James J. Kilpatrick the conservative political commentator who also had a real love of the language, died Sunday in Washigton. He was 89.
According to this obit from AP, he also was the author of a dozen books and numerous magazine articles. He wrote columns on the U.S. Supreme Court and "The Writer's Art," on the use and abuse of the English language, which appeared in hundreds of daily newspapers. "Be clear, be clear, be clear!" he said in his book "The Writer's Art" (1984). "Your image or idea may be murky but do not write murkily about it. Be murky clearly."
When I lived in Virginia in the 1970s, Kilpatrick was a prominent voice of the conservative movement, and was remembered for his harsh criticism of the 1954 Supreme Court decision that overturned school segregation -- and led to the state's era of "Massive Resistance." Later, he apologized for that stance, while still maintaing his conservative street cred. Many will remember his spirited duels on "60 Minutes" with Shana Alexander -- or better yet, the SNL spoofs that had his doppelganger, Dan Akroyd, saying to Jane Curtin: "Jane, you ignorant slut."