I wish I could remember the first time I heard William F. Buckley Jr., who died today. I think it was back in high school and Buckley was in town to preach about the conservative movement that would soon take over the Republican Party and help Barry Goldwater get the nomination.
I do recall I couldn’t decide if he was ultimately cool or just a snob but that he had a way with words, whether or not they made sense. I even went out and got a subscription to his magazine “National Review,’’ which I pretended to enjoy and even understand although if ever a magazine could have used playmates, it was this one.