George Will, celebrating his 50th anniversary as a newspaper columnist, saluted readers of “op-ed” opinion pieces.
Will, a lauded columnist for The Washington Post, has gained national recognition through his syndicated pieces running in local newspapers and as a TV commentator.
Honoring his achievement, the Post is publishing tributes to Will.
A 1970s innovation of The New York Times’ Harrison Salisbury, the page opposite the traditional editorial page gave space to in-house writers like Will as well as opinion writers from academia and elsewhere.
The 83-year-old Will, a noted baseball scholar who wears bowties and elegant suits and seeks to write classic 19th century English, pointed out in his anniversary reflections Tuesday that an op-ed columnist should engage readers with interesting facts.
A conservative in the tradition of William F. Buckley, Will cited the illustrious New York columnist Murray Kempton, a Will hero although he was a liberal.
Will drolly observed that fewer people read newspapers and even fewer op-ed columns.
No longer prevalent on Sunday TV political shows, Will soldiers on, a remnant of traditional conservatism almost obliterated by Trumpism.
He’s a lonely but essential voice of civility, culture and baseball.
Comments