Making Enemies Bleed

Les Gelb on his former Times colleague Bill Safire:

He was...the best friend and the worst enemy to friends and foes. And I can't think of a better accolade. There was little he would deny to a friend, and there was little respite he would give to a foe.

And this:

"[M]ake sure that at least twice a year you make somebody bleed in your column," he intoned. Boy, was he right, and the whole world seemed more eager to talk to me when the blood spilled onto the pages.