Thank You Mr. Safire

Four evenings a week I assume my pose. I set up in the den, with my husband's laptop, I pick one of my crime dramas on Tivo, my husband calls them my d & d (death and dismemberment) shows, I throw some clothes in the washer as the laundry room is conveniently located right off the den and I sit down to write my post. But, before I write a single word, I do my research, scanning dozens of news sites and the like for inspiration. For me, a post is not a knock off but a writing exercise. It has always been about practice. I am hoping that through sheer diligence I can become a better writer. To that end, I frequently hit the books; dictionary, thesaurus and sometimes grammar. We simply do not learn enough grammar. Nevertheless, it was nice to know that the quest for words and meaning was well worth the effort.

William Safire reminded us of that every week in his column On Language, in the New York Times Magazine. As our foremost language dilettante and champion of the English language, he made the language more accessible. Many people may not know who he was and his death yesterday may not raise many eyebrows, but, for us who have an interest in words, his enjoyment of the language, his diligent research into the origin and structure of modern English terms and the ease in which he was able to convey this knowledge will be missed. In these days of email, texting, twittering, and instant messaging, it is easy to forget how to write properly. Thankfully, we had Mr. Safire to inspire us to construct a better sentence and/or concoct a better phrase and for this, we are truly grateful. Thank you Mr. Safire.