About this Blog – FAQ
The right time was the last forty years, from 1969 to now. The right place was National Review, for which I wrote, and where I worked, during those years.
My new book, Right Time, Right Place, is in part a biography of Bill Buckley — from the peak of his game, through his endgame. It shows him as the master of the polemical universe, editor, columnist, and TV host, and as the lion in winter (still with claws: he helped eject Lowell Weicker from the Senate, and put Joe Lieberman in).
It is history -- a slice of political and intellectual life that runs from the fall of Saigon to the surge, from conservatism rising to conservatism in eclipse (eclipses end, remember). Among the characters who walk its pages are: Reagan, Castro, Newt, Rudy; Jude Wanniski, Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul. It is also a slice of institutional history: I have worked with the last three editors of National Review, who are the only three editors.
It is, finally, the memoir of a mentor/protégé relationship. I was 14 when I came to Bill’s attention; he was 82 when we parted. I was looking for an idol, Bill was looking for an heir; after a few detours, we found a friendship.
The book tells the story. This blog will note interesting reax to the story, and spin off a few footnotes and shoptalk about how such things get written. Kathryn Jean Lopez and I will invite comment from interested parties who knew the subject, the times, or the author. But remember — this is Buckley-land you’re entering; you’ll have to comment stylishly.
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