October was a busy month, indeed, and I have a few announcements. The first is that I’ve signed contracts and submitted manuscripts for not one, but two new books. The first is Some Notes on the Silence, my first book of poems, which is tentatively scheduled for publication in March. It’s partly inspired by the anti-free speech atmosphere we find ourselves in today, but it also includes some of my poems on American history and landscapes. I’m honored to have received some praise from some of my favorite poets, including Jennifer Reeser, who says “Timothy Sandefur’s poetic voice is as authentically American as any reader could hope to encounter.” I consider that high praise, indeed.
The second book, which I am calling The Furies, is about the friendships between Isabel Paterson, Rose Wilder Lane, and Ayn Rand, who 1943 all published books that helped jumpstart the modern libertarian or classical liberal movement (Paterson’s The God of the Machine, Lane’s The Discovery of Freedom, and Rand’s The Fountainhead.) I’ve long wanted to write about this subject, and as I worked on it, it turned into (so to speak) a biography of the books themselves. I learned a great deal along the way about the politics and literature of the 1930s and ‘40s, and it was fascinating to dig into some of the personalities that influenced all three women One of the biggest surprises to me was how enormous the influence Sinclair Lewis was on all three women. This book is scheduled for November 2022, and I’m looking forward to you getting a chance to read it.
No Time to Die
I was quite surprised that No Time to Die was as good as it was. It seemed to have been advertised as a new, politically correct James Bond, and I dreaded that, particularly given how bad the previous couple movies have been. But I was enormously impressed by the fact that they managed to make a good old-fashioned “supervillain in a secret underground lair with a private army”-style James Bond movie…and do it straight; seriously, with none of the self-sabotaging humor that has done so much damage to the Bond franchise for so long, especially in the Pierce Brosnan days. Part of the reason No Time to Die works so well is that Rami Malek is such a superb actor that he completely sells it, no matter how bizarre the story might look on paper. As to the ending, I thought it worked beautifully. There was a maturity and grace to it that seemed to summarize Bond, like a cowboy heading off into the sunset in a classic western. It certainly had its weaknesses, but if it isn’t the best James Bond movie ever, it is definitely close.
The Indian Child Welfare Act
I had an article in the Orange County Register and affiliated papers about the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law that actually forces states to discriminate against at-risk children of Native American heritage: if they’re being abused or neglected or are in need of adoptive homes, this law actually blocks state governments from protecting them. I also spoke with Hugh Hewitt about it on his show, and you can listen to that here. And then a few days ago, I had a piece about the Act in the new online journal Discourse, where I explain why I think it’s the most unconstitutional law in America.
Fairfax County Schools
I was also involved in some pretty interesting free speech litigation this month, in a case where a school board sued two mothers for publishing documents the school board gave them. You can read about that here. I also talked about the case with my friends Armstrong & Getty, before arguing the case at a hearing on Friday of last week. That afternoon, the judge ordered us to go through some 2,600 pages of documents and file a brief summarizing them all in a week. It was a gargantuan task (resulting in a brief of over 300 pages), but our clients were real champs and managed to get that done. Keep an eye out for news on this case soon.
The philosophy of private property
That same Friday, I participated in a conference hosted by Texas A & M on a forthcoming book about property rights by Professor Eric Claeys. His book attempts to offer a defense of the natural law /natural rights perspective on property—basically taking the traditional Lockean position. I had some objections to his arguments, and it led to some interesting discussion, but unfortunately the video has not (yet) been posted. If it is, I’ll let you know. I am grateful to Ilya Shapiro at Cato for letting me borrow his office that day to participate in that conference.
Nashville
Then a few days later, I headed to Nashville to participate in the George Mason University Law & Economics Center’s conference about the law of “public nuisance.” My own view is that the theory of “public nuisance” as practiced to day is unconstitutionally vague, because no lawyer can define the term “public nuisance,” and it can even apply to activity that is perfectly legal. I expressed this view rather strongly on the panel—but that video has also not yet been posted. If and when it is, I’ll let you know.
John Cleese
I had a number of fun birthday treats this year. First, Christina and I went to see John Cleese—whom I consider the funniest man alive—speak in Phoenix. His “Why There Is No Hope” bit wasn’t great, but the Q&A was delightful. I was particularly interested in him talking about the influences on his comedy. It surprised me a bit that he said Steve Martin is his favorite comedian. I, too, enjoy Steve Martin an awful lot, but I wouldn’t have guessed that Cleese would say that. He also cited figures such as Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy more than figures like Alan Ayckbourn, even though Ayckbourn and Oscar Wilde are clearly a strong influence on Fawlty Towers.
The second birthday treat was to see Chris Stapleton in concert. This was our third time , and I was relieved that he recovered from laryngitis in time for this show. Among the treats was “Death Row,” which is one of my favorite of his songs, since it showcases his voice so well, and which I haven’t heard him perform live before. Also, his solo, acoustic version of “Traveler” was good to hear. Stapleton is one of those who performs on stage very closely to the recorded versions of his songs, so it’s nice to have him do something different live.
Music
Speaking of music, my latest discovery is The Record Company, a group from California that has that dirty-rock sound, rather like a slightly calmer version of The Black Keys. Their latest album, Play Loud, has apparently disappointed some fans because it has a little bit of a different style than their previous releases, but I think they’re all good. Check out “Paradise” or “Feels So Good” or “On The Move.”
Reading
This month’s hectic schedule left me unable to finish a review for The Objective Standard this month, but I’m completing an article on a new anthology by Elmer Kelton, one of my very favorite writers. Then maybe I’ll get a chance to read The Autobiography of Mr. Spock, which has finally come out after a long delay. In fact, it appears that the powers that be yanked the book from David Goodman (who wrote the really superb Autobiography of James T. Kirk) and reassigned it to Una McCormick. I fear that this was done to accommodate more of the recent Trek canon, such as that awful Discovery show. McCormick, after all, wrote the novelization of Picard, the show that is only slightly less terrible than Discovery.
Coming up next…
I’ll be speaking at the Western Growers Association annual conference in San Diego November 9, and then immediately heading for Philadelphia, where I’ll participate on a panel about great individualist women writers of the 20th century. I’ll be talking about Zora Neale Hurston (whom I wrote about some time ago)—and that’s something I probably should be writing right now. So, back to it!
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