LALLY WEYMOUTH, VETERAN REPORTER AND MEMBER OF THE GRAHAM FAMILY, DIES AT 82.(PHOTO).

Lally Weymouth, veteran reporter and member of the Graham family, dies at 82

Lally Weymouth, a globe-trotting journalist and member of the Graham family that owned The Washington Post for 80 years, died Monday at her Manhattan home. She was 82. Her daughter, Katharine Weymouth, said the cause was pancreatic cancer.

Weymouth carved out her own career in journalism, securing high-profile interviews with leaders including Saddam Hussein, Yasir Arafat, and Muammar Qaddafi. Though she was part of the Graham publishing dynasty, she was never placed in a leadership role at The Post, a reflection of the era’s limited opportunities for women in the newsroom. Her maternal grandfather, Eugene Meyer, had purchased the paper in 1933, and her grandmother, Katharine Graham, famously led it through the Watergate scandal. Leadership was passed to Weymouth’s brother, Donald, leaving her to build a career on her own.

Weymouth began in journalism in the 1970s as a freelance writer for publications including Esquire and contributed foreign reporting to The Los Angeles Times. In 1986, she joined Newsweek as a diplomatic correspondent, specializing in interviews with foreign leaders. Known for her persistence and incisive questioning, she famously pressed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran on his statements about Israel and challenged Slobodan Milosevic on his role in ethnic cleansing.

Beyond reporting, Weymouth was a fixture of Washington and New York social life. Her Upper East Side apartment hosted gatherings of political and cultural figures, including Henry Kissinger, Barbara Walters, and literary icons such as Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal. She also held annual events in Southampton, N.Y., and during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Known for her fashion and style, she was described as both elegant and commanding in social settings.

Born Elizabeth Morris Graham on July 3, 1943, Weymouth grew up in Washington, D.C., amid the political and social elite. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1965, briefly worked at The Boston Globe, and later entered book publishing. Her personal life included a marriage to architect Yann Weymouth, which ended in divorce, and relationships that reflected her evolving political views.

In 1986, she joined The Washington Post as a roving correspondent and columnist. She conducted significant interviews late into her career, including with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Her last column, in May 2025, featured an interview with the prime minister of Qatar.

Weymouth is survived by her daughters, Katharine and Pamela Weymouth; her brother Stephen; and five grandchildren. Her brother William died in 2017. She was the last Graham family member to maintain professional ties to The Washington Post.