People I Admire Roundup

1. This is a funny piece slagging libertarianism by the humorist and non-fiction writer Ian Frazier. The best line:

I've got my own little weather satellite, which I launched last year on a two-stage rocket I built from a kit. It was sending back data beautifully, so I didn't have to rely on politically skewed reports from the National Weather Service.

Also good:

I don't need obscure, long-forgotten phrases from the U.S. Constitution to tell me right from wrong.

I'm a big, big admirer of Frazier's writing. If you've never read it, you should also check out "Lamentations of the Father."

2. I was touched by this column by Arianna Huffington about Bernard Levin, an old boyfriend of hers.

I worked for Huffington briefly at the 2000 Shadow Conventions, and while being her employee was not really my cup of tea, I did find her appealing as a person. From direct observation I can report that:

a. She is very tall and slender with a large head.
b. She is genuinely funny.
c. She owns Let Them Call Me Rebel, a biography of Saul Alinksy. I like anyone who owns Let Them Call Me Rebel.
d. She has an extraordinary personal history that is poorly known. Both her parents were in the Greek Nazi resistance during World War II, and her father was an editor of a resistance newspaper. After the war her family was quite poor, but Huffington was so smart and driven she got a scholarship to Cambridge and managed to become the first female president of the Cambridge Union while debating in a second language.
e. A close friend of hers told me a story illustrating her loyalty and commitment as a friend that I found impressive.

This column about Levin fits in with everything I know about her.