Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Death of a sesquipedalian writer

William F. Buckley Jr., who for decades warmed my father's heart and chilled the necks of liberals, died today at 82. Died at his desk. Died writing a column.
The New York Times' headline must have Buckley raising a heavenly martini in toast:

William F. Buckley Jr., 82, Dies; Sesquipedalian Spark of Right



The Times indirectly defined that fabulous word we learned as kids when it made reference to Buckley's use of "ten-dollar words."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I learned that word in my late 20s. I've never seen it anywhere except in a dictionary. (Filling all those reading hours with Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle had its limits, of course.) Maybe, at the passing of the man who personified it, we should retire the word like jersey numbers of sports greats. Also, since we weren't using it that much anyway, were we?

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