Died: February 2, 2021.
THE journalist Auberon Waugh’s first impression of publisher Naim Attallah, who has died aged 89, was that of “a bubbling pixie, full of strange and wild enthusiasms.”
Waugh added: “Articulate and outgoing, he seldom wastes a sentence, although he speaks a lot. His favourite word is ‘wonderful’. On the few occasions when things are not wonderful, he scowls and goes into an angry speech until the matter is cleared up, and then he finds something new which is wonderful to laugh about.”
Waugh met Attallah through his daughter, Sophie, who, by her own account, was a member of the fabled “Naim’s harem”. Others included Nigella Lawson, Emma Soames, Anna Pasternak and Rebecca Fraser. The “beloved”, as they were invariably addressed, were well-connected, strikingly beautiful and smart young women for whom partying was a way of life.