Writer and Journalist William F Buckley found dead at 82

[CharlesB]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_re_us/obit_buckley

 

[warbird]

A great intellect, with wonderful wit. Her enjoyed respect and admiration from friend and foe alike.

Sad day for me,. I had the opportunity to meet him on several occasions and thought him to be one of the most fascinating people I have ever met or will likely ever meet. Publisher, writer, adventurer, sailor, veteran. Goodbye wordsmith, you pointed me toward succinct rational thought put to paper, avoiding the pitfalls of garrulous rants or tedious loquacity.

 

[Story]

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/media_people/william_f_buckley_jr_rip_78500.asp

More details of his life. RIP

 

[CharlesB]

A great intellect, with wonderful wit. Her enjoyed respect and admiration from friend and foe alike.

Sad day for me,. I had the opportunity to meet him on several occasions and thought him to be one of the most fascinating people I have ever met or will likely ever meet. Publisher, writer, adventurer, sailor, veteran. Goodbye wordsmith, you pointed me toward succinct rational thought put to paper, avoiding the pitfalls of garrulous rants or tedious loquacity.

Regardless of politics (as politics is verbotten anyways), when watching his program during the early years of intellectual development, the thing that struck me most were his manners. Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, he was always a polite gentleman that hoped to lead the discussion into an area of productivity and agreement. The talking heads these days could learn a lesson from that sort of attitude

 

[Sefton]

Regardless of ideology the man was a good writer and a gentleman. It's sad that in the public sphere this latter quality may be gone along with Mr.Buckley.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Whoops! I missed this thread..

.. and I posted my condolences elsewhere.

All the same, it bears repeating - Rest In Peace, Bill Buckley!

-dixon cannon

 

[nobodyspecial]

Last night's Charlie Rose episode was a collection of clips from interviews of Buckley over the years. Great stuff to watch and hard to turn off. Regardless of points of view, I enjoy watching and listening to intelligent, well thought out and articulate conversation free of ranting and raving.

 

[skyvue]

Just a few snippets of Buckley's "wisdom":

"The central question that emerges is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not prevail numerically? The sobering answer is Yes the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race. It is not easy, and it is unpleasant, to adduce statistics evidencing the cultural superiority of White over Negro: but it is a fact that obtrudes, one that cannot be hidden by ever-so-busy egalitarians and anthropologists."


"Whatever the exact net result in the restricted field of school desegregation, what a price we are paying for Brown! It would be ridiculous to hold the Supreme Court solely to blame for the ludicrously named civil rights movement that is, the Negro revolt But the Court carries its share of the blame. Its decrees, beginning with Brown, have on the one hand encouraged the least responsible of the Negro leaders in the course of extra-legal and illegal struggle that we now witness around us.

Brown, as National Review declared many years ago, was bad law and bad sociology. We are now tasting its bitter fruits. Race relations in the country are ten times worse than in 1954."


"Everyone detected with AIDS should be tatooed in the upper forearm, to protect common-needle users, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of other homosexuals."​

Sorry, I don't view the above as so well thought out. Articulate, maybe, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

 

[Story]

Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, he was always a polite gentleman that hoped to lead the discussion into an area of productivity and agreement. The talking heads these days could learn a lesson from that sort of attitude

Indeed, his manners were commendable - and yet he had a backbone and would verbally smack those who needed it, sort of Thurston Howe combined with Chuck Norris.

A good 1989 interview with the man, including details of his nine months in Mexico as a CIA agent.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87761086

 

[Story]

Just a few snippets of Buckley's "wisdom":

"The central question that emerges is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not prevail numerically? The sobering answer is Yes the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race. It is not easy, and it is unpleasant, to adduce statistics evidencing the cultural superiority of White over Negro: but it is a fact that obtrudes, one that cannot be hidden by ever-so-busy egalitarians and anthropologists."
​

Context helps. That was written in the National Review, August 27, 1957.

Despite this dismal stance, Buckley did in fact change and renounce racism by the mid-1960s, in part because his horror at the terrorist tactics used by white supremacists to fight the civil rights movement, in part because of the moral witness of friends like Garry Wills who confronted Buckley with the amorality of his politics.

http://sanseverything.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/william-f-buckley-the-gift-of-friendship/

 

[imoldfashioned]

I'm another child of PBS that grew up watching Firing Line. Reading his obituary in The New York Times (!) this morning I was struck by this bit:

In 1985, David Remnick, writing in The Washington Post, said, “He has the eyes of a child who has just displayed a horrid use for the microwave oven and the family cat.”

Perfect.

 

[Lincsong]

Rest in Peace. A giant among men, a giant among journalists. His influence will be felt decades from now. Few journalists and publishers have changed the course of history like he did. An amazing man, an amazing life.

 

[pgoat]

Has Gore Vidal commented publicly on this?

Sorry , momentary - fftopic: I was surprised when Carroll O'Connor (Archie Bunker) died, everyone but Jean Stapleton had something to say. fftopic:

 

[pgoat]

Just a few snippets of Buckley's "wisdom":

"The central question that emerges is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not prevail numerically? The sobering answer is Yes the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race. It is not easy, and it is unpleasant, to adduce statistics evidencing the cultural superiority of White over Negro: but it is a fact that obtrudes, one that cannot be hidden by ever-so-busy egalitarians and anthropologists."


"Whatever the exact net result in the restricted field of school desegregation, what a price we are paying for Brown! It would be ridiculous to hold the Supreme Court solely to blame for the ludicrously named civil rights movement that is, the Negro revolt But the Court carries its share of the blame. Its decrees, beginning with Brown, have on the one hand encouraged the least responsible of the Negro leaders in the course of extra-legal and illegal struggle that we now witness around us.

Brown, as National Review declared many years ago, was bad law and bad sociology. We are now tasting its bitter fruits. Race relations in the country are ten times worse than in 1954."


"Everyone detected with AIDS should be tatooed in the upper forearm, to protect common-needle users, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of other homosexuals."​

Sorry, I don't view the above as so well thought out. Articulate, maybe, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

+1. Don't mean to kick the dead, nor to get too political. I agree he led a notable life. No love lost here, though.

 

[pgoat]

Context helps. That was written in the National Review, August 27, 1957.

Despite this dismal stance, Buckley did in fact change and renounce racism by the mid-1960s, in part because his horror at the terrorist tactics used by white supremacists to fight the civil rights movement, in part because of the moral witness of friends like Garry Wills who confronted Buckley with the amorality of his politics.

http://sanseverything.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/william-f-buckley-the-gift-of-friendship/

and following the 60s?
"Everyone detected with AIDS should be tatooed in the upper forearm, to protect common-needle users, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of other homosexuals."

 

[Story]

and following the 60s?
"Everyone detected with AIDS should be tatooed in the upper forearm, to protect common-needle users, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of other homosexuals."

In a New York Times op-ed piece, Buckley (1986) had maintained that "anyone detected with AIDS should be tattooed in the upper forearm, to protect common-needle users, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of other homosexuals" (p. A27). Buckley later recanted when, in his words, the plan "proved socially intolerable" (cited in Cohen & Solomon, 1993, p. 18).

Commonly posted quotes found on websites with political agendas are not the be-all, end all answer. Often there's more to the story..

 

[Martinis at 8]

Here we go again. Another political thread coming about

 

[Mr. Lucky]

I always have been, and always will be, diametrically opposed to the beliefs, SOCIAL beliefs, Buckley espoused. On other matters, well, it was a different story. The thing that strikes me is that as he allowed his views to change, via the influence of the reality of his theories put into play or a change in the outcome of any particular situation he had postulated upon, and was always more than willing to admit when he wrong and not bash you over the head when he was right - unlike almost ALL of those that have followed in his footsteps. He spoke, he did not yell. He exchanged ideas, not shoved his down your throat. He brought a civility to political discourse that has since been relegated to the scrap heap of history. I may not have agreed with him very often, but I never felt I had to - or else.

 

[vonwotan]

Let's try to remember Bill Buckley as a writer and a man. He and Brendan Gill were two of my childhood heros. They showed me great kindness when I was growing up during some particularly difficult times. I thoroughly enjoyed his spy novels and our occasional conversations. He was a true gentleman even when debating his opponents.

 

[Lincsong]

Here we go again. Another political thread coming about

Exactly.

For a man who published such a small publication he certainly changed the course of history.