Make Page Six a Preferred Source “The Bill” alum Lisa Maxwell’s daughter, Beau Jessup, has died. She was 27.
Columbia University in New York City announced the M.S. Journalism student’s unexpected death via Instagram Wednesday.
“We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved her,” a separate statement read.
While the Ivy League school didn’t disclose Jessup’s cause of death, it released an unpublished interview with Jessup from last month, which was conducted as part of its “Notebook” series.
According to the university, the college student was drawn toward “cultural journalism, particularly how institutions, identity, and social expectations influence the way we live and understand one another.”
Jessup told the publication her interest in reporting was sparked during her studies of social anthropology and writing for performance at the London School of Economics and the University of Cambridge, respectively.
She was six months shy of graduating with her master’s degree in May 2027.
In the interview, Jessup also reflected on growing up in a famous household with her mom, a “Loose Women” panelist, explaining, “As the daughter of a television actress, I grew up with an unusual awareness of the distance between people’s lives and the stories told about them.”
“I saw how journalism could illuminate someone’s experiences, but also how those experiences could be distorted, simplified, or transformed into a public narrative over which the subject had very little control,” she said.
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“I was curious, from quite a young age, about who gets to tell people’s stories, and what happens when those stories enter the public domain,” Jessup continued.
Additionally, the writer had a passion for theater and wrote her first play, “The Sandbag,” while studying at the University of Cambridge.
Jessup also mapped out her goals after graduation, sharing how she wanted to pursue “reporting on people, culture, and social questions.”
“I’m particularly drawn to journalism for its power and immediacy,” she said, adding that she also wants to write and is inspired by journalists who can report and write plays.
Jessup made headlines in 2016 when she kickstarted her SpecialName website, a site that helps Chinese parents pick English monikers for their kids, earning her more than $60,000.
Maxwell welcomed her daughter with her husband, Paul Jessup, in October 1999. The couple, who tied the knot in July 2014, have yet to speak out on the tragedy.
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