An erudite farewell for William F. Buckley Jr.
Dignitaries attend a memorial at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York for the founder of modern conservatism. 'It's not easy coming up with an epitaph for a man like that,' says his son.
NEW YORK — Henry Kissinger reached the end of his speech.
His voice cracked and tears rimmed his eyes as he addressed the 2,000 people who sat before him, quiet.
William F. Buckley Jr., he said, "was a noble and valiant man who was truly touched by the grace of God."
Kissinger eulogized the progenitor of the modern conservative movement Friday at the vast St. Patrick's Cathedral in a ceremony marked more by erudition and laughter than tears.
Buckley -- writer, editor and television talk show host -- died Feb. 27 at 82 in his Stamford, Conn., home.
"We talked about this day, he and I, a few years ago," said Buckley's son, the writer Christopher Buckley, who gave the only other eulogy. His father had instructed him to hold the memorial at St. Patrick's if he was still famous at the time of his death. " 'If not, just tuck me away at Stamford,' " the younger Buckley said.
"Well, Pop, I guess you're still famous," Christopher Buckley added as he surveyed the crowd.
Seated beneath the Gothic arches were a who's who of American letters and politics: former Sen. George S. McGovern, Sen. Joe Lieberman, William Kristol, Richard Lowry, Tom Wolfe, P.J. O'Rourke, Christopher Hitchens, Charlie Rose, Chris Matthews, Tina Brown. (Actor Tom Selleck was there too.)
As Bill Buckley had requested, there was music by Bach.
But Kissinger invoked another composer.
"He wrote as Mozart composed -- by inspiration," Kissinger said. "He never needed a second draft."
In the days and weeks since Buckley's death, commentators and writers have repeatedly invoked George Will's words in National Review, the magazine Buckley founded in 1955: "Before there was Ronald Reagan, there was Barry Goldwater, and before there was Barry Goldwater there was National Review, and before there was National Review there was Bill Buckley with a spark in his mind."
For his followers, "before" seemed an easier preposition than "after."
His love of life notwithstanding, Buckley -- a devout Catholic -- didn't shy away from contemplating his mortality. When Rose asked him shortly before his death whether he wished to be 20 again, Buckley quickly answered: "Absolutely not."
"I'm utterly prepared to stop," he said, with a faint pause of contemplation, "living on."
In addition to his television career and busy speaking schedule, Buckley wrote more than 40 fiction and nonfiction books, as well as more than 5,000 articles and essays.
