RIP, William F. Buckley, Jr

Leading conservative thinker William F. Buckley, Jr, has died at the age of 82.

"Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for ten years."
-WFB

I'm not going to say very much about him, because so much is already written elsewhere. But some things you might not know: Spanish was his first language, believe it or not. In addition to writing many books, and founding the National Review, he also joined the US Army in WWII, and served as a member of President Roosevelt's honor guard at his funeral. He also worked for the CIA for a short time, and wrote a series of fiction about a CIA agent to help counter their negative image in the popular media. I didn't agree with him on absolutely everything, but he was a fabulous writer and a real American patriot. I will miss him.

Interesting notes on reactions to this news at Jammiewearingfool.