[Deathwatch] Robert Novak, conservative columnist, 78

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Columnist Robert Novak dies at 78
updated 3:53 p.m. EDT, Tue August 18, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/18/robert.novak.obituary/index.html


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Conservative columnist and former CNN "Crossfire"
co-host Robert Novak has died after a yearlong battle with cancer, his
family said Tuesday. He was 78.

 Novak died at home, over a year after doctors diagnosed him with a
malignant brain tumor in August 2008.

He was dubbed "The Prince of Darkness" by friends for his pessimistic
persona, and he used the nickname as the title of his 2007 memoir.

However, Sam Feist, CNN's political director, said the dour visage
masked a "warm-hearted guy" who "cared a lot about the people who
worked for him."

"If you were a friend of Bob Novak's, you couldn't have a better
friend," Feist said.

Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, said the network was saddened
by the death of "a journalist of the old school, hard-working,
practical and passionate about our profession."

"From its earliest days and for some 25 years, Bob shared generously
with CNN and with CNN viewers his authority, credibility, humor and
towering presence," Walton said in a statement. "We're grateful to have
worked alongside him and send our respect and sympathy to his family."

Novak was a veteran columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and a regular
commentator for CNN for 25 years, beginning when the network launched
in 1980.

 For most of that time, he was a co-host of the political debate
program "Crossfire." But he also hosted a show with his longtime column
co-author, Rowland Evans, and appeared as a panelist on shows like "The
Capital Gang" and on PBS' "The McLaughlin Group."

Novak got his first newspaper job in 1948, when he was still in high
school.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said Novak had "the
kind of keen insight that can only be gained through years and years of
dedication to a craft."

"He was a Washington institution who could turn an idea into the most
discussed story around kitchen tables, congressional offices, the White
House and everywhere in between," McConnell said in a written
statement.

Novak served in the Army during the Korean War before turning to the
news business, eventually starting his column with Evans at the
now-defunct New York Herald-Tribune in 1963.

In 2003, he found himself at the center of the scandal over the
exposure of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, when he published a column
revealing her CIA status days after her husband challenged a key Bush
administration justification for the invasion of Iraq.

While staunchly conservative, Novak opposed the invasion and was
frequently critical of the Bush administration. He cooperated with
prosecutors and was not charged in the leak case.

The scandal ultimately led to the conviction of Vice President Dick
Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on charges of perjury,
obstruction of justice and lying to investigators probing the leak.

Novak later testified that the leak began with then-Deputy Secretary of
State Richard Armitage and was confirmed by Karl Rove, who was then
President George W. Bush's top political adviser. Both men cooperated
with the investigation, and neither was charged. iReport.com: Share
memories of Novak

Novak was born to a Jewish family in Joliet, Illinois, on the outskirts
of Chicago, but later became a devout Roman Catholic. He took up
skydiving in his early 70s and was a passionate sports fan. He also
once appeared as an extra in a Washington opera production.

In an editorial published with news of Novak's death, the Sun-Times
said Novak's columns "were marked by his determination to dig out new
information."

"He combined that with sharp analysis, insightful commentary and
passion about the issues facing the nation to emerge as a brawling
contestant in the great national debates of his era," the newspaper
said.

Veteran Democratic consultant and on-air sparring partner James
Carville said Novak "had the best sources in the Republican Party,"
making his weekly column a must-read for political insiders.

"What you saw on television was an ideological guy, a fire-breathing
right-wing guy," Carville said. But Novak "still had the sort of ethos
of the reporter."

 Novak left the network in 2005 after an on-air blowup with Carville,
who had been needling him over the CIA leak case. CNN suspended Novak,
who apologized for using the word "bullsh*t" on air, and he resigned at
the end of the year.

"I want to thank CNN for making this network available to me for 25
years," he said at the time. "Never censored me once, ever, and I said
some outrageous things. And it was a wonderful opportunity for me."

Many thanks to TheLenGuy for posting this obituary