Great Writers on Writing: William Safire (1929-2009)

Posted by Marci Hotsenpiller Oct 5, 2009

Some writers are motivated by a love of language, others by a love of writing. We won’t have a chance to ask William Safire what kept his pen--and keyboard—moving for seven decades. Safire passed away recently at the age of 79.

He was a Pulitzer Prize writer, novelist and political columnist, but perhaps he is best known and loved by other writers for his column “On Language.” This insightful weekly column in the New York Times Magazine looked at the intricacies and oddities around rules of language. It ran from 1979 until earlier this month and made Safire one of the most widely read writers on language.

The column explored written and oral trends while looking at the origins and meanings of words and phrases. According to the Times, it drew a devoted following.

As for Mr. Safire himself, he is remembered in the Times as “a Pickwickian quibbler who gleefully pounced on gaffes, inexactitudes, neologisms, misnomers, solecisms and perversely peccant puns.”

We applaud Safire’s writing and his guidance for writers, which included classic rules such as don’t overuse exclamation marks and avoid clichés…like the plague!