The Daily OrangeSU trustee leaves legacy behind despite lack of alumni status
By Brittney Davies
Posted: 9/29/09, 3:30 AM EST Section: Feature
William Safire barely finished half of his Syracuse University education before dropping out and starting his career in column writing at the New York Herald Tribune.
Later a Pulitzer Prize recipient for his political commentary in The New York Times, a speech writer for President Richard Nixon and the author of numerous books, he never forgot the university that gave him the finances to attend college. Safire, an SU trustee in his later years, passed away Sunday night at the age of 79.
He is not only remembered for his words and expertise on language usage, but also for his donations to Bird Library and for many memories held by those who knew him at Syracuse.
"He was, even then, a very good writer. He was quiet, conservative - he was the same person that he became later in life - very unspoiled," said friend and classmate Edward Bleier, whom SU's Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture is named for.
An English major and originally a member of the Class of '51, Safire spent his time working for WAER, Bleier said. He and his crew invented a radio show called "Say Hello," which they broadcasted from different campus buildings.
Safire wrote it, Bleier produced it and Dick Clark was the emcee. Safire's post-World War II SU was overcrowded, though, with thousands of veterans taking advantage of the GI Bill.
"He didn't identify with it," Bleier said. So Safire left Syracuse when presented with the opportunity to work at the Herald Tribune in 1949. But without the scholarship money the school gave him, he would have never started college in the first place.
"Even though he never finished (his education), he often bragged about being one of the better known non-graduates of Syracuse University. He was very grateful to SU," said Mary O'Brien, reference archivist for SU Archives.
In 1978 he received an honorary degree and gave the university's commencement speech - the first of two that he delivered.
Later a Pulitzer Prize recipient for his political commentary in The New York Times, a speech writer for President Richard Nixon and the author of numerous books, he never forgot the university that gave him the finances to attend college. Safire, an SU trustee in his later years, passed away Sunday night at the age of 79.
He is not only remembered for his words and expertise on language usage, but also for his donations to Bird Library and for many memories held by those who knew him at Syracuse.
"He was, even then, a very good writer. He was quiet, conservative - he was the same person that he became later in life - very unspoiled," said friend and classmate Edward Bleier, whom SU's Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture is named for.
An English major and originally a member of the Class of '51, Safire spent his time working for WAER, Bleier said. He and his crew invented a radio show called "Say Hello," which they broadcasted from different campus buildings.
Safire wrote it, Bleier produced it and Dick Clark was the emcee. Safire's post-World War II SU was overcrowded, though, with thousands of veterans taking advantage of the GI Bill.
"He didn't identify with it," Bleier said. So Safire left Syracuse when presented with the opportunity to work at the Herald Tribune in 1949. But without the scholarship money the school gave him, he would have never started college in the first place.
"Even though he never finished (his education), he often bragged about being one of the better known non-graduates of Syracuse University. He was very grateful to SU," said Mary O'Brien, reference archivist for SU Archives.
In 1978 he received an honorary degree and gave the university's commencement speech - the first of two that he delivered.
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