Immigrant of the Day: Tina Brown

Tina Brown (born Christina Hambley Brown on November 21, 1953, in Maidenhead, England) is a journalist, magazine editor, columnist and talk-show host.  Born a British citizen, she is now a U.S. citizen.

Brown rose to prominence in the American media industry as the editor of the magazines Vanity Fair from 1984 to 1992 and of The New Yorker from 1992 to 1998.

Brown grew up in Little Marlow, in Buckinghamshire on the outskirts of London. Brown went to college at St Anne's College, Oxford. Brown met Harold Evans in 1974, and began working for his Sunday Times as a writer. She reported from New York for the paper, then quit to join the Sunday Telegraph in London. Evans and Brown were married in East Hampton, New York at the home of then-Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn in August 1981.

In 1992, Brown became editor of The New Yorker. She redesigned the magazine, introducing the first staff photographer (Richard Avedon) and brought in many new reporters and critics.  Her tenure at The New Yorker was controversial: Brown was accused of destroying the magazine, while she argued that she cut dead wood and reinvigorated the magazine. Over her tenure, many respected writers left or were fired (and many others remained), and circulation increased by 30 percent (adding 250,000 new readers).

In 1998, Brown left the New Yorker to start a new magazine, a book company and a television show. She went on to produce a series of specials for CNBC. The network followed up by signing her to host a weekly talk show of politics and culture. The program ended in May 2005. In the last few years, Brown also has written columns on politics and culture for the Washington Post and the New York Sun.

Today, Tina Brown lives in New York City with her husband, Harold Evans, and two children. For an article on Brown's new book on Princess Di, The Diana Chronicles, click here. For book details, see here.

KJ