Vanity, Thy Name Is Bono

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Vanity, Thy Name Is Bono

June 14, 2007

By Debbie McGoldrick

BONO’S newest gig guest editor of the new issue of Vanity Fair magazine has hit the newsstands in quite a stylish way.

The rock star/activist selected a bunch of his pals you know, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, Bill Gates, President Bush, Muhammad Ali, etc. to pose for 20 different covers to commemorate the special Africa issue, which aims to focus reader attention on the poverty and disease-stricken continent. In his guest editor letter, Bono points out what seems obvious. “We are witnessing a general desire and drift toward action on climate change, a very positive thing. But imagine for a moment that 10 million children were going to lose their lives next year due to the earth’s overheating. A state of emergency would be declared, and you would be reading about little else,” he writes.

“Well, next year, more than 10 million children’s lives will be lost unnecessarily to extreme poverty, and you’ll hear very little about it. Nearly half will be on the continent of Africa, where H.I.V./ aids is killing teachers faster than you can train them and where you can witness entire villages in which the children are the parents.”

The issue is chock-full of lush Annie Leibovitz photographs, and articles on Africa from personalities as diverse as noted economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs to a profile of what’s going on with Madonna’s charitable endeavors in Malawi.

So, could Vanity Fair’s usual editor-in-chief, Graydon Carter, be out of a job. The boss says Bono took his editing tasks seriously – maybe too much so.

“But with the issue now sent to the printer, I can state unequivocally that having a co-editor does not eliminate your duties, or even halve them. If the guest editor takes his duties seriously, it triples, quadruples the work. And Bono’s engagement with the issue was full-on; so much so that there were days when I wished he had phoned it in,” wrote Carter.

“He read every story and every headline in the issue, and his suggestions were always thought through and helpful. Time differences were never a problem, and when he was on the road he spent hours on the phone or e-mail dealing with this query or that. Bless him, he even wore a tie to the office.”

Bono met up with Bush last week at the G8 summit in Germany. For his part, Bush was impressed. Bono, he said, is “an amazing guy.” “Hanging out with good company, aren’t I?” the commander-in-chief added.

Perhaps Bono and fellow Irish rock star activist Bob Geldof might not feel the same after the summit ended, as they expressed anger with its outcome on African aid commitments. Geldof was particularly harsh, calling the summit participants “creeps.”

The day job still matters to Bono, rest assured. U2 have been spending time in Morocco making music which may or may not end up on the band’s next album.

“We have no plans for the music yet,” Bono said. “We’re just going to make it until we can’t not put it out!”

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