Born in 1960, Starkman began his career as a journalist working part-time for
United Press Canada (UPC) while he attended
Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, Canada. It was during this posting to Europe that Starkman met his future wife,
Mary Hynes, who was also working as an amateur sports journalist at that time. He won his second National Newspaper Award the following year for his series on
concussion injuries in hockey. His fellow journalists came to rely on his extensive knowledge about amateur sports and athletes, At the same time, he gained the respect of amateur sports administrations. Further recognition of Starkman's journalistic talents came in 2010 from Sports Media Canada, the Canadian branch of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive, for breaking the story that South Korean figure skater
Yuna Kim had fired her coach
Brian Orser. Starkman worked with former Canadian Women's Ski Team coach Currie Chapman to write
On the Edge, a history of the team under Chapman's leadership; the book was released prior to the 1988 Olympics. In 1991, he co-authored
Fire and Ice with
National Hockey League star
Eric Lindros. He went on to write
Let the Games Begin!, released prior to the 1994 Olympics, which was aimed at young readers. At the time of his death, he was working with Olympian
Clara Hughes in preparation for writing a book about her athletic career. The
2015 Pan American Games organizers announced on July 2, 2015, that the press centre for the games, held in Starkman's home town of
Toronto, Canada, would be named the Randy Starkman Media Centre. ==Personal life==