper was on November 20, 1977. Later on, while reading Parade magazine, Ryon got the idea to write a column with short, pithy items about celebrities buying and selling houses, and she received the go-ahead from her editors to do it. Ryon's first "Hot Property" column appeared on November 25, 1984, and was about Johnny Carson paying $9.5 million for a house in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...

. Ryon went on to write more than 1,300 more "Hot Property" columns, with the column eventually being moved to Page One of the Los Angeles Times' Real Estate section in 1987 and with it also becoming syndicated. Ryon also spent five years on

KNX (AM) KNX (1070 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs an all-news radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. KNX is one of the oldest stations in the United States, having received its first broadcasting license, ...

radio discussing celebrity real estate. The column was the first of what eventually became a small stable of regular celebrity real estate columns or features in newspapers and magazines across the country, including "Private Properties" in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', "Manhattan Transfers" in the '' New York Observer'', "Upper Bracket" in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' (from 1998 until 2004), "Gimme Shelter" in the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' and "On the Block" in ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

''. Online features that have been created in the image of "Hot Property" include Big Time Listings, the Real Estalker and "Real LI" in '' Newsday''.

Retirement

Ryon took a buyout from the Times in April 2008, filing her final "Hot Property" column for the Times' April 13, 2008 Real Estate section. Ryon told readers in a farewell column that she plans to "write that book, work as a consultant, do some freelancing and spend more time with my family, readers, sources and friends." Ryon and her husband, George, live in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...

. As of October 1, 2008 Ruth Ryon became a senior real estate news columnist for the REAL ESTATE CHANNEL Internet news network with a weekly column called ''Celebrity Homes.'' Ryon died March 28, 2014, at a hospice facility in Redondo Beach. The cause was complications of Parkinson's disease, said her husband. Her daughter has cited the actual cause of death was

Lewy Body Disease Lewy body dementias are two similar and common subtypes of dementia—dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Both are characterized by changes in thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. The two conditions have sim ...

, which is often mistaken as Parkinson's. The physical symptoms are similar, but are accompanied with dementia. She is survived by her husband of 47 years, George and her daughter, Heather.

Legacy

The "Hot Property" column continues today in the ''Los Angeles Times'', even though the paper discontinued its Sunday Real Estate section in 2008. The Times' "Hot Property" column appears on Saturdays as well as in the Business section of Sunday's edition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryon, Ruth 1944 births 2014 deaths Los Angeles Times people People from Redondo Beach, California