William Safire died (27/9/2009)

Frequently mentioned on a.u.e. (less frequently on sci.lang) because of his New York Times column "On Language", written from 1979 until his death. He had started at the Times as a political columnist; among his varied previous occupations, he had written speeches for Richard Nixon and Spiro T.Agnew.
"It started as the usual kind of usage column, addressing traditional complaints, but he developed a witty style that gave him a general appeal....Over the years he became less prescriptive and more explanatory, reaching out to linguists as occasion demanded." (Crystal)
I knew his writings only as quoted on a.u.e. Somewhere I have a collection of his columns in book form, but I've never been in the mood to read it. (Same goes for other such collections I've accumulated. I should get rid of them.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Safire