Full obit from the NYT. I wouldn’t say I agreed with him all the time on things politics, but boy did he understand the impact of language, and on this he and I totally agreed, only he was much better than I even dream of being. Words can and have set the world alight, helped politicians rise to power and helped others fall into darkness. Safire got that, and spend a large part of his life both *participating* and *teaching* the art. The Sunday NYT Mag will not be the same without him.
I also read and enjoyed his book examining what he called the first dissident. What I learned – morality calls for us to oppose unjust authority and to always seek accountability and reckoning for those with power. Good lessons still today.