I cried and cried and cried on the night of February 27, 2008. I’m not sure anyone ever did that watching Charlie Rose on PBS. But there I was.
William F. Buckley Jr. had died that day. And Rose played recaps of interviews he had conducted with Bill over the years. Bill founded National Review in 1955, and I was the editor of our website when he died. I announced his death online and received so many beautiful notes about the impact he had had on people’s lives. One medical doctor told me that Bill had been the father figure in his life — as his mother had encouraged him to watch Firing Line on PBS weekly. Catholic priests told me Bill helped inspire their vocations. A nun said the same. People told me that when they met him, he made them feel like the most important person in the world.
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