Over the years, I became a fan of "On Language" the writing column in the New York Times magazine by wordsmith William Safire and I caught myself saying a woeful "awww" upon reading of his death last week.
I would find the columns interesting, timely and informative. I enjoyed that someone would take all that time to examine our use of words and their meaning--particularly words which had become significant due to some news story or other media interest (I have a googled recent photo of him here).
*I also took the time to attend a class he spoke to years ago when he make a campus visit to my former employer (then Queens College)--and he favorably impressed me as a thoughtful gent.*
Truth be told, I bet the next time I yank a dictionary off the shelf to double-check the meanings of a word, he may come to mind.
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