I just finished watching Charlie Rose tonight. Charlie had a well-done retrospective on William F. Buckley's numerous appearances on the show and concluded with some heart-felt words and a final goodbye. I normally can't stand Charlie Rose. I find him interesting only for the quality of his guests. He has an annoying habit of interrupting his guests and finishing their thoughts for them. So I suppose it is telling of the great respect and deference for this particular guest that Charlie didn't employ his annoying habit very often to Bill Buckley (as if anyone could attempt to finish a Bill Buckley thought).
My first encounter with the work of William F. Buckley was through his Blackford Oakes novels, having read them on the recommendation of my brother, Tim. They were 'ripping good yarns' and I wanted to know more about this Buckley character. Low and behold my surprise to find he was the guy on "Firing Line" who necessitated the use of a dictionary to view and understand the show. At that youthful point in my life I didn't have much use for the high-brow debate of politics, philosophy, culture and religion that were often the subject of his show.
Despite that, as a high school senior or college freshman, National Review was my first-ever, paid-for-with-my-own-money magazine subscription. Through the years I've learned much more about the man and his life. A great deal has been said and will be written (much more eloquently than my me) about the man by those who knew him best. Especially over at National Review Online.
I have but one word, in its fullest meaning, to describe the man and his life.
Extraordinary.
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