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Yesterday we published two stories about this week's release of two biographies recounting the life of the late, great Isabella Blow. Our first story explained how the dueling biographies were pitted against each other from the start and included a quote from an email we received from author Lauren Goldstein Crowe about her book party the night before. The second story was a statement by Tom Sykes, co-author with Isabella's husband Detmar Blow, in response. This morning we received an email from Goldstein Crowe clarifying her position. It's reprinted below.
The clip attached to Goldstein Crowe's original email
Lauren Goldstein Crowe: Can you please clarify that there was a clip attached to my email? Without it repeating my comments makes no sense. This was not an email meant for publication but merely a note I sent to a few journalist friends. In it I was simply referring to the fact that the Daily Mail was more interested in my relationship to Jude Law, who very sweetly attended my party, than to the importance of my other guests to Isabella's life.
Goldstein Crowe's email as it appeared in our inbox
As for her relationship to her step-mother, I am afraid people will have to read my book to understand my thoughts on that. However, even without that context I find it puzzling indeed that Tom is so incensed. I have never had a problem with Detmar writing a book, I just thought he'd get himself into trouble calling it "the definitive biography," (something I have never done and certainly was not implying with my note to my friends). He'd have escaped much scathing criticism if he'd billed it along the lines Antonia Fraser's "My Life With Harold Pinter." Having read his book, I do feel what he has written is actually more "My Life With Isabella" than a biography and when asked, that's what I say. But that's just my humble opinion. Nothing to get so worked up about.
As for my comment to Tom regarding my future ambitions, they had nothing to do with my book on Isabella specifically, only that I'd written two very research-intensive books since my twins, now six, were born and I thought for their sake it was time to try and find something with more regular hours. As for his comments on the excerpt that ran in the Business of Fashion, I would think that "as a journalist" he'd read my entire book before making such uninformed remarks.
· All Isabella Blow coverage [Racked]