Bill Buckley was very knowledegeable about music. He was responsible for my becoming a piano protege of Ralph Kikpatrick, the eminent harpsichordist and musicologist at the Yale School of Music in 1971 Bill. Buckley shaped my unique curriculum at school and called faculty members to make an appointment to speak with me about how i was getting along at school. He took a deep personal interest in my career and education. I am extremely lucky to have known him for 37 years.He was a Haley'sComet in my life.

So long to a great conservative and a great American.

He was always vocal and never without his own opinion. The man was certainly born into prestige -- the Skull and Bones membership says enough. But he did take some controversial opinions, like his statements made on the Iraq war most recently, as well as his earlier statements on the Panama Canal ...I don't know if I feel comfortable in all his remarks on women's liberation or the civil rights. Sometimes he was downright wrong. But he laid out crucial elements of American conservatism today and it is important for the current administration to remember the limits (and the failures) of power, past and present.