William F. Buckley, R.I.P.
March 5th, 2008 by Peter
William F. Buckley, a Connecticut native rightly described as the intellectual father of the conservative movement, died last week.
Buckley was not one of the formative influences in my journey from left to right. I did not discover him–or his delightful magazine, National Review–until after that journey was complete. But once I did, it was further confirmation that I had taken the correct path. No where on the Left was there anyone who was capable of engaging opponents in as elegant and witty a style as Buckley did from the Right. It helped, too, that he was brilliant and almost always right.
Bill Buckley was a man of almost inexhaustible curiosity, courtesy, generosity, and delight in the oddness of the human circumstance. He exulted in displaying his many talents, which was not pride so much as an invitation to others to share his amazement at the possibilities in being fully alive. He was also, in and through everything, a man of quietly solid Christian faith. I am among innumerable others whose lives are fuller by virtue of the gift of his friendship. May choirs of angels greet him on the far side of Jordan.
