Editor & Publisher reports that John Tierney, former 'Big City' columnist for The New York Times has been tapped to fill William Safire's still-warm chair on that paper's 'Op-Ed' page. (Better luck next time, Dave Barry.)

E&P's Joe Strupp quotes a Times spokeswoman as saying "Safire retired, and now we have John Tierney as a new Op-Ed columnist... You don't replace William Safire."

No, you do other things to him. Lots of other things.

Anyway, we wish Tierney the best of luck. If he can write a halfway coherent piece twice a week, he'll be ten times better than Brooks and all right by us.

'N.Y. Times' Picks John Tierney for Op-Ed Page [E&P]

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