The Midwestern Kirk and the Renewal of Conservatism

I have noticed that most of my announcements on this page begin with phrasing along the lines of, "I am pleased to announce . . ." And so I am.  When I think of the writing life, I find it one of serene floating, as the rhythm of sentences come forth in response to one another until something complete makes itself known, as if emerging suddenly on shore from beneath the waves; followed by concentrated, hot-eared scrutiny, as I rewrite what seemed so good on first annunciation until it fits together tightly; and consummated by that wonderful alienation, when what came forth from me is no longer quite mine, but stands apart as something for all and sundry to see.

And so, I am pleased to announce that my extended essay on that most prolific of writers, Russell Kirk of Piety Hill, has appeared in the online magazine Law and Liberty.  Click the picture at left to read my thoughts on the new volume of Kirk's letters and the occasion it gives us to consider why his political imagination stands so wonderfully apart from the muck and sharp elbows of what passes for conservative politics in our degraded day.  You will not be surprised to hear, will you?, that Michigan alone can save us.  Call it Fordism in reverse.

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