My friend William Craig Rice has died. You may not have heard of Bill–he was one of those conservatives who worked for good causes without seeking the limelight. He wrote poetry for National Review and other publications, championed the great books, and, most recently, toiled away at the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was one of the most cultured men I knew. We first met about 25 years ago. I was an undergrad at the University of Michigan and he was a grad student; we happy few Ann Arbor conservatives had a way of finding each other. Bill and I stayed in touch and collaborated a couple of times, doing what we could from our various perches to fight Michigan’s awful speech code and hold those who approved it accountable for what they had done. I regret that I did not get a chance to say goodbye. He was 61. Gleaves Whitney–another conservative from olden times in Ann Arbor–has written a nice obituary here.
NEH