82 Comments
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Helen Jaeger Roth's avatar

Tina, you too are a magical writer — you always manage to hit the right note and gather those emotions in us that say yes yes yes exactly. Thank you for this wonderful tribute to Tom Stoppard both as the revered writer and also to him as your dear friend.

Tina Brown's avatar

Thank you so much. Tom was so mighty, it was easy to pay tribute.... T

Wendy Reid Crisp Lestina's avatar

Masterful. The obit to die for.

Tina Brown's avatar

That sounds like a Stoppard witticism in itself. Thank you! T

Patti Gordon's avatar

Oh Tina what a beautifully written tribute to your friend and the exquisite Tom Stoppard . You write like an Angel with widespread wings!!!

I saw The Real Thing on Broadway in 1984. It was with Jeremy Irons and Glen Close . And of course directed by Mike Nichols.

Thank you for this wonderful piece, Tina .

Tina Brown's avatar

Glad it landed with you. So much to say about such a monumental talent and beautiful human...... T

Patti Gordon's avatar

Yes it did land well with me. I’m trying to find The Talk Magazine piece with him in 1999. You’re an immense talent yourself Tina. I love reading your pieces and your Substack interviews.

Kalpana Mohan's avatar

Absolutely beautiful tribute to a man I didn't know but would have loved to know. This is becoming a masterclass, thank you.

Tina Brown's avatar

Tom was a walking master class himself. Thank you ! T

Robin Patterson's avatar

Tina, you got me by putting "liquid and languorous"in the same sentence. Will spend the rest of this evening languishing and that's a good thing, if you ask me ;-D

Tina Brown's avatar

Thanks and just wish we could hear Tom rrrrrolling out those words ! T

Mary I Leinsdorf's avatar

Such a loving elegy for such a titan of words and humor. How fabulous to have known him - jealous yellow I am.

Tina Brown's avatar

Thanks and like so often just wish I had gone out to Dorset to see him in the last two years, and now never will. So many Titans leaving the stage but he was . for me,.the tops.T

Fiona Hutchinson's avatar

What a beautiful piece of writing to honor a literary hero. From seeing The Real Thing at the National to Leopoldstadt just before lockdown, I have adored and admired his work. Thank you for bringing him to life on your Substack page, and for sharing him with us as his friend.

Tina Brown's avatar

It was a pleasure to do , if not a pleasure to lose him. He was the best of the best Thank you T

Adam Sterling's avatar

I've loved this man's work over many years.

Your remembrance of him is hard to read; every sentence lands.

Tina Brown's avatar

Thanks. A staggering loss hard to absorb, I agree and thank you T

Shelley Wanger's avatar

A brilliant tribute and what a loss for us all.

Tina Brown's avatar

Thanks dear Shelley. He really is the best of the best T

Eve Keller's avatar

A cozy warm blanket tribute to a dear friend. Thanks for the eyeful!

Tina Brown's avatar

His wit and generosity are certainly what we need in these awful times. Thank you,T

Megan Whittingham's avatar

What a wonderful tribute to your friend.

Tina Brown's avatar

Only a tenth of what he was worth but thank you T

Jane MacArthur's avatar

Thanks Tina I knew of Tom Stoppard of course but your tribute has made his life clearer. RIP amazing talent

Tina Brown's avatar

Thank you. Tried to bring his amazing presence alive and glad it worked for you T

ChildHarald's avatar

I hope you speak this at his memorial service

Tina Brown's avatar

I think every brilliant mind in the UK will fight for that opportunity but thank you. T

Bridget Wilson's avatar

Lovely piece, thanks, Tina. I was a great admirer of Stoppard. Sounds as if you were too - and how lucky you were to count him as a friend. The likes of him will never . . . etc.

Tina Brown's avatar

I was so lucky to know him yes, and just wish, as we always do, that I had been able to see him more in the last years Thank you T

Amy Gross's avatar

Tina, this is just dazzling… you make me want to see everything Stoppard wrote and read everything you’ve written.