I'll miss the columns of William Safire (the language ones)

Brooklyn Born regrets the passing of William L. Safire. Pulitzer Prize winner, Writer, linguist, Conservative, Pundit and Native New Yorker. I rarely agreed with his politics (his never rescinded support for the Iraq invasion, for example) however I dug his way with words.

The obit in the NY Times, for whom he wrote from 1973 until earlier this month included this:

There were columns on blogosphere blargon, tarnation-heck euphemisms, dastardly subjunctives and even Barack and Michelle Obama’s fist bumps. And there were Safire “rules for writers”: Remember to never split an infinitive. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. Avoid clichés like the plague. And don’t overuse exclamation marks!!

Rest in peace. (Hope I wrote this well)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Safire