Tuesday, October 23, 2018

A Look Back At The Late, Great William F. Buckley


As a teenager in the 1960s, I was influenced greatly by conservative author, editor, TV host and newspaper columnist William F. Buckley.

I read his newspaper columns, his magazine National Review and his many books, including his sailing books and his fine series of spy thrillers. I was also a faithful viewer of his TV show, Firing Line.

I’m thankful that I was able to review two of his books for the Philadelphia Inquirer. One was on President Ronald Reagan and the other was his last thriller. He was still alive when my review of Last Call for Blackford Oates appeared, and I hope he read it.

Ed Feuler offers a look back at the late, great William F. Buckley in the Washington Times.

Last week was a homecoming for me. But it was something more. On Oct. 18, I was in Chicago to receive the annual William F. Buckley Prize for Leadership in Political Thought. On the occasion of this great honor, I couldn’t help reflecting on the fact that we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.

Conservatives owe a huge debt to Bill Buckley. He didn’t just start a magazine when he founded National Review in 1955. He planted a flag for many of us who bristled at the liberal orthodoxy then prevalent in American society.

The books that followed, along with his hosting television’s “Firing Line” for 33 years, showed how the tenets of conservative weren’t something that had to be consigned to history books and musty tomes. They were eternally true. They could — and should — be applied to the issues of the day.

For so many of us, the philosophy of freedom found its voice in Bill Buckley and its platform in National Review.

It soon became clear that Bill was developing not just a readership, but a national movement. NR was not simply another journal, but a political act.

We intend, wrote Bill to a prospective supporter, “to revitalize the conservative position” and “influence the opinion-makers” of the nation.

… But Bill’s influence went beyond his landmark magazine. His biography itself is conservatism’s history.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:



You can also read my Philadelphia Inquirer reviews of Mr. Buckley’s books below:


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