A Cruise in His Honor   

I first saw William F. Buckley in person when he was mopping up the stage with George McGovern at a Cornell University debate in the 1980s.  I couldn't stop laughing and the very liberal college students who were attending, couldn't either.   I have so many things to thank him for that have made my life richer, including literary introductions to Evelyn Waugh, Malcolm Muggeridge, Whittaker Chambers, and others. 

This is a sad, empty day to think of a future without his aristocratic brilliance and I feel a deep longing for the era and times he represented. His wonderful life — private schools, Europe, WWII, Yale, National Review and his epic sailing books are so inspiring and highlight what is good about life in this world.   His amazing accomplishments and life are a compelling beacon for all — The Buckley Music Notation system, his weekly, never miss, first thing to read articles on the next to the last page of the National Review.  I never read a sentence by him that wasn't a marvel.

I will plan a yachting cruise within the year in his honor, to celebrate his life.  There will be good wine, back issues of the NR, a copy of God and Man at Yale, all of his sailing novels — everything WFB with good food and music as well.

Farewell, old friend, we will miss you desperately.
Jim Jackson, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

02/29 05:08 PM