In Search of William Safire

In the early eighties I used to read a column reprinted from The New York Times by a local newspaper, The Daily Express. The author’s column was about the origin and usage of a word or phrase.

Who said what, who incorrectly used a word, who quoted a phrase—the author would always recount to his readers of when and where a word was used, misused, or mispronounced. (I wonder how he kept his notes at the time.)

His writing of a distinct topic (who’s interested with words?) made me anticipate his column every week and found it informative, and sometimes amusing; especially when it was about someone (usually a politician) who incorrectly used or mispronounced a phrase or word.

Then the newspaper closed down but the author’s name, William Safire, I did not forget. I eventually turned my interest to reading science magazines and popular novels.

Fast forward to two decades, I am sitting in an Internet café googling. Does William Safire still write? This is the raison d’être of the Internet; in one click I will be able to find out more about William Safire.

Indeed he still is and has a column in The New York Times Magazine called “On Language.” Since then, William Safire’s column occupies a permanent tab in my browser.

My weekend is not complete without reading his column and it always feel like reading a book I started more than twenty years ago.