Last week I declared Edward Jay Esptein’s Assume Nothing: Encounters With Assassins, Spies, Presidents, and Would-Be Masters of the Universe my book of the year. I followed up with Ed by email, asking him how he was doing and telling him I wanted to visit him in New York. Ed responded that he was “just recovering from his first bout of covid” and asked how I was doing.

I am deeply saddened to report that Ed has passed away at the age of 88. …

As I wrote last week, Ed was my ideal of a journalist. He was brilliant, meticulous, dogged, and passionate about following the evidence wherever it took him. Ed led an adventurous and intriguing life driven by his own intellectual curiosity. Every one of his many books is worth reading. Every one of his many books stands as a model of investigative journalism. Moreover, as one can infer from his memoir, it may be only a slight exaggeration to say that he was friends with everyone.

[RIP and Godspeed to this remarkable and accomplished journalist of the old-guard variety. My condolences to Scott, as well as Mr. Epstein’s other friends and family. — Ed]