Sally Vincent

Sally Vincent (22 April 1937 – 26 December 2013) was a British journalist, best known for her interviews of prominent people.

Background and early life

Vincent was born in Chelsea, London. Her father, Albert Webb, was a Metropolitan Police detective inspector, who had assisted in gathering evidence that resulted in the conviction of John George Haigh, the Acid Bath murderer.

In 1992, she was approached by Deborah Orr (then editor of the weekend edition of The Guardian) and was offered "the pick of interview subjects, and total freedom to write pieces as long as she wanted, from whatever angle she saw fit, and with no changes to her copy without permission"' by Orr.

Orr has attributed Vincent's success as an interviewer to a mix of factors: "She was intimidated by no one. Partly, it was just hard work. Sally would always turn up ultra-fully prepared, her research exhaustive, her analysis of the available clues forensic...above all though, Sally was simply 'a natural as a writer, her minute observation and ability to ask the right question easily matched by her way with a phrase."