Bottom Drawer
columnist: Moonbow

Topic: Libertarian History
Ayn Rand, cigarettes, and phone booths

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The early days of the libertarian movement were baby steps compared to the maturity of the current revolution. I was there in 1972 when it all began, and I know that we had to crawl and walk before we could come out running like we did this election.

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by Moonbow
(libertarian)
Monday, December 1, 2008

In the early seventies Jerome Tuccille wrote It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand and I confess that it did for me too. I was in my late teens when a co-worker recommended Rand's books and I ended up reading them all and even subscribed to her newsletters! I had always thought this way but had never seen it articulated so well. She was my hero. No one had spoken to me like that before and I never knew there was a name for it: Objectivism. Someone once asked Rand if she could explain her complex philosophy while standing on one foot. She loved a challenge and proceeded to say:

              "Metaphysics: Objective reality

               Epistemology: Reason

               Ethics: Rational self-interest

               Politics: Laissez-faire capitalism" (While standing on one foot!)

While living in Boston, I attended one of her annual appearances at The Ford Hall Forum, the only place at which she publically spoke except for an occasional TV show like Phil Donahue, Johnny Carson or Dick Cavett. She strutted onto the stage in her black cape and with great theater swirled it off her shoulders and began to speak in her thick Russian accent. The audience and I hung on every word. There was the usual question and answer period afterward and autograph signing after that. I did not anticipate this so I had not brought one of her books but had only the paper program. She announced that she would take the bookholders first so we all queued up respectively. I noticed she never looked at anyone nor spoke much. After a half hour it was my turn and as I watched her meticulously print her name on my humble paper program, there was much I wanted to ask or tell her but to expedite things I merely asked, "Miss Rand, for whose autograph would you stand in line?" At first she was going to just blow me off and said, "No one's." Then she stopped and looked up at me with those famous penetrating eyes and said, "No, wait. Victor Hugo's. I would wait in line hours for his autograph!" I secretly enjoyed knowing that I was perhaps the only one to ever have asked her this question, and caught her off guard and unprepared with an answer.

Rand affected my religious views with which I had been grappling. I had been born and raised Lutheran but strayed away from it in college. She was a vehement atheist and never held back. She appeared on the Johnny Carson show with William F. Buckley, Jr. and the first thing she said to him was, "You are much too intelligent of a man to believe in God." It was quite a moment. I have since become a born-again Christian after twenty-five years of atheism. It has been quite a journey!

I joined an Objectivist discussion group (living in Cleveland at the time) which was a heady intellectual stretch for me. We would sit around and discuss Rand's philosophy and things like how zero was undefined. I was in over my head and mostly listened, only occasionally contributing. They actually listened to me and considered my comments! It was great for my self-esteem. Then one day in 1972 I got a phone call from the group leader (the late Eleanor Haist) who told me that a Kay Harroff would be holding a meeting for the purpose of founding The Ohio Libertarian Party and would I be interested in attending?

There were about fifty people at the meeting, mostly from our group as well as ex-Goldwater supporters itching to get back into the game. There were also members of Young Republicans, Young Americans for Freedom, Society for Individual Liberty and others. Ms. Harroff, an ex-Goldwater supporter, gave a presentation about the new Libertarian Party which had just been formed (I think the previous year), and would any of us be interested in co-founding the Ohio party? She passed around a sheet which about half of us signed. I jumped at the chance. I had never been political before, had only voted once (for Nixon!) and saw this as an opportunity to vent some of that anger Ayn Rand stirred up in me and channel it into something productive. Little did I know what I was getting into...

I imagined how the national party was formed in Denver in the smoke-filled, dimly-lit living room of founder, David Nolan. With hushed voices and a great sense of history  and event, he and his dozen friends committed to this formidable undertaking; pledging lives, fortunes and sacred honors having been disillusioned with the Republican Party and it's course (sound familiar?). It probably didn't go down like that at all, but I like the image.

The Ohio party was one of the first handful of state parties to get underway and was one of the most organized under the expert guidance and tutelage of Ms. Harroff. (By the way, I would love to hear from you, Kay, if you read this, or if anyone knows her whereabouts please ask her to contact me through this website. Thanks.). I was chairman of Cuyahoga County and there were about a half dozen other party officers spread throughout the state, and a woefully inadequate number of greenhorn soldiers (about a dozen statewide -- six in our county). Some of our meetings were so small we could have held them in a phone booth! One of our first tasks was to hold a press conference to announce the formation of our party. This was a huge undertaking for such inexperienced volunteers; our trial by fire. A hall had to be secured and down payment made, hundreds of media were notified, the hall had to be set up with a podium and rows of dozens of chairs, and my husband and I even brought a bouquet of red roses to present to Kay after her speech. 

How heart broken we were that only one reporter showed up (from some small town newspaper). Kay ended up just talking into his tape recorder for a few minutes; he left; and we sheepishly gave her the flowers and a hug and bit our lips to keep from crying.

Kay had us each develop a working list of contacts on whom we could rely to donate time or money as the need arose (frequently) and of course the lists were constantly changing and growing. She had us develop relationships with the media also, to fascilitate all those press releases and media events she would plan. I was on the phone all day long, chainsmoking and getting hoarse or typing letters and such (in triplicate, with copious amounts of Witeout). During those years I smoked so much because the more nervous I got, the more I smoked; and the more I smoked, the more nervous I got! I ended up quitting because my doctor told me I was on the verge of a bleeding ulcer! Political activism will chew you up and spit you out.

This was before "libertarian" became a household word. Back then we always had to explain to people that we were not libertines, lesbians or librarians! I held recruitment meetings in my living room several times a week and signed up precious few but planted many seeds. I hated the way people nodded their heads and agreed with everything we'd say, yet failed to sign up or donate one cent to the cause! It would've been easier to take had they disagreed with everything! Ah, such is the plight of the political activist -- fighting the battles for everyone else.

We were on a first name basis with the FBI agents (Kay on the left) who were always assigned to "protect" us when we would hold our frequent marches, rallies and protests. 

We always applied for the appropriate permits, etc. in order to perform our stunts for free media coverage, like burning 1040 forms on April 15 (fellow Libertarian, Ross Black, on the right) and draft cards whenever.  One state Libertarian Party (I forget which one) even staged a Lady Godiva protest complete with a blond in a flesh-colored body stocking on top of a horse! We felt righteous and mighty and fierce. Of course we came off looking like nut jobs. It was difficult for people to take us seriously. Kay had us write thank you notes for this coverage on which we so heavily relied, as we never had enough money to actually take out ads!

We ran ourselves ragged trying to keep up with Kay. We'd accompany her to press interviews, radio shows, pitches to merchants for sponsorships and donations. This was before cellphones so every time we needed to make a call we'd have to look for a payphone, a time-eating process. Invariably we'd have to drive miles out of our way as frequently they would be out of order or there would be no phone book or we'd discover we didn't have correct change. See how easy you modern day patriots have it? And not to mention the internet and computers!!! What we could have done with these tools...

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©2008 Moonbow, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Monday, December 1, 2008
Last modified: Monday, December 1, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Moonbow only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Moonbow is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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