RIP William Safire

Sad news. Mr. William Safire died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. this morning. He was 79.

My first real introduction to the New York Times was William Safire's On Language column during my senior year at Madison High School in San Antonio. Our teacher, Mr. Bob Richmond, sent me to the office one morning with a progress report stating that I was the master of the double entandre.

Huh?

After looking the meaning up in the dictionary I talked to Mr. Richmond about how I'd always been facinated by lyrics with double meanings, slang and word origins. That's when he pointed me to the New York Times and Mr. Safire's column.

After reading today's NYT article I was suprised to learn that even though William Safire was a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who also wrote novels, books on politics and articles on language, he was also a college dropout.

Read the entire article over here: William Safire NYT.

Happy Trails and rest in peace Mr. Safire and thanks again Mr. Richmond!

That's Right,

HMK