The media celebrity author of a biography of the late Princess Diana has turned her microscope to former US First Lady Hillary Clinton.
British media maven Tina Brown, 56, the former editor of The New Yorker who put celebrity into the magazine, confirmed the project is in the works. “Yes, I have a commitment to do a non-fiction book on Hillary Rodham Clinton, which will take another year-and-a-half to do,” she said.
Brown, who is married to journalism luminary Harold Evans, recalled to DNA on a recent trip to Jaipur the writing of The Diana Chronicles that followed from an unforgettable interview over lunch with the princess in New York.
“The hardest part was that you’re dealing with the most private class in England. And also, the more difficult aspect was that there have been so many bad books about Diana, scandalous and trashy books, so a lot of people involved not only had to get over their sense of privacy but felt like they’d been burned by these bad books. But I did manage to overcome that and talked to over 250 people, many of whom had never spoken [about Diana] before.”
The longrunning affair of Prince Charles with Camilla Parker Bowles was a major focus which may put Brown into the running for a tale of the two-timed Clinton. But Brown is accustomed to moving in power circles on the east-coast belt of the US and Clinton, 62, who is roughly her contemporary, is an obvious choice.
Brown has embraced the Web format with a new journalism website, The Daily Beast. She said: “I wouldn’t right now be working in print. I love this new form – working online; it’s very very creative and what has been exciting for me has been the challenge of getting very high quality writing, very fast. And you can! The very best thinkers know what they want to say and can very easily.”
She added: “I have a passion for journalism. I’m also married to a journalist, Harold Evans. I have this curiosity about the world, this desire to just go out and cover a story. It’s in my blood, it’s an addiction. I should be in rehab for it.”