“Safire was a savvy mentor — playful, exacting, stern, and encouraging”

Newsweek.com
Aaron Britt was 24 when he was hired as Bill Safire‘s researcher. “‘I’m for you,’ he’d say,” writes Britt, “and then he would grade my most recent research file with a C-. Then he’d tell me why, what to do better, and send me off again.” Now a San Francisco Chronicle fashion writer, Britt says “I’ve always come back to [Safire’s] idea that a columnist is worthless if he’s only opinion and no reporting. I don’t go to press until I’ve done an interview or two.”
> Three liberal writers say nice things about Safire