William Safire Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: William Safire
OCCUPATION: Journalist
BIRTH DATE: December 17, 1929
DEATH DATE: September 27, 2009
PLACE OF BIRTH: New York, New York
PLACE OF DEATH: Rockville, Maryland
Full Name: William Lewis Safire
AKA: William Safire

Best Known For

William Safire was a writer whose column "On Language" was a long-running feature of The New York Times Magazine.

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William Safire

APA Style

William Safire. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:50, May 26, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/william-safire-9469180.

Harvard Style

William Safire. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/william-safire-9469180 [Accessed 26 May 2013].

MLA Style

"William Safire." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 26 2013, 02:50 http://www.biography.com/people/william-safire-9469180.

MHRA Style

"William Safire," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/william-safire-9469180 [accessed May 26, 2013].

Chicago Style

"William Safire," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/william-safire-9469180 (accessed May 26, 2013).

CBE/CSE Style

William Safire [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 26] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/william-safire-9469180.

Bluebook Style

William Safire, http://www.biography.com/people/william-safire-9469180 (last visited May 26, 2013).

AMA Style

William Safire. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/william-safire-9469180. Accessed May 26, 2013.

Synopsis

Born in New York City in 1929, William Safire spent his early career as a speechwriter and public relations writer, also working as a special assistant to President Richard Nixon. He joined The New York Times as a Washington-based columnist in 1973 and won a 1978 Pulitzer Prize for his commentary. Safire also wrote the long-running column "On Language" for The New York Times Magazine,

as well as four novels and numerous books on writing and language. He died in Maryland 2009.

Career Highlights

Born on December 17, 1929, in New York City, William Lewis Safire is perhaps best known for his famous New York Times Magazine column, "On Language."

A former speechwriter and public relations writer, and special assistant to President Richard Nixon, William Safire joined The New York Times as a Washington-based columnist in 1973. He won a 1978 Pulitzer Prize for his commentary.

William Safire wrote numerous books on writing and language, including How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar (2005). Delving into fiction, he wrote four novels: Full Disclosure (1977), Freedom (1987), Sleeper Spy (1995) and Scandalmonger (2000).

Final Years

In his later years, Safire lived near Washington, D.C., with his wife.

After a long struggle with pancreatic cancer, Safire died on September 27, 2009, at the age of 79, in Rockville, Maryland. He was survived by his wife, Helene; their children, Mark and Annabel; and a granddaughter.