Word: man
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...memorial service for a distinguished British journalist a few years ago, an editor said the man could "make words dance." So could Safire. And oh, ye gods and little fishes, how we could do with a few more gavottes and tangos in journalism right...
...real thing about Safire, though, was not whether his columns made sense. It was that the man could write. At their best, which was often - he had a great hit rate - Safire columns were just tremendously good fun, full of wordplay, some of it groan-inducing, much of it sheer enjoyment. That is depressingly rare. Not for Safire the cloddish metaphors, arch constructions, one-sentence paragraphs and dreary wonkery that are the stock in trade of too many modern American columnists. He was of that generation of inky-fingered wretches who remember that it isn't a sin for journalism...
Safire was always keen to stress the libertarian part of his political belief, which led him into interesting waters. He was a longtime adversary of Lee Kuan Yew, the leader of Singapore and a man much admired by un-adjectivally qualified conservatives, for what he saw as Lee's illiberal tendencies toward the press and opponents. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 1999, Safire had a long interview with Lee, which was posted online. It's still worth reading as an example of two first-class minds going at it hammer and tongs. He was critical...
Your cover photograph of the late, great, Ted Kennedy surely doesn't do him justice. This study of a seemingly bewildered and disillusioned man does not reflect the positive and dedicated humanitarian he became. The photograph inside the magazine of the passionate politician, in full flow with word and fist and pen, would have been a far more graphic final reminder of what we have lost. Ted Williamson, EAGLESHAM, SCOTLAND...
...spent his lifetime trying to transform Chinese society in his utopian, socialist and revolutionary vision. He tried to create a "new socialist man" and an equitable society. His regime succeeded in providing the world's largest population with food to eat, housing and basic services. Social vices were eliminated, literacy was expanded, life expectancy increased and infant mortality decreased. These were no small achievements. But Mao's efforts to impose socialism had a deadening effect on urban and rural society alike, as political movements repeatedly harassed different groups of people...