Recently, two Objectivist writers passed away: William Parr, and James Kilbourne. I
knew them tangentially, at best. Their passings were noted on Michael Stuart
Kelly’s discussion board, Objectivist Living.
Bill Parr taught statistics at the China European
Institute of Business Studies. Mikee (Michael Erickson) found
biographical links online and posted them.
http://www.ceibs.edu/faculty_c/notice/obituary_en.html
http://www.ceibs.edu/faculty/cv/images/20070316/5413.doc
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billparr
On MSK’s OL, I
said this:
So sad... I feel
bitter about not knowing that he passed. Just a couple of general reflections
on this if I may...
1. Bill was
teaching statistics at the China Europe International Business School in
Shanghai and that was really cool. His CV is, indeed, as Mikee said,
"impressive": he four-pointed his graduate and post-graduate degrees
at SMU, no mean feat. After working at Harris Semiconductor, the University of
Tennessee hired him with tenure - hired in 89, tenured from 90 - also an
achievement. He had over 50 original papers and a slew of book reviews and et
ceteras go along with that. He had a life of achievement. His death at
such an early age is sad, but no one knows how long they have. One Norn spins;
one Norn measures; one Norn cuts; even the gods have no control over Fate.
This is not the
first time that I wished I had gotten to know someone better before they died.
(I lost a manager in an industrial accident...) And that leads to:
2. The
paradigmatic downside to all this individualism is that lack of social
contact. That is very
American. We are not the only individualist culture in the world. Even
Nigeria has them. But I find this in other social spheres as well. Right now,
two of my hobbies are numismatics and astronomy, and while they do embrace
large populations with attendant varieties of personality, they tend to attract
those who do better with empirical concretes and their abstractions, than with
they do with actual living people.
My other hobby is
the Texas State Guard here (or here) on my blog. No one is ever left out there alone. Twice in
the last three months, I sat with another guardsman who told a personal story.
While he and his family dealt with the grief of loss of a parent or a child,
the "details" at the funeral home were "taken care of" and
not another word was communicated. Someone knew about their situation and
someone else responded. No one is ever left alone -- which has a downside,
also.
I do not know
where the middle ground is. Perhaps it must remain Either-Or.
James Kilbourne had been active
on SOLO: Sense of Life Objectivists before it diverged into two sites, SOLO-HQ
and RoR: Rebirth of Reason. James was proximally responsible for the
split. He posted an open letter
about the owner of SOLO, Lindsay Perrigo, outing him as an alcoholic. (As the site owner and moderator Perrigo
allowed the post, if for no other reason than to open the discussion about his
apparent mood swings.) Kilbourne was gay. It is not a surprise (and perhaps a
cliché) that he shared several of Linz’s passions, including the performances of Mario
Lanza.
With a great deal of sadness, I
just read the following on a Facebook post by a person named Stoney Stone. This
was posted on James's own Facebook wall.
RIP James Gregory Kilbourne. News from Jean today that Jim
passed away on Wednesday evening...a heart attack. Jim was a major influence on
many of my friends and me in our younger years. He made me think. His spirit
will live on in our hearts. — with James Gregory Kilbourne.
For those who don't know anything about James, he was one of Barbara Branden's
closest friends.
Barbara
Branden, on 01 Aug 2006 - 9:43 PM, said:
... James Kilbourne, whom I met eleven years ago on a moonlit
terrace in Athens, Greece. A boyfriend once told me a fable that I loved, and I
had him tell it again and again. The story was that my friends and I had been
born and had lived on Rigel, where we had played, carefree and happy, among the
stars. One day, God decided that it was time for us to go to Earth and learn
its mysteries. He picked us up in His hands and scattered us over the earth –
and from then on, each of us searched always for our lost playmates. In James,
I knew almost at once that I had found my playmate from the stars.
Michael Stuart Kelly said:
He also wrote an article on the old SoloHQ that caused a holy turmoil in online
O-Land.Drooling BeastThis article was a catalyst that,
from one angle, helped OL come into being. Back then, Barbara said good things about the
article and Perigo, one of the site's owners
and James's target, reacted with malice and hatred toward her that endures
until today, even now that she is gone. Soon after, SoloHQ split into Solo
Passion, Rebirth of Reason, and Objectivist Living.
James was gay, for those who might
find value in knowing this. He was open about it, but very low-key as an
individual. I had the pleasure of meeting him once. Kat and I visited him with Barbara at
his house for dinner. He was charming to the extreme. We even got Kat to listen
to some opera. I communicated with James regularly
by email for a while, but eventually we drifted apart. I always had in the back of my mind
to look him up and try to dig further into the delight Barbara found in him. I
no longer have that opportunity. The longing remains but James and Barbara now
belong to memory. I hope there is an afterlife because
I would love to see them playing among the stars and join them.Michael
Then I wrote this:
I saw this
yesterday, but was blanking out on it. Another loss. I remember the storm
on SOLO, I did not remember that essay being the start. This is his SOLO (RoR)
autobiography:
"Co-founder (1989) of
Custom Training Institute (www.CustomTraining.com), a training company that
applies the concept of knowledge engineering to solve a company's information
technology challenges. We are survivors of the recent tech depression. I am a
passionate lover of life, liberty, and great music, particularly symphonies and
operas. Politically, I am a Washingtonian classical republican liberal with
Jeffersonian leanings. I am a defender of the real victim, the overlooked
innocent, and the truly heroic."
His articles
covered a range, but he clearly shared several interests and perspectives with
Lindsay Perigo, which may explain his concern. James Kilbourne's SOLO
(RoR) articles are here:
The first friend I lost was Fred Reenstjerna. Not an
Objectivist by any stretch, Fred influenced my intellectual development by
challenging me in ways that I never expected. I posted a obituary to Rebirth of
Reason here: http://rebirthofreason.com/Forum/Dissent/0129.shtml
PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS
