Conservative Columnist William Safire Dies

William Safire, speechwriter, NY columnist,
dies today at the age of 79.



William Safire, the conservative columnist and word warrior who feared no politician or corner of the English language, died Sunday at age 79. The Pulitzer Prize winner died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, family friend Martin Tolchin said.

Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop's treasury of articles on language, died on Sept. 27, 2009. He was 79.

Mr. Safire began writing his twice weekly "Essay" for the Op-Ed Page of The New York Times in 1973. His last Op-Ed column, "Never Retire," appeared in 2005..more...