Freedom and philanthropy.(John M. Olin Foundation)

As regular readers of The New Criterion know, the magazine has from its founding been a beneficiary of the John M. Olin Foundation. As we noted in this space last year, the Olin Foundation, in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Olin, will be closing its doors this Autumn, putting an end to more than twenty-five years of enlightened conservative philanthropy. We have already had occasion to celebrate what the Olin Foundation and its directors, Michael S. Joyce at the beginning and for the last two decades James Piereson, have meant to The New Criterion. Quite simply, the magazine would not have been created without the Foundation's initial interest and support, nor could it have persisted for--mirabile dictu--almost twenty-five years without its ongoing help.

In the minds of many--of many on the Left, at least--the whole idea of "conservative philanthropy" in the realm of ideas has the aroma of an oxymoron. Ever since John Stuart Mill dismissed conservatives as "the stupid party" there has been a presumption that the Left had an unofficial monopoly in the realm of culture and ideas. The Olin Foundation was one institution that demonstrated how misguided that presumption was. We are immensely grateful for the Olin Foundation's essential support of our endeavors and are delighted to note that a worthy testament to its work is being published this month: A Gift of Freedom: How the John 214. Olin Foundation Changed America (Encounter Books) by John J. Miller. Early on in his book, Mr. Miller quotes Lionel Trilling's famous observation--written in 1950--that "There are no conservative or reactionary ideas in ...