william f. buckley, jr., died one year ago today

william f. buckley, jr., died one year ago today, february 27, 2008, at the age of 82. buckley was found by his son, christopher, at his desk in the study of his stamford connecticut home. he may have died while at work on his last column.

i was huge fan of william f. buckley (while not necessarily in much agreement with him) since my college days. i posted this brief summary of my interest in buckley, when i wrote about his memorial service. since his death i read buckley's final book, "the reagan i knew." the book was completed posthumously, and was one of my christmas presents. while i haven't had a chance yet, will eventually post a brief review.

rip william f. buckley.

"an american family: the buckleys" book review

i should note, at the outset, "an american family: the buckleys," by reid buckley, wasn't the book i had expected to read! with a young william f. buckley, jr., front and center on the cover, quarter-backing a touch football scrimmage reminiscent of a similar kennedy family clan photo opportunity, i seriously expected more coverage of william f. buckley, jr., and his life, in specific, and the buckley clan and its adventures, in general. sadly, reid buckley's book provides neither.

instead, there is plenty of coverage of william f. buckley, senior. almost one-half of the book is devoted to a non-linear exposition of his life. and almost all of the second half, to aloise buckley, his wife. this is primarily a book about the parents and their generation. but of bill buckley, the son (and author's older brother)? reid devotes more print coverage, it seems, to the lunch he, his mother and aunt had with norman mailer in the early 1970's than he does to his brother. the same seems true about the reid's coverage of his siblings. while he does introduce us to his brothers, sisters, and in-laws, it's not with full biographical portraits of them.

what reid buckley does give us is a book primarily concerned with the truly fascinating life of his father (and, to a lesser extent, mother). the assembled stories of his father's adventures in the early days of oil and gas exploration, in mexico (and the southern united states in general), and how he managed to raise the buckley clan in good times and bad (both extremes, in his business, at turns) are very enjoyable. i'm not sure how he decided to arrange the material because it wasn't done in a straightforward, chronological manner. some of the more interesting and exotic vignettes about his father life struck me as the mexican ones - culminating, it seemed, with his dangerous encounters with pancho villa.

the only cavil i have about reid's writing style is the annoying habit he had of referring to his father as "sire!" once, maybe, twice and beyond? after the second "sire," either it should be mr. ed, or some other refined equine, providing the narrative. we humans should stick with the more prosaic "father." but not "dad," or other familiar variations of address, which he specifically ruled out as anathema at the outset. aside from that bit of nit-picking, he write well and one can certainly see flashes of his more prolific brother's style in some of the passages.

with the two caveats in mind, i would still recommend reid's book without reservation. it is a necessary addition to the library of any serious fan of the buckleys. one last thought, i also enjoyed how reid would occasional share the pages with observations written by his siblings on other occasions, but appropriate to expand on the topic then under discussion. at those points the book almost seemed like a family scrapbook.

william f. buckley, jr., memorial service

continuing my review of the stack of newspapers waiting for me when i got home, i found the saturday ny times covered the memorial service for william f. buckley, jr., held at st. patrick's cathedral on friday. while i didn't remember having read about his memorial service i was surprised to see this item in the news. he died on february 27, and i imagined that the memorial would have been held weeks ago.


it was certainly a coincidence that i finished "overdrive: a personal documentary," on the flight home from north carolina. after i learned of his death, i chose to reread this book as my own personal tribute to his memory. it documents one week during his life in the early 1980's, covering such material as the taping his pbs show, "firing line," the writing of his column and replies to correspondence, socializing, and the normal ebb and flow of his daily activities. it was a welcome refresher on how diverse, interesting and extraordinary his life was.


"overdrive" was actually the second buckley book i read. "atlantic high: a celebration," was the first one - way back in 1982. i came to enjoy buckley mainly through his sailing books, with "atlantic high" as the first of his four trans-oceanic books that i read over the next 15 or so years. i would sometimes watch "firing line," and occasionally read his column. but i didn't read his fiction, nor was i generally a reader of his other non-fiction books.


the last buckley book i read was "miles gone by: a literary autobiography," during the summer of 2004. we were on vacation and spent a week in misquamicut, rhode island. just taking my copy off the bookshelf now brings back the memories of reading it on that stretch of beach. i was saddened to learn of buckley's death. but when his son reported that he, at the age of 83, was found dead at his desk where he was working on a column, a more fitting departure could not have been penned.