Humorist, war correspondent, writer and columnist P. J. O’Rourke has died at the age of 74. Often labeled as a conservative or right-winger, he was far from the stereotypical images evoked by those labels, carving out his own niche and unafraid to criticize those on the right as much (and as pungently) as he did those on the left, when they deserved it. His books gave me great pleasure over the years, particularly his classic “Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government“. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.
He was iconic of his generation, and associated with many of the most familiar names in journalism, entertainment and politics; yet he was always his own man, impossible to pin down and force into a political pigeonhole.
Let’s remember him with one of his most memorable quotes:
“I have often been called a Nazi, and, although it is unfair, I don’t let it bother me. I don’t let it bother me for one simple reason. No one has ever had a fantasy about being tied to a bed and ravished by someone dressed as a liberal.”
Somewhere up there, the angels are laughing, I’m sure.
Peter
That quote seemed woeth memeing
He was the American Jeremy Clarkson.
His writing about cars and the automotive industry was always spot on.
Anthony Weiner and Hunter Biden?
It's a rare satirist these days whose words are as acerbic and biting without being mean-spirited.
The world is diminished.