Henry Fairlie; Political Writer, Author

Henry Fairlie, 66, a writer and contributing editor of the New Republic. Fairlie worked as a feature writer for the Observer newspaper in his native London and later was an editorial writer for the Times of London. He had been a free-lance writer since 1954, writing for the New York Times, Harper’s, the Atlantic, the Washington Post and other publications. He also was the author of books on political affairs, including “The Spoiled Child of the Western World,” “The Kennedy Promise,” and “The Seven Deadly Sins Today.” Fairlie considered the political reputation of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) greater than the senator deserved, and his writing on that subject prompted outraged letters to the New Republic. Fairlie devoted his last published column to the discovery of contamination in Perrier water. He urged his readers to drink Scotch whiskey, “made from nutritious whole grains,” and pronounced: “No Scotch has ever been found to be contaminated.” On Feb. 25 in Washington after a stroke.