Edwin Newman

Edwin Newman died at the age of 91 August 13 of pneumonia in Oxford, England, where he had lived since 2007, according to family attorney Rupert Mead. He said Newman's wife and daughter delayed the announcement of his death until today to allow themselves time to mourn privately.

The best way to honor Mr. Newman is with his own words.

Edwin Newman singing in an SNL sketch titled News Bar,

"Why can't the networks teach the anchors how to speak? 'Stead of telling them how to style their hair, pick a suit that's chic? They dress like fashion models, they all look like Mark Spitz, And they sound as if they'd learned their English from Burlitz. They read the news with foot in mouth, instead of tongue in cheek, Why can't the anchors learn to speak?"

To Quote Edwin Newman, "If the speech writer is the enemy of language because he conceals, or in some cases distorts, the politician's personality and talent, so is the public opinion poll, for it also depersonalizes, and anything that depersonalizes is an enemy of language".

Good Night Mr. Newman

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa