Joseph Sobran, 1946-2010
By Robert Higgs • Friday October 1, 2010 7:52 PM PDT • 10 Comments
With sadness, I report the death of an old and cherished friend, Joe Sobran. Joe wrote and edited for National Review until he and William F. Buckley, Jr., had a falling out; he had a long-running engagement with CBS Radio as a commentator; and he wrote a syndicated newspaper column.
For most of his life, Joe was one of those rare conservatives who actually had and lived by sincere conservative values, rather than merely mouthing the usual banal conservative views and readily throwing principles overboard whenever an opportunity to influence or wield state power presented itself. Late in life, he embraced philosophical anarchism, having given up all hope that the state would ever do anything decent.
I met Joe about twenty years ago, and I was privileged to spend considerable time with him over the years. A gentle, learned, witty, and courageous man, Joe was one of the most beautiful writers I have encountered among commentators on public affairs. I keep a collection of quotations that express important ideas in an especially pithy, penetrating, arresting, or graceful way. Joe’s declarations are well represented in my collection. In virtually every column of his that I read, at least once I would stop, reread a sentence or a paragraph, and mutter to myself, “How I would love to be able to write such prose!”
When a man dies, it is common for friends and admirers to say that the he will be missed, but in truth, except by a handful of close friends and relatives, he really will not be missed. In Joe’s case, however, I believe that many people really will miss him. I certainly will. He wrote in a unique voice, in sentences crafted with simplicity, grace, and precision, expressing ideas that all of us might profitably ponder.
Joe was a devout Catholic. Let us hope that in this regard, too, he charted a course to a safe harbor, and that he now resides in a better place.
Tags: American History, Culture, Entertainment, Integrity, Liberty, Media, Morality, Natural Law, Personal Liberty, Religion 
Joseph Sobran, fallen prince, may the Queen of Angels receive you. Requiescat in pace.
Javier R | Oct 3, 2010 | Reply
Dr. Higgs, can you comment on something for me? In recent years I’ve read a few Sobran columns and quotes and came away very impressed each time. I did read that he had a falling-ut w/ Buckley. But now I read some things in recent days that charge that Sobran was an anti-Semite and Holocaust denier? I’m not sure what to believe but completely trust your writing and viewpoints. Can you straighten this out for me? Or set the record straight?
Thanks very much in advance,
Chris
Speedmaster | Oct 4, 2010 | Reply
Dear Chris,
When I wrote to you earlier today, I did not know that you had also posted the same inquiry at The Beacon. Having answered you offline, I will spare the world any more of my verbiage here, except to repeat that I know of no grounds to sustain the accusations made against Joe by the neocons, but I do know why they would have slandered him.
Robert Higgs | Oct 4, 2010 | Reply
Sobran also, to the best of my knowledge, coined the term “Guardian Amendment” in reference to the Second. Would that our political masters understood this.
Joe Waldron | Oct 4, 2010 | Reply
Thanks, Dr. Higgs. MUCH appreciated!
Speedmaster | Oct 5, 2010 | Reply
Joe was a victim, not of “the Jews,” but of those who, so to speak, “wrap themselves in the Star of David,” and Joe knew this very well, I have no doubt.
We all remain victims of the same agents provocateurs today, which is what drove Joe on in his last years – he would never have complained so in his own behalf.
The welfare and reputation of “the Jews” remains today hostage to those usurpers whose sway in Israel seems as strong as it is in the US. We must liberate both countries – and above all, the Jews themselves – from the grip of these despots.
Jett Rucker | Oct 5, 2010 | Reply
I remember discovering Joe Sobran in 1999, and spending hours reading many of his columns. A few years later when he made his conversion to anarchism I felt sorely disappointed that he would give up the game and resign himself to irrelevance.
But just a few years later I ended up an anarchist myself.
I never met him, but I truly do miss Sobran. I grieve for him, especially over the evil that was done to him.
Brian | Oct 5, 2010 | Reply
I discovered Joe through the Wanderer, as the name of the weekly suggests we are all wanderers through this life. Joe wrote in words that I, a blue collar worker could understand and reflect upon. I will miss Joe, RIP.
spencer | Oct 7, 2010 | Reply
What I would have given to have known and worked for Joseph Sobran. I could have learned so much from working with this witty, gentle and erudite man. Timing is almost everything. Isn’t it?
bill | Jan 14, 2012 | Reply