Russell Kirk

Russell Kirk is widely regarded as the individual most responsible for the revival of conservative thought in the latter half of the twentieth century. Kirk's conservative philosophy was well-established with his magnum opus, The Conservative Mind, published in 1953, and remained constant until his death in 1994. His Christianity, though, grew from something seen as the foundation of Western Civilization to being also a personal faith. He became a Roman Catholic, drawn by its universality, its traditionalism, and his love for the woman he married. Although he believed in certain Catholic distinctives, such as purgatory, he generally seemed to be more of a generic Christian than a dogmatic follower of Rome.

John M. Pafford, a protégé of Russell Kirk, is an ordained Biblical Anglican clergyman and has been a professor of history at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan since 1976.  In 1995, Dr. Pafford received the Northwood University Award for Faculty Excellence.  Earlier, he taught at Highland College, Pasadena, California; the University of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland; Fairfax Christian School, Fairfax, Virginia; and Perkiomen School, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania.Dr. Pafford has served as chairman of the Michigan Republican Issues Committee, chairman of the Michigan Conservative Union, co-chairman of Michigan Scholars for Reagan-Bush, Michigan vice chairman of the Forbes presidential campaign, and is a member of the Board of Scholars of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.  Back in the 1960s, he was chairman of Young Americans for Freedom in two states.He is an experienced radio and television commentator and is the author of numerous articles on history, theology, and contemporary events.  Dr Meadowcroft is Lecturer in Public Policy at King's College London and the author of The Ethics of the Market (Palgrave, 2005) and co-author of Rescuing Social Capital from Social Democracy (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2007).

1. Introduction \ 2.  The Life of Russell Kirk \ 3.  Russell Kirk's Beliefs \ 4.  Reception of His Writings \ 5.  The Relevance of Kirk