Tony Blankley, conservative commentator and former Gingrich press secretary, dies at 63 [View all]

[Amerigo Vespucci]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tony-blankley-conservative-commentator-and-former-gingrich-press-secretary-dies-at-63/2012/01/08/gIQAxhlgjP_story.html

WASHINGTON — Tony Blankley, a conservative author and commentator who served as press secretary to Newt Gingrich during the 1990s, when Republicans took control of Congress, has died. He was 63.

Blankley, who had been suffering from stomach cancer, died Saturday night at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, his wife, Lynda Davis, said Sunday.

In his long career as a political operative and pundit, his most visible role was as a spokesman for and adviser to Gingrich from 1990 to 1997. Gingrich became House Speaker when Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives following the 1994 midterm elections.

Earlier, Blankley spent six years in the Reagan administration in a variety of positions, including speechwriter and senior policy analyst.