The World Would Be Better With More Journalists Like Harry Evans

In journalism there are very few great editors. The famous names tend to be reporters or columnists — and rightly so. They are the people who break news, who bring down presidents, who write the words or take the pictures that capture the mood of a nation (or change it). They’re also the ones who risk life and limb. Almost nobody comes into journalism dreaming of becoming an editor, while many old editors leave journalism wishing they’d spent more time writing stories and less time writing memos.

Harry Evans, who died last night, was a truly great editor. In an age when even the word “news” is often preceded by the word “fake,” his life was proof of the enduring value of the fourth estate.