|  William
(R.W.) Bradford was the founder and editor of Liberty magazine,
one of the preeminent publications in the libertarian movement.
In its first issue in July 1987, Bradford said Liberty magazine
would be "a journal by libertarians for libertarians, a journal
with the space and inclination to discuss issues that interest libertarians,
written from an unapologetically libertarian perspective." The
publication will offer "lively, provocative analysis," he
said, about the intellectual roots of libertarianism, cultural and historical
issues from a pro-liberty perspective, and the history of the libertarian
movement.
Since its founding, the monthly magazine (circulation: about 10,000)
covered a broad variety of topics -- from current events to Ayn Rand;
from the Libertarian Party to book reviews; from Alcoholics Anonymous
to the War on Terror.
Dan Klein, an associate professor of Economics at Santa Clara University,
described Liberty magazine as an "irreverent, often uproarious
libertarian take on the American scene. It has a feel and charm of its
own."
Bradford called himself a libertarian since 1963, when he was "infected
by the libertarian virus" after reading a copy of the New Individualist
Review, according to an account he wrote in Liberty (September
1992). In 1965, Bradford encountered the writings of novelist and philosopher
Ayn Rand; in 1966, he was part of the libertarian faction that split
from Young Americans for Freedom; and in the early 1970s, he was involved
in the founding of the Libertarian Party.
Away from politics, Bradford rooted for the Detroit Tigers baseball
team, was an avid motorcycle rider, and enjoyed visiting the deserts
of California and Nevada.
Bradford died of kidney cancer on December 8, 2005. He was 58.
-- Bill Winter
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Quotable
"To
be a libertarian is to believe that human liberty ought to be greatly
increased. To be a libertarian is to believe that human liberty is the
paramount goal of government." -- R.W. Bradford
in Liberty magazine (May 2001)
Libertarians
Remember R.W. Bradford
"Bill
was an entrepreneur and a friend of liberty and will be missed by people
the world over." -- Tom Palmer, Director, Cato
University.
"He produced Liberty relentlessly and with never-ending
waves of hard work, because he thought the libertarian movement needed
an 'inreach' periodical (as opposed to an outreach one) to hash over
intra-movement history and debate... Like all libertarian luminaries,
he was wildly eccentric, very difficult to argue with, and mostly through
it all a real hoot to be with, read, or just contemplate." -- Brian
Doherty, Senior Editor, Reason
"I
will always remember him as a man with a true zest for life and as someone
who devoted his heart, soul, and mind to a project that he deeply loved."
— Ari Armstrong, Colorado Freedom Report
"He was frequently controversial within the libertarian movement,
and often took the Libertarian Party (and me) to task. In my opinion,
he always tried to report what he saw as the truth as fairly as possible."
-- Stephen Gordon, Hammer of Truth Blog
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