William F Buckley, Jr.

My family taught me stories but public speakers introduced me to a new world of ideas.

When I was a youngster one of the first public intellectuals to capture my young mind was Mr.Buckley. His presentation of an argument that is his delivery was so alien from the ways that people in my family and amongst members of my class spoke as to totally beguile me. That was a good thing because even when I disagreed with this man's ideas I thought about what he meant and thinking influenced my own philosophy of government and citizens. I find, in retrospect, that Buckley's rhetoric was as influential in its way as Dr. King, JFK, RFK and other speakers of the time.

How it was that a Puerto Rican American girl fell in love with language is the result of her access to television and radio where all these people and others were able to speak, discuss, and engage with thoughts using wonderful language and importantly to me civility. It is indeed a great loss to our country that the ability to engage people's minds has deteriorated to appealing to people's fears. Truly this is deplorable and in sharp contrast to the ideals embodied in the works of the aforementioned people. Perhaps a little nostalgia can get us to draw from the best of USAmerican people from the past.

Another article eulogizing Mr. Buckley.


RIP, Mr. Buckley.

Comments

bdegenaro said…
NPR replayed a Terry Gross interview where Buckley defended his infamous opposition to de-segregation. Interesting, though troubling, figure.
Yes, He had ideas with which I disagreed, but still had an admirable way of teasing out his reasoning. Also, he could and did change his mind about important issues like civil rights.

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