Nothing So Much As A Straight-Razor

Fools that we are, we at The Urban Naturalist neglected to observe yesterday the passing of William F. Buckley, Jr.

He is credited with the rise of the intellectual Right, he founded the National Review, was a C.I.A. agent in Mexico City, loved sailing, and wrote spy novels, in the first of which his hero, Blackford Oakes, beds down the Queen of England.

Upon reading the obituaries, valedictories, and appreciations of Mr. Buckley, The Urban Naturalist noted that almost all of them discussed his mellifluous voice. He "purred" at his enemies in debate, and when he smiled, for some, it resembled "nothing so much as a straight-razor." He coolly "filleted" his guests on 'Firing Line.' This denotes a suavity, we think, akin to that of James Bond, as though Mr. Buckley went strolling through life, overcoming with a gentle flick of his anteater tongue or twirl of his pen. But The Urban Naturalist prefers to remember a more combative Buckley, Jr. A moment that will always stand out for us is when during a debate discussing the riots at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, Gore Vidal said that as far as he was concerned, the only crypto-Nazi he could think of was Buckley. "Now listen, you queer," responded Buckley, "stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in your goddamn face, and you'll stay plastered." Vidal, for his part, smirked, but didn't say anything else.