Tina Brown admits it has been “really hard” since losing her “soulmate” husband, veteran journalist Sir Harry Evans.
Monday marked the fourth anniversary of the death of Evans, who died on September 23, 2020, at age 92.
Since his passing, Brown — the Brit who took over New York in the ’80s as the editor of Vanity Fair — has thrown herself into helming a journalism fellowship in her husband’s name: The Sir Harry Evans Global Fellowship in Investigative Journalism.
“It’s been really hard living without Harry, my soulmate, my mentor and my hero,” Brown, 70, told Page Six. “And for me, the way I managed to stay in good shape is by creating this legacy and this movement for him.”
To celebrate the fellowship and Evans’ life, Brown invited high-profile pals, including Hillary Clinton, Salman Rushdie, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, to a dinner at the Stanley Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center last Wednesday in NYC.
Brown was joined by co-hosts, writer Walter Isaacson and Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni, while Woodward and Bernstein were interviewed by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.
“It was an amazing turnout,” said Brown, who was joined by her daughter Izzy, 34. She also has a son, George, 38.
She explained that the work “keeps me connected to Harry”, adding, “It’s turning out to be really powerful.”
The recipient will embed for the year with Reuters and this year there were 1,000 applicants — up from 400 in the first year.
In addition, Brown has also launched the Truth Tellers investigative journalism summit in London; the next one will be held in May.
“We celebrate great journalists, who do brave and courageous work,” she said, “What’s exciting about the summit is that we’re really trying to do great work despite these difficult times. … Nothing beats a journalist willing to knock on doors.
“Harry would be thrilled. Even in his last decade, he was like the tribal chieftain of journalists. Our house on 57th was a steady stream of reporters and editors and photojournalists,” Brown added.
“Harry felt so passionate about journalism, so much of his energy went on nailing down the truth.”
For now, the “Palace Papers” writer is “jousting” with ideas for a new book and was most recently the curator of the Aspen Ideas Festival.
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