Final Column for William Safire: January 24, 2005

At age 74, Bill Safire, op-ed columnist for the New York Times will publish his final column on January 24, 2005. No one has been chosen to succeed him as op-ed columnist.

He will continue writing his Sunday column, On Language, appearing in The New York Times Magazine since 1979. His column led to the publication of 15 books, making him one of the most widely read writers on the English language. He has authored 10 other works of fiction and non-fiction and is the editor of five anthologies.

In 1978 William Safire was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary. Prior to his employment with the Times in 1973 as a political columnist, he was a speechwriter for President Nixon. In 1949 he began his career as a reporter for a profiles column in The New York Herald Tribune.

Since 1993 William Safire has been active with the Dana Foundation, a philanthropic support for brain science, immunology, and arts education. He is currently its chairman, making this his principal occupation.

Mr. Safire reminds me of the energizer bunny as he keeps on going while giving of his many talents. I am so glad he is continuing to write his On Language column…he is one of my favorites.

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