RIP: Bill Buckley

William F. Buckely, Jr., the conservative founder of the National Review has died. While I seldom agreed with him, his clarity of thought and lack of hyperbole in writing made his conservative opinions understandable and grounded.

There was one thing I agreed with him about and that was on teen pregnancy and absent fathers. It was agreement enough to inspire me to write to him and say so. Now I've written such letters to other writers before and have learned not to expect a response other than a form letter, so it was a thrill to receive a personal reply from him a few weeks later. He didn't let a lot of time lapse between my letter and his reply either which astounded me. I still have that letter somewhere in my papers.

The place that I really shared common ground with Mr. Buckley was in the love of words. Lexicography, if you will. Once I learned to read, dictionaries became part of my main reading diet for years. I still love word challenges so his Word of The Day in the National Review Online was fun for me and it was fun to see how many days I could go before a word's meaning tripped me up.

So I'd just like to remember Buckley well and wish his soul a happy entry to his Catholic heaven.