Yesterday morning saw the memorial service for The New York Times‘ William Safire, the former Nixon speechwriter who became an Op-Ed columnist for the paper in 1973. Katherine Rosman was scoping the scene The Wall Street Journal and she got all the dirt:

Present at the memorial was Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who recounted how Safire had been hired by his father after a dinner party for Nixon where the elder Timesman had originally been insulted to sit “next to the flack!”

Safire wasn’t all dark suits and grammar lessons though, as Barbara Walters recounted how while working at at a PR firm that he managed, Safire had given her a Christmas present of a see-through nightgown with lace panties. She got the joke, though admitted that today, “I’d have to report it to human resources.”

The service also included speeches from Mort Zuckerman, Bill Janklow, Bob Menschel, Julie Eisenhower (Nixon’s daughter), and William’s son Mark Safire.

William Safire, Remembered –Wall Street Journal

Previously: William Safire, NYT Columnist, Dies At 79, Paying Tribute To Safire