William Francis Buckley Jr.

SHARON —William Francis Buckley Jr., 82, died at his home in Stamford, Conn., on Feb. 27, 2008. He was the  husband of the late Patricia Aldyen Austin Taylor, who died in April 2007.

He was born in Manhattan on Nov. 24, 1925, the sixth of the 10 children of Aloise (Steiner) and William Frank Buckley.

The Buckley family lived in Paris, London and New York City but settled at Great Elm in Sharon in 1923. Mr. Buckley describes his life in Sharon in his memoir, “Miles Gone By.� Last October, he returned to Sharon (where some family members still live) to take part in a fundraising event for Sharon’s Hotchkiss Library.

Mr. Buckley and other young conservatives formed Young Americans for Freedom in 1960 at Great Elm.

Mr. Buckley graduated from the Millbrook School in 1943, then spent half a year at the University of Mexico studying Spanish, which had been his first language; his father had made his fortune in oil in Mexico and Venezuela, and the Buckley children had Spanish-speaking nurses and a French governess.

He served in the Army from 1944 to 1946 and achieved the rank of second lieutenant.

Mr. Buckley graduated from Yale in 1950, and in 1951 published the book, “God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of ‘Academic Freedom.’ �

After a year in the Central Intelligence Agency in Mexico City, Mr. Buckley went to work for the American Mercury magazine, but resigned to write on his own. He published more than 50 books on topics as diverse as sailing and playing the harpsichord; and he created a series of  popular thrillers featuring a fictional spy named Blackford Oaks.

His personal memoir of Sen. Barry M. Goldwater is scheduled to be published this spring; he was working on a similar volume on President Ronald Reagan at his death.

His nationally syndicated column, “On the Right,� was featured on the editorial page of The Lakeville Journal.

Mr. Buckley was host of the television show “Firing Lineâ€� from 1966 to 1999;  it was the longest-running television program with a single host.

He founded National Review magazine in 1955.

At age 50, Mr. Buckley crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his sailboat.

He served from 1969 to 1972 as a presidential appointee to the National Advisory Commission on Information and as a member of the United States delegation to the United Nations in 1973.

He is survived by his son, Christopher Buckley of Washington, D.C.; his sisters, Priscilla L. Buckley of Sharon,  Patricia Buckley Bozell of Washington and Carol Buckley of Columbia, S.C.; his brothers, James L. Buckley of Sharon and F. Reid Buckley of Camden, S.C.; a granddaughter; and a grandson.

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