RIP: William F. Buckley

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From the New York Times:

William F. Buckley Jr., who marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse, died Wednesday at his home in Stamford, Conn.
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Mr Buckley, 82, suffered from diabetes and emphysema, his son Christopher said, although the exact cause of death was not immediately known. He was found at his desk in the study of his home, his son said. “He might have been working on a column,” Mr. Buckley said.
Mr. Buckley’s winningly capricious personality, replete with ten-dollar words and a darting tongue writers loved to compare with an anteater’s, hosted one of television’s longest-running programs, “Firing Line,” and founded and shepherded the influential conservative magazine, “National Review.”
He also found time to write 45 books, ranging from sailing odysseys to spy novels to celebrations of his own dashing daily life, and edit five more. Two more books, one a political novel, and the other a history of the magazine called “Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription” are scheduled to be published in 2007.
The more than 4.5 million words of his 5,600 biweekly newspaper columns, “On the Right,” would fill 45 more medium-sized books.

My favorite Buckleyism came in the letters section of the National Review. A woman wrote in to say that she was fed up — she could no longer stand Buckley’s use of big words and Latin phrases. She said that by the time she finished one of his columns, she didn’t know if he was “for or against.”
Buckley wrote: “Madam, I am against. Sincerely – WFB”
In a more civilized time, here’s Buckley threatening to punch Gore Vidal.

Posted by on February 27th, 2008 at 11:48 am


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