Graydon Carter bids farewell to Vanity Fair

Editor, raised in Ottawa, says it is time to move on

E. Graydon Carter is leaving Vanity Fair after 25 years as the magazine’s editor.

In an article on its website, accompanied by a portrait by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, Vanity Fair says the 68-year-old declared it was “simply time” to move on. In a statement, he said he is “eager to try out this ‘third act’ thing.”

Carter, who was raised in Ottawa, wrote for Time and Life magazines and co-founded the satirical magazine Spy before being named editor of Vanity Fair in 1992. The magazine is known for a mix of coverage, including celebrity profiles and features on media and politics.

It has also made headlines for its provocative covers. The August 1993 issue was famously fronted by a portrait of supermodel Cindy Crawford and k.d. lang, which included an in-depth interview with the Canadian country star about coming out as a lesbian.

Carter grew up in Ottawa in Manor Park (“What was it like? Boring,” he once told the Citizen. “We used to go drinking in Hull, like everybody else”) and attended the University of Ottawa in the early 1970s, where, at 24, he co-founded the Canadian Review, a monthly journal of political and literary commentary. After working as a speech writer in the Prime Minister’s Office for a couple of years, he moved to New York in 1979 and worked for Time and Life magazines.

In 1989, New York magazine accused him of exaggerating his claims to have received a degree from Carleton University and his position as a speech writer for former PM Pierre Trudeau. Carter admitted the Carleton claim was a fib, but denied inflating his role with the PMO.

Carter is considered an expert on Donald Trump, having written deep profiles and followed the American president’s business career for the better part of three decades. Late last year, Trump attacked Carter on Twitter, calling him a “no talent,” and wrote: “Has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of Vanity Fair magazine. Way down, big trouble, dead!”

In June, Carter was made a member of the Order of Canada and said of the honour: “It’s more a reflection of who I am and where I come from.”

He said he still keeps his connections to Canada and added in an email that he drives family and friends “to distraction pointing out people like Al Waxman and Gordon Pinsent in movies and just generally making the claim that Canadians run American show business.”