Sony Swells! Tina Brown Is Topic A at Sir Howard Stringer\'d5s Wingding

The New York Observer, June 12th, 2007

Everyone who’s tripped over, say, any section of The New York Times lately knows that Tina Brown has written a new biography of the late Princess Diana. She celebrated it at the Sony Club, the penthouse of 550 Madison Avenue, on Monday, June 11.

“I thought I’d fallen in love with a writer because of the way she wrote,” said Sir Harold Evans, the publishing eminence and Ms. Brown’s hubby. “But she turned into an editor and so the writing side … got kind of overlaid by this executive lady.”

Did he think that she’d settle on being a writer now? “Good question, that,” Mr. Evans said, a faraway look in his eye. “You know, to tell you the truth, I don’t know.”

The party was hosted by Sony C.E.O. Sir Howard Stringer. “People forget that she was a success so early she’s had multiple careers early,” he said of his honoree. “I think the only question is what she wants to do next. Her name comes up for lots of different jobs, actually.”

Could she be a C.E.O.? “No, she’s not a C.E.O.,” said mogul Barry Diller. “I think the great talent with Tina is she’s a great editor and she’s a really good writer, and I think those sensibilities are—you know they’re really not chief executive sensibilities.”

On to the lady of the hour.

“Oh, you tell me—you can win a hundred bucks,” said Ms. Brown demurely, when asked about her next career move.

Actress? “Actress! Oh lord no, anything but that!”

Studio head? “Oh no, nobody buys books about studio heads …. Who knows, I’ll come up with something.”

“Sure, she could be an actress, she’s a very attractive woman,” said The Transom’s idol, Bette Midler, not bothering to stop.

“She’s so smart, so energetic, such a terrific writer, and you know it’s really an honor to know her,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. But could she make it on the force or what? “Absolutely,” he said, tapping his head. “It’s all up here.”

“She oughta go to law school—she’d be a great lawyer,” said David Boies, onetime counsel to Ms. Brown’s admitted lust object, Bill Clinton. “She’s smart, she’s articulate, she’s attractive, she gets along well with people, she makes a convenient case, passionate when she wants to be. Like a lawyer.”

Speaking of the law, embattled lefty media writer Eric Alterman, recently arrested for outlasting his welcome at the Democratic Presidential debate in Manchester, Vt., earlier this month, was also at the party. “I think she should be queen,” he said of Ms. Brown. “I mean, I think she’s got all the skill. If we had to be ruled by royalty, Tina would be my ideal.” Oh boy! “I mean, this is a serious book,” Mr. Alterman added. “It’s not crap at all.”

Craving frivolity over seriousness, The Transom approached designer Isaac Mizrahi, who saw a ready muse in Ms. Brown. “We have to figure out what she could make at Target,” he said, “because I think she could do really well in that store …. I’ll tell you something, she’s like a role model for me right now because she’s so thin. I mean, not that she was ever big, but you know she’s kind of at that crucial moment, where she could go one way or the other and she kind of looks amazing. So that’s a real inspiration for all of us.”

Over to you, Liz Smith. “I think she’d be a fabulous gossip columnist,” said the syndicated sovereign of scuttlebutt. “I think she is a fabulous gossip columnist.”