Robert Novak, 1931-2009

Robert Novak, the self-styled Beltway prince of darkness, has died. He was 78 and had been diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2008.

Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times quoted Novak's widow, Geraldine, as saying, "He was someone who loved being a journalist, love[d] journalism and loved his country and loved his family."

From 1963 to 1993, Novak co-wrote an influential political news column with Rowland Evans. The two were featured in Timothy Crouse's 1973 book The Boys on the Bus, which chronicled the 1972 presidential elections from the perspective of the journalists covering it day to day.

Novak was embroiled in controversy in July 2003 when in his syndicated column he identified undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. Many thought the information was leaked by the White House in an attempt to discredit Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson IV., who returned from a fact-finding trip to Niger with information that conflicted with official story line of "uranium yellowcake" sold to Iraq. The leaking of Plame's name prompted a White House investigation and the prosecution of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, who allegedly lied to a grand jury. The New York Times' Judith Miller received the same leaked information but refused to testify: She served 12 weeks in jail.

Shortly before announcing he had a brain tumor, Novak hit a pedestrian in Washington, D.C., with his car. He retired from writing shortly after that in August 2008, but returned a few months later.

The Washington Post's obituary can be found here; the New York Times' here.