After earning renown as a groundbreaking investigative journalist and newspaper editor in Britain, Sir Harold Evans had a second career in America as a book editor.

1928: Born June 28 in Newton Heath, Manchester, England. Takes his first job as a journalist at the age of 16, for a weekly paper in Ashton-under-Lyne.

1961: Named editor of regional daily The Northern Echo. The paper’s campaign on cervical cancer leads to a national UK programme for detection of the disease.

1967: Named editor of The Sunday Times. His scoops include the revelation that UK diplomat Kim Philby, a defector to Moscow, had been a Russian mole while serving as chief of anti-Soviet operations for British intelligence.

1972: Publishes Editing and Design: A Five-Volume Manual of English, Typography and Layout, one of his many books on the nuts and bolts of newspapering that become standards in Britain.

1981: Becomes editor of Sunday Times sister title The Times after a takeover by media baron Rupert Murdoch. Resigns a year later, citing differences with Murdoch over editorial independence.

1984: Moves to America, teaches at Duke University.

1990: Named president and publisher of Random House trade group.

1993: Becomes a US citizen.

1998: Publishes first of his two bestsellers on US history, The American Century.

2004: Knighted for services to journalism.

2009: Publishes his memoir, My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times.

2011: Joins Reuters as editor-at-large.

2018: Publishes Do I Make Myself Clear?: Why Writing Well Matters.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2020