Harold Evans
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Sir Harold Matthew "Harry" Evans (28 June 1928 – 23 September 2020) was a British-American journalist and writer. In his career in his native Britain, he was editor of The Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981, and its sister title The Times for a year from 1981, before being forced out of the latter post by Rupert Murdoch.[3] While at The Sunday Times, he led the newspaper's campaign to seek compensation for mothers who had taken the morning sickness drug thalidomide, which led to their children having severely deformed limbs.
In 1984, he and his wife
Early life and education
Evans, the eldest of four sons, was born at 39 Renshaw Street,
Career
Early career
Evans began his career as a reporter for a weekly newspaper in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, at 16. During his national service in the Royal Air Force (1946–1949),[3] he passed an intelligence test to become an officer, but did not hear anything further and served as a clerk.[8] He entered University College, Durham University, after contacting every one of the fourteen universities in Great Britain at the time.[6] While a student, he edited the university's independent newspaper, Palatinate.[9] After studying economics and politics, he graduated in 1952.[3]
Following his appointment as a sub-editor on the
In 1966, Harold Evans moved to London to become assistant to the editor of The Sunday Times. The owners of the newspaper, the
The Sunday Times and The Times
Reporting
Evans became editor of The Sunday Times in 1967.
A long-running issue during his tenure was thalidomide, a drug prescribed to expectant mothers suffering from morning sickness, which led to thousands of children in Britain having deformed limbs. They had not received compensation from the drug manufacturers, who in the United Kingdom were the Distillers Company. He organized a campaign by the newspaper's Insight investigative team, appointing Phillip Knightley to run the investigation.[15][16] Evans took on the drug companies responsible for the manufacture of thalidomide, pursuing them through the English courts and eventually gaining victory in the European Court of Human Rights in 1979. The British government was compelled to change the law on contempt of court which had inhibited the reporting of civil cases. While it was legal for the newspaper to campaign, it was not possible for the journalists to report its factual basis. After the ruling in the European Court, the British media was now able to report such cases without restraint.[9][10] The families of thalidomide victims eventually won compensation of £32.5 million as a consequence of Evans' Sunday Times campaign.[16] A documentary about Evans and the thalidomide campaign, Attacking The Devil: Harold Evans and the Last Nazi War Crime, appeared in 2016.[12]
The British government attempted in 1974 to prevent Evans from publishing extracts from the diaries of former Labour cabinet minister Richard Crossman, shortly after Crossman had died and ahead of the diaries publication in book form. Evans risked prosecution under the Official Secrets Act 1911 for breaking the thirty-year rule preventing disclosures of government business. Lord Chief Justice Widgery ruled that publication would not be against the public interest.[11]
Murdoch takeover
When
On leaving The Times, Evans became director of Goldcrest Films and Television.[11]
Move to the United States
In 1984, Evans moved to the United States, where he taught at
Evans was editorial director and vice chairman of
Evans became a
Personal life and death
In 1953, Evans married fellow Durham graduate Enid Parker, with whom he had a son and two daughters; the marriage was dissolved in 1978.
Evans died in New York City on 23 September 2020 at the age of 92.[3] The cause of death given was congestive heart failure.[29][30]
Honours
- 1980: Received the Hood Medal of the Royal Photographic Society for photography in public service[31]
- 2000: Named one of World Press Freedom Heroes of the past fifty years[32]
- 2004: Appointed Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II for services to journalism[33]
- 2015: Recipient of Kraszna-Krausz Foundation's Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Award[34]
Bibliography
- Editing and Design: A Five-Volume Manual of English, Typography and Layout (1972) ISBN 0-434-90550-X
- Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers (1972) ISBN 0-7126-6447-5
- Newsman's English (1972) ISBN 0-434-90549-6
- Newspaper Design (1973) ISBN 0-434-90554-2
- Editing and Design (1974) ISBN 0-434-90552-6
- Handling Newspaper Text (1974) ISBN 0-03-012041-1
- News Headlines (1974) ISBN 0-03-007501-7
- Front Page History: Events of Our Century That Shook the World (1984) ISBN 0-88162-051-3
- Good Times, Bad Times (1983) London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson ISBN 0-297-78295-9
- Editing and Design: Book 2: Handling Newspaper Text (1986) ISBN 0-434-90548-8
- Assignments: The Press Photographers' Association Yearbook (Assignments) (1988) by Harold Evans (commentary), Anna Tait (editor) ISBN 0-7148-2501-8
- Makers of Photographic History (1990) ISBN 0-948489-09-X
- Eyewitness 2: 3 Decades Through World Press Photos (1992) ISBN 0-907621-55-4
- Pictures on a Page: Photo-Journalism, Graphics and Picture Editing (1997) ISBN 0-7126-7388-1
- The American Century (1998) ISBN 0-679-41070-8
- War of Words: Memoirs of a South African Journalist (2000) by ISBN 1-888363-71-1
- Shots in the Dark: True Crime Pictures (2001) by Gail Buckland, Harold Evans ISBN 0-8212-2775-0
- The Best American Magazine Writing 2001 (2001) Harold Evans (editor) ISBN 1-58648-088-X
- The BBC Reports: On America, Its Allies and Enemies, and the Counterattack on Terrorism (2002) ISBN 1-58567-299-8
- Best American Magazine Writing 2002 (2002) ISBN 1-58648-137-1
- War Stories: Reporting in the Time of Conflict from the Crimea to Iraq (2003) ISBN 1-59373-005-5
- Evans, Harold; Buckland, Gail; ISBN 978-0-316-27766-2.
- We the People (2007) ISBN 0-316-27717-7
- My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times (2009) ISBN 978-0-316-03142-4
- Do I Make Myself Clear?: Why Writing Well Matters, New York: Back Bay Books, 2018, ISBN 978-0-316-27717-4
References
- ^ Emma Youle (14 June 2013), "Obituary: Distinguished Highgate teacher and magistrate Enid Evans dies after a long illness", Ham & High.
- ^ Robert Chalmers (12 June 2010), "Harold Evans: 'All I tried to do was shed a little light'", The Independent.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j McFadden, Robert D. (24 September 2020). "Harold Evans, Crusading Newspaperman With a Second Act, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ A Word on Words; 2719; Harold Evans, December 1998, retrieved 24 September 2020
- ^ "Sir Harold Evans Appointed Reuters Editor-at-Large". Reuters. 13 June 2011. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d Nicholas Lemann, "The Power and the Glory", The New Yorker, 7 December 2009, accessed 3 January 2013
- ^ a b c Hodgson, Godfrey (24 September 2020). "Sir Harold Evans obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d "From the archive: Profile: Harold Evans". New Statesman. 24 September 2020 [1975]. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ a b Luckhurst, Tim (24 September 2020). "Harold Evans was a titan among the greats of British journalism". The Conversation. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ a b Lederman, Marsha (17 April 2015). "Film explores Harold Evans's work to expose the truth about thalidomide". The Globe & Mail. Toronto, Canada. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 24 September 2020. (subscription required)
- ^ a b "Sir Harold Evans, trailblazing newspaper editor, dies aged 92 from heart failure". The Daily Telegraph. Reuters. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ Wilson, Richard (12 October 2012). "8. British journalism's greatest ever scoops: Philby: I spied for Russia from 1933 (Sunday Times, 1967)". Press Gazette. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ISBN 9780748114719.
- ^ Sambrook, Richard; Evans, Harold (7 December 2015). "In Conversation with journalist, author and thalidomide campaigner, Harold Evans". The Conversation. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ a b Fay, Stephen (11 December 2016). "He nailed traitors and thalidomide". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 24 September 2020. (subscription required)
- ISBN 9780335222971.
- ^ a b c Harris, Paul (15 May 2005). "A man of letters". The Observer. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ a b Smith, Harrison (24 September 2020). "Harold Evans, crusading editor on both sides of the Atlantic, dies at 92". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Sir Harold Evans, crusading publisher and author, dies at 92". AP NEWS. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ "The March of Time". movies2.nytimes.com. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ "The Smartest Books We Know - March 21, 2005". archive.fortune.com. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ "They Made America | Film & More | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ "Book Looks at Inventors and Obscure Geniuses". NPR.org. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ Embedded RealPlayer file BBC News "UK Journalist legend calls it a day", BBC News, 22 October 1999
- ^ Sir Harold Evans Appointed Reuters Editor-at-Large Archived 22 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine Erin Kurtz, Reuters, 13 June 2011
- ^ Youle, Emma (14 June 2013). "Obituary: Distinguished Highgate teacher and magistrate Enid Evans dies after a long illness". Ham & High. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-316-03142-4.
- ^ Hill, Amelia (24 September 2020). "Thalidomide survivors mourn Harold Evans, their hero and friend". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Sir Harold Evans: Crusading editor who exposed Thalidomide impact dies aged 92". BBC News. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ Hood Medal of the ROyal Photographic Society. https://rps.org/about/past-recipients/hood-medal/ Archived 19 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 24 September 2020.
- ^ Michael Kudlak, IPI World Press Freedom Heroes: Harold Evans Archived 25 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, IPI Report, June 2000
- ^ United Kingdom: "No. 57155". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 31 December 2003. p. 2.
- ^ "Sir Harold Evans and David Goldblatt recognised by Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards | First Book Award shortlist announced". National Media Museum. 1 March 2015. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
External links
- Sir Harold Evans official website
- Column archive at The Daily Beast
- Column archive at The Huffington Post
- Column archive at The Guardian
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Harold Evans on Charlie Rose
- Harold Evans at The Daily Beast
- Harold Evans collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Harold Evans at Reuters
- Harold Evans at Curlie
- Portraits of Harold Evans at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Radio and television programmes
- BBC Radio 4 – A Point of View 13-week series from 29 July 2005
- Love Letter to America BBC News, 29 July 2005
- BBC audio interview 16 May 2005
- They Made America PBS
- “A Word on Words; 2719; Harold Evans,” 1998-12-01, Nashville Public Television, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Interviews
- Harold Evans: They Made America from Bill Thompson's Eye on Books, audio of Harold Evans interview
- The American Century from CNN Book News, 13 November 1998, includes audio clips from Harold Evans
- The American Century Archived 3 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine transcript of Harold Evans interview from PBS NewsHour, 8 June 1999
- Media Giants: Harry Evans profile on Media Circus, July 2007
- Harold Evans Sees Bright Future for Print-on-Demand Newspapers Archived 21 November 2012 at the PBSMediaShift, 29 October 2009, interview includes audio clips
- Reuters Editor-at-Large Harry Evans interviews former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman on YouTube, Reuters, 14 June 2011