<b>A Sad Farewell to Alumnus, William F. Buckley, Jr. ’43</b>

2/27/2008

All at Millbrook were saddened to learn that we had lost a loyal alumnus, a world-renowned figure and a friend on Wednesday, February 27 with the death of Bill Buckley, a member of the class of 1943. Founding editor of the National Review, 33-year host of PBS’s Firing Line, and author of 55 books and 5600 newspaper columns, Bill died at his desk in his study at the age of 82, no doubt writing up to the very end. Our thoughts are with his family and, in particular, his two Millbrook brothers, F. Reid ’48 and James ’40. His beloved wife, Pat, died in April of 2007.

We had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Bill for Millbrook’s 75th Anniversary documentary film, “Down School Road: Millbrook at 75”, in October of 2006 at his home in Stanford, Connecticut. He was filled with many razor-sharp and fond memories of his years at Millbrook and his lifelong friendship with Founding Headmaster Edward Pulling. As he explained at that time, “We moved back from Europe in the late thirties, and my father was looking around for appropriate schools for his boys (there were four of us)…He turned down Hotchkiss and went to Millbrook, and the rest is happy history.”

“Mr. Pulling (Bill did not address Mr. Pulling as Ed, as he explained, “I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it.”) was a singular figure, very sure of himself, very self possessed. He was starting a school in order to accomplish something having to do with the formation of character and sending young boys in the direction in which they would not lose their perspective of what American citizenship meant.” They became friends after Bill had graduated from Yale and had served in World War II, and when Mr. Pulling died in 1991, Bill was speaker at Mr. Pulling’s memorial service on campus.

During the film interview Bill talked fondly of his being the founding editor of the school’s yearbook, the Tamarack: “Somewhere along the line in my junior year, I wondered why Millbrook didn’t have a yearbook. So, Jerry Franks, who was in the same class as I, decided we’d start one. It was quite an enterprise, and we had the cooperation of Mr. Pulling on the understanding that there would be no subsidy involved…” Bill’s story of his first foray into publishing was the subject of the film clip which can be seen on our website in its entirety.

Bill also looked back with fondness at some of the early Millbrook faculty. About Nat Abbott he said, “He did a lot to stimulate my own passion for music.” About Rene Clark, “He had an extraordinary gift for languages.” Fred Knutson was “an omnipresence,” Frank McGiffert, “a magnificent, marvelous teacher…a truly talented man” and Frank Trevor, “a man of enormous talent. A born naturalist.” We were delighted to have had the chance to get on film Bill Buckley’s unique perspective about Millbrook in the 1940’s.

Bill has been on campus several times in recent years, but the most memorable was during his 50th reunion in 1993. At that time, he delighted everyone in the Flagler Library by staging an episode of Firing Line (complete with a tape recording of his theme music) during which he “interviewed” his Millbrook roommate and prominent historian, Alistair Horne, whose book, Bundles from Britain, had just recently been published. Although he was unable to attend Millbrook’s 75th Anniversary celebration in June of 2007 and the screening of “Down School Road: Millbrook at 75” in which he played a prominent role, he was appreciative of having been a part of the project and called the film, “superb.”

Millbrook School has indeed lost one of its stars. Now, perhaps, he and Mr. Pulling can continue joyfully, their beloved debates.

You can read Bill’s full obituary in the New York Times.

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