William Safire, who was a well-known columnist for The New York Times and a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon, died on September 27, 2009, at the age of 79.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/us/28safire.html?_r=2&hp
According to his assistant, Safire died of cancer at a hospice center in Rockville, Maryland.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/us/28safire.html?_r=2&hp