As per this MSNBC article, Art Buchwald died at the age of 81.
For those of you unfamiliar with his work, he wrote a column that was syndicated and put his own humorous spin on the events in Washington DC (as well as other topics).
I might not have always agreed with his politics, but he did come up with some pretty funny lines over the years. I think he was considered an equal opportunity pundit and didn’t resist throwing barbs, no matter who was in office.
Damn. I grew up reading his column in the paper. I heard him lecture once – he had a weird, high-pitched voice (One audio book version of his columns actually had Mark Russell reading them, except one that Buchwald read himself. I think the publishers liked Russell’s voice better) that you wouldn’t think was his, based on the columns and his pictures.
Great columns, great wit. I haven’t read his stuff, except for the occasional odd column, in ages.
A real loss. Between the deaths and the people no longer drawing comics, the papers are getting quite sterile and boring… 
Actually it was Eddie Murphy who died. Buchwald’s just claiming credit for it.
Buchwald was one of the top political humorists; his column on Watergate “What we know so far” was one of the funniest bits of topical humor ever (alas, very topical – it’s probably incomprehensible now, even to those who lived through it). His best work was when he was with the International Herald Tribune (at least, that was a bit less topical and holds up better).
But he had a similar role to what Jon Stewart does today: commenting on the political scene. He didn’t quite go for the jugular as much as Steward (and his contemporary, the almost-forgotten Arthur Hoppe, did), but could be counted on finding the absurdities of any situation and pointing them out.
I’m glad he had the extra year, and his commentaries will be missed.
That picture makes him look like the weird dancing guy in the amusement park ads.
He was a major talent, but should have passed the torch a good 15 to 20 years ago.
All right, who had Art in their Celebrity Death Pools?
I agree with [Carnac, he was last funny somewhere around the Reagan administration.
Yeah. Sadly, while he was very funny through Watergate he stayed the same and the world changed around him.
His 50s stuff from Paris was also good. Try to find his early books used. (Harder now than it used to be.) Much more cultural and celebrity humor than political, but in the same style.
For that matter, the same thing is true for Mark Russell. His style of humor died with Reagan.
Wonder what that says about Jon Stewart?
I thought he had died years ago. Or maybe it was just his sense of humor.
I was reading the Reader’s Digest article (gift subscription) about his stay in Hospice care when I heard he died. It’s titled ‘Too Soon to Say Goodbye’. Ironically, the Hospice industries man of the year for 2006 died at home in 2007.
I should read Buchwald’s Watergate Stuff. I was 5 years old, myself, but I’ve read HST’s viewpoint.