Remembering Howard Fineman, 75: Iconic Newsweek writer became a star pundit
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Howard Fineman in Washington in 2000. Photo: David Hume Kennerly. Used with David's kind permission.
Howard Fineman — legendary to one generation as Newsweek's chief political correspondent, and to the next as one of the first famous TV pundits — liked to say former MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews reminded him of his dad:
- He both asked and answered the questions.
Chris, insisting that he's actually a great listener, told me that story as we commiserated Wednesday about the death of Fineman, 75, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago.
- Howard thought he had months to live. He talked boldly, clinically about his death sentence, and relished reminiscing about his cinematic career, starting as a reporter for the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal.
- Former President George W. Bush phoned to cheer him up. President Biden wrote and called.
Amy Nathan — Howard's wife, who's a lawyer and former Washington Post reporter, and was his proud gatekeeper for the "This Is Your Life" parade to his porch in recent months, announced Wednesday:
"I am heartbroken to share my brilliant and extraordinary husband passed away late last night surrounded by those he loved most, his family. He valiantly battled pancreatic cancer for 2 years. He couldn't have been adored more. The world was a better place because he lived in it and wrote about it."
What they're saying: Evan Thomas — a virtuoso writer for Time and Newsweek in the days when the "newsmags" were a huge force — told me that Howard "could talk to anyone because he played it straight."
- "I never knew what his personal politics were, if he had any," Thomas added. "Plus he had a great and romantic feel for the country and could hold forth about pretty much anything at the drop of a hat."
Being there: I was privileged to be among the old friends who recently sat on the Fineman porch in Chevy Chase, D.C., to gossip and pay homage to Howard and Amy.
- Politico's Jonathan "JMart" Martin and I did as Howard instructed: We picked up sandwiches from Jetties. Then we gorged on our shared love of the game.
- In November, Howard and Amy filled their home — lined with iconic newsmag photos — for one last time with political and journalistic bold-face names for Howard's 75th. The theme: "Round Up the Usual Suspects!"
Jon Meacham, former editor of Newsweek, told me: "It's tempting to say that Howard was a figure out of another age — 'The Front Page,' maybe, or at least a Ward Just novel. But he wasn't, precisely — he was vitally in the present, a great reporter and literary craftsman who put his gifts to work in whatever genre came along."
"Amid calm and storm, he always delivered brilliantly, reporting to the very end, checking assumptions, sensing the slightest switch in the winds, and doing so with an engaging and knowing voice."
Read the N.Y. Times obit (gift link).
