by Peter Suderman

Washington's journalistic Prince of Darkness has died. My friend Tim Carney, who worked with Novak for years, has posted a remembrance:

That Novak would hire a leg-man to go around Washington sniffing out news reflected the virtue at the heart of his work: His columns, while they resided on the op-ed pages, were built upon previously unreported facts that revealed and explained the machinations of government, the men and women in power, and the politics behind it all. His job demanded he get a constant flow of new information, but curiosity and a thirst for knowledge were natural traits for him.

Bob Novak was, above all, a reporter. Watching him work was a delightful education in reporting.