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Friends Remember Harry Browne

David F. Nolan, co-founder, Libertarian Party:

I first met Harry Browne nearly 40 years ago, when I was head of the Liberty Amendment Committee's National Youth Council and Harry was editor of Freedom Magazine, the LAC's house organ. Harry encouraged me to write for the magazine, and helped me develop my writing style.

We lost track of each other for most of the 1970s and 1980s as we went our separate ways, but reconnected when Harry spoke at a California LP convention in 1989. He was as charming as I remembered him to be, and our paths crossed with increasing frequency as Harry became more active in Libertarian Party affairs.

And while he and I did not always see eye-to-eye on specific issues and strategies, I was always impressed by Harry's civil style and unwavering commitment to the cause of liberty. Harry exemplified the adage that you can disagree without being disagreeable. He had a natural knack for explaining libertarian ideas in a way that people could relate to, often interjecting a bit of humor into his presentations.

Everyone who loves liberty is in Harry's debt, and should be saddened by his death.

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Robert Ringer, author, Restoring the American Dream:

March 1, 2006 was a sad day for the cause of liberty. Sad because a true ethical giant of our time, Harry Browne, passed away...

Harry demonstrated the enormous power of the written and spoken word. I rank him as perhaps the greatest writer/speaker of our time. He was living proof that there is no replacement for knowledge and wisdom when it comes to changing the hearts and minds of people.

Thanks, Harry, for setting me on the path to rational thinking and motivating me in my quest for truth. I still trip up in these areas from time to time, but your life has been an inspiration to me to pick myself up, brush myself off, and keep on trying.

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Penn Gillette, PennRadio.com:

Harry Browne was my president. He was the Libertarian candidate; I voted for him both times he ran. He was a wonderful man. I was big fan of his; he taught me an awful lot. Man, he was a great guy! Harry Browne, we're gonna miss you.

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George Getz, Former Libertarian Party

Director of Communications:

With Harry Browne, we Libertarians had a presidential candidate we could respect -- and be proud of. (How many Democrats and Republicans can say that?)

One day during the '96 campaign Harry and his wonderful wife, Pamela, stopped by the campaign headquarters unexpectedly. Harry took the time to meet and mingle with the entire staff, including volunteers and interns.

Then he sat quietly in a corner, and emerged later with a dozen personally inscribed copies of his book, Why Government Doesn't Work -- one for everyone he had just met. (Mine is one of my prized possessions.)

That was the kind of thing Harry Browne did routinely, and one reason he's so beloved among Libertarians.

There's an old Indian saying, "Once people pass on, a part of them leaves, but a part lives on in the spirits of those they touched." Harry Browne lives on in the spirits of thousands, as does his message of freedom.

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Ron Paul, U.S. Congressman (R-Texas):

I pay tribute to Harry Browne for his lifelong efforts on behalf of individual liberty... Harry had a passion for liberty and knowledge of a wide variety of subjects. His communication style, as he himself so marvelously put it, focused on converting his opponents rather than winning the argument. These attributes helped make him one of the most effective proponents of the freedom philosophy I have had the privilege of knowing. Harry’s numerous books and columns, his radio and internet broadcasts, and his speeches educated millions in sound economics and the benefits of a free society. Harry motivated many people to become activists in the movement to restore American liberties.

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Carla Howell, co-founder, Center for Small Government:

Thank you, Harry Browne, for your courage. Your brilliance. Your energy. Your commitment. Your profound understanding of government and liberty. Your unapologetic boldness. Thank you, Harry Browne, for inspiring the many who will work for freedom for generations to come -- because of you. Thank you, Harry Browne, for your books, essays, interviews, and speeches, which will live on and bless this world forever.

For me, Harry Browne is a giant among men. I will miss him and cherish him as long as I live.

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Mary Ruwart, author, Healing Our World:

Harry put his heart and soul into spreading the libertarian message, while embracing it at ever deepening levels. Perhaps the greatest tribute we can pay him is to follow his example. Thank you, Harry, for your hard work, dedication, and inspiration!

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Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., President, Mises Institute:

Harry Browne...was a man of great principle who courageously and consistently stood up for liberty even when his position clashed with mainstream political culture and public opinion. He was a great writer who worked hard to turn a phrase in a way that would serve to educate people about free markets and the free society. He was a supremely thoughtful man, who read voraciously to educate himself, was not adverse to admitting error, and constantly struggled to say what was true as he understood it.

He was exceptional as a public speaker during [his presidential] campaigns. No matter whether the topic was taxes, education, states rights, war and foreign policy, or the drug war, he took the right position and explained it in a way that allowed anyone to see his point of view. He changed minds, and stuck to principle the whole time.

In his last years, few writers have been as good as Harry on all aspects of the Bush administration. After 9-11, when others fell silent or acquiesced to regime priorities, he stuck his neck out and defended personal liberty against the surveillance state, less government against the homeland-security state, and peace against the war on terror. He never hesitated. He wrote the truth with grace and good humor...

As we look back on the history of the libertarian movement, and we think of those who have contributed mightily to making the idea of radical liberty more mainstream and popular, Harry Browne emerges as a giant. He was talented, dignified, sincere, and dedicated, and he showed genuine courage in the face of fantastic pressure to get him to cave in. All lovers of liberty should be grateful for him, his life, his writings, and his legacy.

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Michael Cloud, author, Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion:

Harry Browne... You reached millions of Americans with our libertarian message. On talk radio, TV, your books, and in person. You touched us, inspired us, and moved us. Harry, you changed our lives.

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Stephen Gordon, Hammer of Truth Blog:

Members of both the Libertarian Party and entire the libertarian movement have lost a great leader and spokesperson for the cause. Harry, you will be missed....

I last saw him at the 2004 Libertarian Party convention where my wife and I shared a banquet table with Harry, Pamela and a few other people. While he looked as though he had aged a bit, his wit was sharp and his eyes sparkled with life. In every correspondence we've shared since then, that same sparkle was present, motivating me to do more for the cause of liberty. If Harry Browne was still with us, I think he'd still be trying to motivate each and every one of us to reach our highest potential.

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David Bergland, author, Libertarianism In One Lesson:

"Life, like a dome of many-colored glass / Stains the white radiance of eternity."

-- "Adonais," Percy Bysshe Shelley

Let me borrow these words from Shelley. When death takes a great person, especially a friend, like Harry Browne, the sense of loss is so affecting that our own words seem helpless, not nearly enough. Harry, the life of Harry Browne, rose above us all. If there is justice, it is a place he will hold for mankind's eternity.

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Robert Prechter, President, Elliott Wave International:

Harry Browne was one of my early heroes in this business. His How To Profit from a Monetary Crisis is great book and became a runaway success in the 1970s. His most interesting book to my mind is an earlier title, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. I recommend it to this day as a guide to life. Harry later made history by running for president twice, on the Libertarian ticket, to which role he brought his legendary poise and "presidential" demeanor. No one who knew him will ever forget Harry Browne.

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Jim Babka, President, Downsize, DC:

Harry Browne should be most remembered for his outreach skill. He was the Jim Brown or Michael Jordan of persuasive outreach to the masses. He was unlike any typical evangelist you'll ever meet. He never flailed his arms, didn't raise his voice and shout, and yet, he was the best libertarian evangelist ever.

No one in the libertarian movement has ever done a better job of presenting those ideals in an easy-to-understand and persuasive manner than Harry did. It has been said that it "usually begins with Ayn Rand." Well, for a bunch of people I know and have read online -- as well as for me -- it began with Harry Browne.

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Anthony Gregory, LewRockwell.com:

Harry Browne...was so convincing. One of the most convincing voices in the movement, in fact. He was notoriously civil, too... [He simply] told the truth politely, without raising his voice, allowing his detractors to lose their own arguments in enraged disbelief as Harry just sat there, smiling, good-natured, unwavering and sincere.

And how many other political candidates could respond to obscure questions about everything from environmental policy to secession with accessible answers, common sense, and an arsenal of solid facts? The knowledge was out there, in journals and academic studies. But we were all lucky, and still are, that the most well-known libertarian, the man whose words were widely seen as summing up our beliefs, the first impression of libertarian thought for millions of Americans, happened to have a clue what he was talking about.

The loss of Harry Browne, on March 1, 2006, is a tragedy for the libertarian movement... He will be warmly regarded and highly respected as long as there are libertarians, and, I do believe, his influence has helped ensure that there always will be.

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Richard Ebeling, President,

Foundation for Economic Education:

I knew Harry Browne for at least 20 years. I always found him to be a good and decent man, someone who truly believed in the principles of liberty. His passing due to a rare and debilitating disease is a great loss to the freedom movement. But he will continue to live in the memories of those who knew him. And through his books, others will continue to meet him and be influenced by his simple but persuasive way of explaining the ideal of liberty.

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Tom Knapp, Kn@ppster Blog:

Harry Browne was the first presidential candidate I actually felt good about voting for -- the first one who wasn't just a "lesser evil," and the first one who didn't leave me worried that I'd regret having supported him if he actually won...

As often as we were on opposite sides of contests and controversies within the [Libertarian] party, it was simply impossible not to like Harry. As often as I disagreed with him on strategy, it was impossible not to admire his gift for communicating libertarian ideas in a reasonable, friendly, engaging way.

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Anthony Wile, founder, FreeMarketNews.com:

Harry Browne is a very dear friend of mine and someone I will miss a great deal. [He was a] man of integrity who stood on principle and lived his life his own way. A man who aspired to help others to understand the complex systems around us and how they accomplish very little other than to deprive us of our liberties and ultimately our freedoms. A man who would never shy away from a political debate, but who would respond civilly even when personally attacked. A man who knew what he was talking about because he had actually lived, not read about living in a book.

I believe that when the clock ticked through midnight on a day when America lost one of her greatest and most devoted sons, there is a strong possibility that Lady Liberty shed a few tears herself. And appropriately so.

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Joseph Farah, Editor, WorldNetDaily.com:

Harry Browne was a good friend to freedom-loving people everywhere. He will be greatly missed by all of us who knew him.

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Alan Bock, columnist, Orange County Register:

It was too bad that third-party candidates weren't allowed into the televised debates, because Harry looked more presidential than either of the major-party candidates. He was tall, gray-haired and dignified, and soft-spoken while almost never retreating from core libertarian principles. He was among the libertarians who immediately saw that the Iraq war, as a war of aggression against a country that posed no conceivable threat to the United States, was ill-conceived and wrong, and he persisted in saying so in his soft-spoken but insistent way.

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Eric Garris, www.AntiWar.com:

Harry was one of the leading antiwar voices within the libertarian movement... Harry was one of the first libertarians to speak out after 9/11, taking a strong anti-intervention position at a time when virtually all that could be heard were calls for bombing everyone back into the stone age. He showed a direction to libertarians on the proper post-9/11 response with his strident op-eds... We at Antiwar.com will miss his presence and his insightful thoughts.

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George Gori, jeffersonianlib.blogspot.com:

Harry Browne was a colossus of liberty. Browne was a man of great intellect, soft spoken, kind and generous. He was always calm, cool, and collected when debating any opponent... I can honestly say that Harry Browne was the one man who caused me to open my mind to new, and more increasingly radical ideas. His books like How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World, Why Government Doesn't Work, and The Great Libertarian Offer hold a special place in my book collection. Browne worked steadfastly for freedom, and in my humble opinion was one of its most articulate and ardent proponents.

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Cathy Young, columnist, The Boston Globe:

Harry Browne...represented something important in American political culture, something increasingly disappearing from its mainstream: the Jeffersonian belief in a small government that intervenes minimally in people's lives. ...In our day and age, Browne's warnings about expansionist government and the loss of personal freedoms seem more relevant than ever.

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Larry Nieves, Liberal Venezolano Blog:

A lo largo de su vida Harry Browne fue un luchador por las libertades individuales y la independencia de la persona respecto al estado, consecuentemente siempre propuso la disminución del poder gubernamental en todas los aspectos. Para muesta, un botón: "El gobierno parece operar bajo el principio que si sólo un individuo es incapaz de usar su libertad competentemente, a nadie se le puede permitir ser libre." Harry Browne, paladín de la libertad individual.

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Vince Miller, President,

International Society for Individual Liberty:

I was deeply saddened to hear of Harry's passing. I liked Harry and enjoyed chatting with him whenever our paths crossed over the years. I always thought he was a most effective and attractive spokesman for the libertarian movement. His infectious smiles and sharp wit -- not to mention his courageous and insightful stands on the issues -- connected with people.

I cut my libertarian teeth on Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard but remember thinking back in the 1970s that his book How I Found Freedom In A Free World had to be the quintessential freedom manifesto. I still do. So farewell, Harry and rest well. We will miss you.

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Roderick T. Long, Austro-Athenian Empire Blog:

I was very sorry to hear that Harry Browne has died. I had the honour of meeting him twice -- once at the [Libertarian Party] nominating convention in 1996, and again last year at the Advocates Anniversary. Browne was one of the Party's most articulate and credible spokesmen; he looked presidential. And he stood firmly against war paranoia in the wake of 9/11, speaking out immediately in the days following the attacks. He will be missed.

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Greg Dirasian, Small Government Blog:

My sister called me last night. She told me that she had just heard that Harry Browne passed away. I asked her how she found out. She told me that she saw it on ABC -- George Stephanopoulos did his weekly update of prominent people who passed away. George Stephanopoulos gets it. Probably better than most Libertarians.

On the campaign trail [Harry Browne] was ignored. It was their only recourse because they couldn't go head-to-head with Browne on the issues -- they would be out-matched and out-classed. George Stephanopoulos gets it..

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John Ostrowski, columnist, The Daily Illini

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign):

Browne was one of the giants in American libertarianism... Browne was best known for the numerous libertarian books he had written and his presidential campaigns in 1996 and 2000 as a Libertarian. What Browne advocated was not really anything new to anyone familiar with libertarianism. The libertarian ideology has been present in American political thought since the founding of this nation...

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Jeff Jacoby, columnist, The Boston Globe:

It came as a jolt to learn that Harry Browne -- scholar, gentleman, apostle of freedom, and two-time Libertarian Party candidate for president -- had died on March 1... [He was] the distinguished-looking Libertarian who spoke with such refreshing bluntness about the maddening inability of the state to get things right.

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Bill Hoyt, Free-Market News Network:

The world is immeasurably poorer with the passing of Harry Browne... The grand old man of hard money and two-time Libertarian candidate for President authored a Solomon’s Treasury of books and newsletters and understood probably as well as anyone the effects of inflation on society.

As America prepares for another devaluation -- this one perhaps leaving the dollar valueless -- the advice of Harry Browne has once again become priceless. He will be dearly missed.

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John Mauldin, Millennium Wave Advisors, LLC:

In one corner of my office I have the usual collection of pictures. Many of them are from political events I have been to over the years -- a small collection of mementos of presidents, vice-presidents, sports figures and such. Most of the pictures on the wall are of people you would recognize. But at the top in the center is one special picture. Many visitors stare at it and then ask, "Who is he?" I answer... "That is Harry Browne, the candidate of the Libertarian Party..."

Harry was a special friend to many and a guiding light to the cause of true liberty. He was one of the true intellectual founders of the libertarian movement as well as a very savvy investment counselor... He was a giant among men. He will be missed. Rest In Peace, Harry.

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Dick Cheatham, Living History Associates, Ltd:

Harry was a provocateur, making a point of saying things that caused people to think. Getting people to see connections they’d missed before, to break through illusions that were causing them grief...now there’s a legacy worth desiring! That was Harry’s. When I die I hope people accuse me of being provocative!

The last time I saw Harry was in 2004 in Atlanta where we were both speaking at the banquet of a national convention. I was fortunate to be seated at the same table with Harry and his charming wife Pamela. I’d been impressed with Harry’s books over the years and had met him at a convention several years before where we had both been speaking. However, on this occasion, I was fortunate to be introduced by this man whose life’s work I admire so greatly.

Though he’s gone now and there’ll be no more extraordinary work from Harry, his writing remains to provoke us today and to shake future generations from their lethargy and illusions. He was certainly one of the most effective advocates for liberty of our time.