In view of the news about the death of Bill Buckley's wife Pat (see post below) I thought I would re post an article I wrote here in 2005 when Bill Buckley turned 80.
Monday, November 7, 2005: William F Buckley Jr Turns 80 this Month
Boy does that make me feel old. When I was a teenager he was my hero. Most boys may age idolized Mickey Mantel or Johnny Unitas or John Kennedy, but John Wayne and Bill Buckley were my hero's. I still have a large poster of Bill hanging in our family room(it's still there) , my wife won't let me hang it in the living room. I bought it in Berkeley California, of all places, on a spring vacation trip while I was a college student at Oregon in 1969. Back in those days Buckley's show on PBS, Firing Line, was one of the few conservative shows broadcast. I still remember when he ran for Mayor of New York and debated John Lindsey. Buckley pretended to be bored or sleeping while Lindsey was speaking. My mom thought he was rude but I though he was cool. Back then he was the conservative "young rebel." We YAF ers (Young Americans for Freedom) all wanted to be like him.In those days the conservative movement was fun... it's hard to explain how much fun we had as young conservatives in the early 60's before Kennedy was shot and Vietnam was lost. In the days before talk radio, Fox News, and the Internet we always had National Review and Bill was our leader.. Happy Birthday Bill..... How far we have come . Thanks!
