William Safire On Words

According to The Writer's Almanac, today is William Safire's birthday. Yes, the guy who said more than a few not-so-nice things about the first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, and the previous prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, of Singapore, especially when Williams College wanted to confer on Mr. Goh an honorary degree. (More on repression and muzzling of the press may be found in this interesting article.)

Perhaps a few loyal Singaporeans might quibble with me for honoring Mr. Safire with an entry when he didn't think our prime minister deserved his honorary degree. The truth is I'm quite a fan of Mr. Safire's Sunday column, "On Words" in The New York Times Magazine, which has been around since 1979. Mr. Safire is a champion of grammar and writes very wittily about the correct usage of words. He's also very knowledgable about pop culture and provides entertaining pieces on how certain words and phrases become popular.

As usual, after reading some titbit about a writer, I'll have to look up his works, works that I might like to place on my bookshelf (I didn't know that many of Safire's essays are compiled in at least a dozen books). I'm a little concerned that I've already put down at least eight titles on my wishlist, which is growing far too long. In the latest entry, Mr. Safire's also listed several great grammar books for Christmas. After providing my class with a similar list (which I expect will be tossed into the recycling bin), I took note of the new titles and added them to my list of "wordy books." I'm an incorrigible geek and consumer.

Oh, and Mr. Safire turns 75 today.