Thursday, December 09, 2004
David Brudnoy: RIP
Before there was Andrew Sullivan, there was David Brudnoy.
And even before he was a regular talk show host on WBZ in Boston, and before that on WRKO (1981), and before that, WHDH (1976), Dr. David Brudnoy was a professor of history and a regular contributor to National Review. His name has remained on the NR masthead since the early 1970's.
The Senescent Man, who was a not so senescent college student with conservative leanings in 1974, was fortunate to have Brudnoy as a professor for one single semester. We became friends and visited him at his Boston apartment on Beacon Hill, and again at his summer home on Cape Cod with Gary Boden (who is a contributor to this Blog).
We were attracted to him by his terrific writing ability. For example, in a review he had done of some liberal tome for National Review in 1974, he characterized the book as "ennui bathed in banality." Language the Senescent Man could appreciate.
Although we disagreed with his views on “sexual orientation,” (he referred to me derisively as "the Reverend Doctor Nevola") we appreciated his intellect and his right leaning philosophy. We were shocked and saddened when he learned that he had contracted AIDS in the late 1980's / early 1990's. And are now all the more shaken and saddened by the news of his death to cancer, earlier this evening.
He was a "thoughtful and considerate"radio talk show host, a smooth, skilled and learned voice, and a conservative scholar. New England will miss his intellect and his civility. I will miss his friendship.
And even before he was a regular talk show host on WBZ in Boston, and before that on WRKO (1981), and before that, WHDH (1976), Dr. David Brudnoy was a professor of history and a regular contributor to National Review. His name has remained on the NR masthead since the early 1970's.
The Senescent Man, who was a not so senescent college student with conservative leanings in 1974, was fortunate to have Brudnoy as a professor for one single semester. We became friends and visited him at his Boston apartment on Beacon Hill, and again at his summer home on Cape Cod with Gary Boden (who is a contributor to this Blog).
We were attracted to him by his terrific writing ability. For example, in a review he had done of some liberal tome for National Review in 1974, he characterized the book as "ennui bathed in banality." Language the Senescent Man could appreciate.
Although we disagreed with his views on “sexual orientation,” (he referred to me derisively as "the Reverend Doctor Nevola") we appreciated his intellect and his right leaning philosophy. We were shocked and saddened when he learned that he had contracted AIDS in the late 1980's / early 1990's. And are now all the more shaken and saddened by the news of his death to cancer, earlier this evening.
He was a "thoughtful and considerate"radio talk show host, a smooth, skilled and learned voice, and a conservative scholar. New England will miss his intellect and his civility. I will miss his friendship.
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