In 1998, Globe editor Matthew Storin told the staff that he had asked for and received Barnicles resignation, because of questions about whether the writer had fabricated characters in a 1995 column. He began his career as a speech writer and aid to prominent political figures, including former California Senator John Tunney, one-time Vice Presidential candidate Edmund Muskie and the late Robert F. Kennedy. Mike Barnicle is often recognized for his role in Robert Redford’s The Candidate. A graduate of Boston University, Mike Barnicle’s regular column in The Boston Globe from 1974 to 1998 earned him the reputation as one of the paper’s most popular and prominent figures, while also establishing him as a national name in journalism.