The University Bookman at 60: A Retrospective
This year, the University Bookman celebrates its 60th year of publication. Historian George Nash charts the journal from its origins in an arrangement between Russell Kirk and William F. Buckley Jr. to its evolution into a respected source for cultural commentary from a conservative perspective in his essay “Defending the Right and the Good.” Looking back at the challenges to its continuity, Nash finds several lessons, among them:
The University Bookman’s story exemplifies what can happen when a person of conservative persuasion takes a stand and casts a proverbial pebble into a pond. No one can predict what the consequences may be. I suspect that Kirk often thought of this as he edited his low-key periodical and watched its ripples press outward with each issue.
More From Our Highlights & News
Dr. Luke C. Sheahan appointed the fifth editor of The University Bookman
On November 7, 2021, the Russell Kirk Center’s flagship publication, The University Bookman, lost its longtime editor, Gerald J. Russello, to cancer. Gerald was just 50 yet had been a fixture in our world, with such a breadth of humanistic learning and a deep...
What Do Students Say about the Center?
April was a busy month of programming at the Kirk Center. Of the four educational programs we held, two were four-day seminars for graduate and undergraduate students, while the other two were shorter programs for students from Calvin University and from St. Michael’s...
Kirk Center’s Founding Chairman, State Senator Joanne Emmons, Passes Away. She Led the Center for 27 Years.
On March 31, 2022, The Russell Kirk Center lost its founding chairman, Joanne Emmons. Joanne died peacefully at age 88 in her hometown of Big Rapids, Michigan. Since its inception in 1995, the Russell Kirk Center was blessed to have State Senator Joanne Emmons serving...
Hope College Students Consider “The Human Condition”
The Tocqueville Forum of Hope College enjoyed a wonderful seminar at the Kirk Center from October 24 to 26 considering “The Human Condition.” Seminar speakers included Kirk Center Senior Fellows Gleaves Whitney and Jeff Polet, Cara Rogers (Asst. Professor of History,...