Diana in Search of Herself (86 page)

My research assistant in London, Lucy Nichols, was intrepid, resourceful, and ever cheerful; my friend Jacqueline Williams brought her research expertise to bear once again in unearthing obscure documents and plumbing ancient newspaper archives. I was also ably assisted by Phil Murray, who transformed two shopping bags filled with clippings into orderly files and lists, as well as Peter Griggs and Mark Harnet, who transcribed tapes. At the Investigative Group International in Los Angeles, Dee Picken, Henry Kupperman, and Nancy Swain produced a thick stack of documents from an array of lawsuits and judgments against Dodi Fayed.

Vanity Fair
editor Graydon Carter helped to jump-start the book by assigning me an article about Dodi Fayed in September 1997. As I proceeded with my reporting, Graydon provided editorial guidance and encouragement, not to mention a great deal of useful information. He was also kind enough to give me an extended leave so I could focus exclusively on the book. The magazine’s executive literary editor, Wayne Lawson, steered me to useful sources and was always ready with artful editorial suggestions, and his former assistant Craig Offmam helped with research. Thanks as well to Robert Walsh, Pat Singer, Anne Phalon, Kris McNeil, and Pete Hyman for their attention to detail and accuracy.

At Random House, former president and publisher Harold Evans offered early and enthusiastic support for my project, for which I am exceedingly grateful. I was also fortunate to have Jonathan Karp as my editor at Times Books. Mindful of the time pressure, he instinctively understood when to leave me alone; when he weighed in he was invariably astute in his comments. Peter Bernstein’s successor as publisher, Carie Freimuth, grasped immediately what the book was about and became an enthusiastic advocate. Mary Beth Roche and her associate TJ Snyder were great champions as well, offering imaginative ways to present the book to the public. I’m grateful to Jon Karp’s assistant, Monica Gomez, to Martha Schwartz and Janet Wygal for their meticulous copy editing, to Heidi North for her design, and to Anke Steinecke for her careful legal review. Once again, Natalie Goldstein managed to dig up numerous revealing photographs, this time under tough time constraints. I also want to thank Kathy Schneider and Chad Bunning for their marketing expertise. My agent and longtime friend Amanda Urban asked all the right questions and represented me with her usual combination of loyalty and vigor.

I end these acknowledgments, as I customarily do, with a tribute to my wise and wonderful husband, Stephen G. Smith. His devotion and understanding sustained me through stressful periods when I didn’t think I could complete the book in the allotted time. His editorial instincts saved me from making some serious organizational mistakes. He inspired the book’s title. And he pored over the manuscript not once, but twice—first chapter by chapter, and again when it was complete—even as he wrestled with the demands of his job as editor of
U.S. News & World Report
. For his sense of structure, his feel for style and pace, his vigilance against murkiness and cliches, I cannot thank him—nor love him—enough.

Sally Bedell Smith
Washington, D.C.
May 1999

About the Author

Sally Bedell Smith is the author of the bestselling biography of William S. Paley,
In All His Glory
, and
Reflected Glory: The Life of Pamela Churchill Harriman
. Ms. Smith began her career at
Time
magazine and has since worked at
TV Guide
and
The New York Times
, where she was a cultural-news reporter. She joined
Vanity Fair
as a contributing editor in 1996. She was awarded a Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for magazine reporting in 1982 and was a fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center in 1986. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Stephen G. Smith, editor of
U.S. News & World Report
, and their three children. She can be contacted via the website
www.sallybedellsmith.com
.