Posted on 08/18/2009 9:06:24 AM PDT by freespirited
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak, one of the nation’s most influential journalists, who relished his “Prince of Darkness” public persona, died at home here early Tuesday morning after a battle with brain cancer.
“He was someone who loved being a journalist, love journalism and loved his country and loved his family, Novak’s wife, Geraldine, told the Sun-Times on Tuesday.
Novak’s remarkable and long-running career made him a powerful presence in newspaper columns, newsletters, books and on television.
On May 15, 1963, Novak teamed up with the late Rowland Evans Jr. to create the “Inside Report” political column, which became the must-read syndicated column. Evans tapped Novak, then a 31-year old correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, to help with the workload of a six-day-a-week column.
Evans and Novak were the od d couple: Evans a Philadelphia blue blood and Yale graduate; Novak from Joliet, Ill. who attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana campus.
Novak handled the column solo after Evans retired in 1993. The Chicago Sun-Times has been Novak’s home paper since 1966.
Robert David Sanders Novak, 78, was born and raised in Joliet and his first newspaper jobs were with the Joliet Herald-News and, while a student at the University of Illinois, the Champaign-Urbana Courier. Novak maintained a lifelong tie to the University of Illinois with the school creating the Robert D. Novak chair of Western Civilization and Culture in 200X.
Mrs. Novak said that her husband passed away at 4:30 a.m., returning home after being hospitalized between July 10 and July 24. Novak’s malignant brain tumor was discovered July 27, 2008.
Well said.
But it’s more than mere chutzpah to claim that Hamas isn’t a terrorist organization.
Wrong. It would translate to 20010.
.
A real reporter. he found his vocation and gave his all to it. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Yes, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on one’s perspective, liberal “preaching” at his Reform synagaguge drove him to covert to Roman Catholicism.
The result was he became a borderline anti-semite, and a flat-out hater of zionism and Israel.
Patrick Fitzgerald could single-handily toss every single Chicago Democrat in prison and convict Obama of treason and it still won't be enough for them, because they seethe with hatred of Fitzgerald over the Libby indictment. (they'd probably claim he was "on Biden's payroll, angling to be A.G, in the Biden administration" if he did destroy Obama) They don't know or care about anything else that happened in his career, and don't want to know the facts because it conflicts with their incorrect smears against him. The fact he attacked Fitz as being "from Chicago" is proof of that.
It would be like me judging Reagan's entire career on the fact he signed on a bill liberalizing abortion laws in 1967. No matter what else he did for the next 20 years -- taking out the soviet union, stopping socialized medicine, saving the U.S. economy, giving us Scalia and Rehnquist, restoring trust in the American way, well none of it matters, don't care, don't wanna know, cuz you know he ONCE signed a bill I disagree with. He must never be forgiven for that.
That's how the Scooter Libby groupies feel about Fitzgerald. It's the height of arrogance and tunnel vision.
Funny. My background in a Reform (and then a barely Conservative) synagogue led me to avoid all synagogues for years, but now I’m a member (and on the board of trustees) at an Orthodox synagogue.
But no matter how I felt about the Reform branch, I never even considered being anti-semitic or anti-Israel.
I speculate that his dislike of Israel had more to do with his coversion than people like to admit.
The Tomas de Torquemada effect, so to speak -— attack Jews as evidence of the sincerity of one’s conversion.
There’s a reason Pat Buchanon is out front-and-center speaking about the man.
Crossfire and the McLaughlin Group were really the forerunners of today's cable talk news format.
Novak had converted and wrote about his Catholic faith.
Bird of a feather, and all that...
I sent him an e-mail years ago after I read Witness. He wrote the foreword and I wanted to tell him the impact it made on me. To my surprise, I got a very nice reply. I still have it. I guess he didn’t think he was too good for one of the regular folks.
RIP
I'll never forgive Colin Powell and Richard Armitage for that either.
As for Valerie Plame and Joseph C. Wilson, thirty pieces of silver will buy them a StyxxBoat ride to Six Flags Over Hades.
No it ain't. Can't be. The Romans didn't use zeros. ;)
I will miss his wit and clarity.
RIP, good man. You were an icon in your field. Well done.
I understand what you are saying, & I wish that W & his administration had defended themselves against the pure lies that were thrown out constantly by the DNC, the media and all their attack dogs, but, it was pretty well an impossible task. He was attacked by a good 95% of all the news media in this nation 24/7. How in the hell would he have ever stood a chance of going against all that???
...and speaking of obama, if the media was treating him with truth and scrutiny...[it would not have to even be the same relentless crap as they heaped upon W]...just where do you think his ratings would be today just 7 months into his term??? Somewhere around minus zero, that's where!
Novak was a journalist. Cronkite was a news reader. Celebrating the wrong person.
Great points & observation!
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