Before joining The Times, Mr. Safire was a senior White House speechwriter for President Nixon. He had previously been a radio and television producer and a U.S. Army correspondent. He began his career as a reporter for The New York Herald Tribune. From 1955 to 1960, Safire was vice president of a public relations firm in New York City, then became president of his own firm. He was responsible for bringing Mr. Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev together in the 1959 Moscow kitchen debate. In 1968, he joined the campaign of Richard Nixon.
He is the author of Freedom (1987), a novel of Lincoln and the Civil War. His other novels include Full Disclosure (1977), Sleeper Spy (1995) and Scandalmonger (2000). His other titles include a dictionary, a history, anthologies and commentaries.
Mr. Safire was born on Dec. 17, 1929, and attended Syracuse University; a dropout after two years, he returned a generation later to deliver the commencement address and is now a trustee. Since 1995 he has served as a member of the Pulitzer Board. He is married, has two children and lives in suburban Washington, D.C.
They go and die just when we need them the most...
I emailed him once, commenting about a quote from a Sherlock Holmes story (”the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime”). He actually replied to me, and as you would imagine, he was the very soul of courtesy. I had always been a fan, but from that day on, I was a rabid fan. He will be sorely missed.
RIP.
I used to love to read his wordsmith columns. Great stuff