Robert Novak, longtime conservative political analyst, said on Monday that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor.
The 77-year-old was admitted to the Brigham and Women’s Hospital over the weekend after falling ill during a visit to his daughter in Cape Cod. He was diagnosed with the tumor on Sunday. Doctors have yet to determine whether or not it is malignant, as reported by the Associated Press.
According to a statement released by Eagle Publishing, Novak plans to halt his journalistic career for “an indefinite, but, God willing, not too lengthy period.”
During his career, Novak has contributed to most of America’s periodicals, as well as the Associated Press. In 1963, Novak and the late Rowland Evans, Jr. teamed up to write “Inside Report.” It is one of today’s longest running columns, and after Evans retired in 1993, Novak continued to produce the hard-hitting political column three times a week.
He currently puts out a bi-monthly newsletter entitled “The Evans-Novak Political Report.”
Novak has also appeared on television as a commentator for the Cable News Network (CNN) for 25 years. He currently contributes to Fox News and, occasionally, NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
In July of 2003, Novak disclosed the confidential identity of Central Intelligent Agency (CIA) official Valerie Plame Wilson in a column entitled “Mission to Niger.” The revelation resulted in a Justice Department investigation of the matter, as well as the trial of former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
On July 23, Novak hit a homeless pedestrian in downtown Washington, D.C. with his Corvette. He was presented with a $50 citation. Novak was stopped by a bicyclist a few blocks from the scene, but claimed that he was unaware of the collision.
Novak wrote Agony of the GOP: 1964 as well as Completing the Revolution: A Vision for Victory in 2000. In partnership with Evans, he produced Lyndon B. Johnson: The Exercise of Power and The Reagan Revolution. In 2007, he published his memoirs entitled The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington.
