IV. Editor, Thinker, Colleague

My first job at national review was as production manager of the now defunct National Review Bulletin—the eight-page newsletter that came out every other week, between issues of the magazine —which is one reason why I always had a special affection for it. But what really made the Bulletin special for me was the man who was its editor during the last decade of its life. The Bulletin reflected James Burnham’s style and tone.

Like the magazine, the Bulletin had a section called “The Week,” which consisted of paragraph-length treatments of domestic and foreign events. In the magazine these paragraphs can run to thirty lines, but Mr. Burnham liked to keep Bulletin paragraphs to ten lines. While magazine paragraphs make a point explicitly, Bulletin paragraphs were understated. The facts were laid out and Bulletin readers—a small but worldly band—were invited to draw the right conclusions for themselves. That was Burnham’s way.

KL

About the Author

Kevin Lynch

My first job at national review was as production manager of the now defunct National Review Bulletin—the eight-page newsletter that came out every other week, between issues of the magazine —which is one reason why I always had a special affection for it. But what really made the Bulletin special for me was the man who was its editor during the last decade of its life. The Bulletin reflected James Burnham’s style and tone.

Like the magazine, the Bulletin had a section called “The Week,” which consisted of paragraph-length treatments of domestic and foreign events. In the magazine these paragraphs can run to thirty lines, but Mr. Burnham liked to keep Bulletin paragraphs to ten lines. While magazine paragraphs make a point explicitly, Bulletin paragraphs were understated. The facts were laid out and Bulletin readers—a small but worldly band—were invited to draw the right conclusions for themselves. That was Burnham’s way.