Celebrating the wit of William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925–2008)
William F. Buckley, Jr. died February 27, 2008, at his home in Connecticut. In his antepenultimate book, Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription, he bids farewell to his popular column in the National Review.
Excerpts by William F. Buckley, Jr.
National Review magazine began publishing in November 1955. I was its founder and editor and only stockholder. We began with a very small subscription list, but it was made up of lively and expressive people. Most letters addressed to us for publication were satisfactorily dealt with by simply sending them to the magazine’s letters section. Others cried out for different treatment. Gradually the thought crystallized that those who wrote to us exercising special skills or leaving a special flavor should not be treated perfunctorily. I began to channel unorthodox letters into a department I called “Notes & Asides.” That department evolved as my own personal page in the magazine, available for whatever purposes I had in mind to put it to. Some correspondents made their points in special, even distinctive language. Some were curious, some disparaging, some downright combative. Most of these letters were answered in print, or commented on in some way.
The feature was popular, and its life was extended after my retirement. This came in two stages. In 1990 I retired as hands-on editor-in-chief; in 2004, I gave away my ownership of the magazine. But “Notes & Asides” survived, perhaps not quite as robust as in its prime, but with more than life enough to warrant the occasional column of space in which it spoke with its distinctive orientation.
What follows is a small sampling of the letters to the editor that appeared in “Notes & Asides” over the National Review’s 50 year run. In all of them, Buckley displays the wit that made him famous, his political aplomb as well as his appreciation for interesting words.
September 23, 1969
Dear Mr. Buckley:
Your syntax is horrible.
Ron Kelly
Mattoon, Ill.
Dear Mr. Kelly:
If you had my syntax, you’d be rich.
Cordially, WFB
December 17, 1971
Dear Mr. Buckley:
I am a student at North Central High School in Indianapolis. For a project I have to answer three universal questions. I have to use Great Books of the Western World, many newspaper and magazine articles, novels, short stories, write letters, and conduct several interviews.
This project counts 1/4 of my semester grade. As you know, universal questions can only be answered by opinion, and I would greatly appreciate yours.
1) Why is there war?
2) How far out does the universe go?
3) What happens after you die?
I would value your opinion highly. Thank you.
Sincerely,
John Mallinson
Indianapolis, Ind.
Dear John:
1) Because people disagree.
2) Twice half way.
3) I will go to heaven. I don’t know where you will go.
—WFB
April 14, 1972
Dear Bill:
Three cheers to Dr. Ross Terrill. He slashed you to bits as you have been doing to yourself for the past year. Cancel my subscription.
Wm. W. Morris
Green Valley, Ariz.
Dear Mr.Morris:
Cancel your own goddam subscription.
Cordially, WFB
May 31, 1985
Dear Bill:
I’ve been a subscriber and a sometime contributor to NR for many years because I like its style and, in general, its philosophy. I must tell you that I am not all that interested in Catholic activities to the extent that you present them. Indeed, you dwell on them as though NR were written solely for a Catholic audience. It’s boring.
Very truly yours,
Earl Hazan
Barrington, R.I.
Dear Mr. Hazan:
If you have especially in mind the space NR has devoted to the abortion issue, NR replies by saying that the issue is falsely identified as a “Catholic” issue. The question whether life exists prebirth is a biological question with moral implications. If you have in mind the coverage given to the increasing politicization of religion by many prominent Catholics, then your own focus, if religion or Catholicism bores you, should be on the politics of the question, not the religion. If you have in mind our general coverage of religion, pray remember that our first religion editor was a Jew (Will Herberg), whose successor was an Anglican (Gerhart Niemeyer), followed by an ex-priest (Malachi Martin), and now—a Catholic (Michael Novak). The editors continue to believe that religion is a part of the historical narrative we seek to chronicle, analyze, and affect.
Yours cordially, WFB
December 5, 2005
Dear Mr. Buckley:
In forming my impression of the unrest among our allies in France, I am forced to ask: Is there a Gallic equivalent of the German term “Schadenfreude”?
Regards,
John P. Glynn
Chicago, Ill.
Dear Mr. Glynn:
Yes. It’s “joie de vivre.”
Cordially, WFB
While writing Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription, Buckley waxed poetic as he said goodbye to the brainchild that brought him great success.
What to do after the 80th birthday? I read yesterday in The Weekly Standard—an exemplary weekly, hoping to rise, in the years to come, to the status of a fortnightly—a wonderful if poignant reference by Joseph Epstein to a line from Santayana. Notice, I did not say “George” Santayana, which would demean him, rather like coming out with “William” Shakespeare, to make certain which Shakespeare you were talking about. The lines recalled in this wonderful obituary tell us that “the world is so ordered that we must, in a material sense, lose everything we have and love, one thing after another, until we ourselves close our eyes.” Well, but then I have this actuarial reassurance, that however prolonged the forthcoming and inevitable decomposition, I will not be subjected to what would be truly intolerable, namely 50 years without National Review. For this I am grateful, as I am to you, for serving as witnesses to this final capitulation, done in your warm and enduring company.
From the book Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription by William F. Buckley, Jr. Reprinted by arrangement with Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright ©2007. FLYING HIGH by William F. Buckley Jr., will be available in May 2008.