Paul Weyrich, conservative activist
The Conservative movement lost one of the most influential yet perhaps least visible of its stalwarts this week. Paul M. Weyrich, 66, a co-founder of The Heritage Foundation along with Ed Feulner, passed away yesterday morning. At his death, he was president and CEO of the 
Free Congress Foundation.
On a personal level and at the tender age of fourteen, I was fortunate enough to meet and briefly chat with Mr. Weyrich when he worked for Senator Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. I remember being amazed that he would waste his valuable time answering queries from some dumb kid raised in a rural backwater -- but he answered all my questions and offered advice of his own with a smile and kind words.
Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform wrote this tribute:
"Paul Weyrich created institutions and networks that incubated new and old powerful policies and strategies to advance liberty. ... He brought leaders of various freedom impulses together. Most of the successes of the Conservative movement since the 1970s flowed from structures, organizations, and coalitions he started, created or nurtured. Paul also lived a balanced life with work, family and his faith. We will miss his puns and wisdom and hard work."
Long before his work at the Heritage Foundation and early in his career, Paul Weyrich's resume included stints as a conservative print journalist and a political reporter on radio and television in Wisconsin and Colorado. He also served as press secretary to U.S. Senator Gordon L. Allott, R-Colorado. But Weyrich's strongest suites and most influential labors were in the fields of conservative activism and public policy research.
Perhaps some of you reading this are new to the conservative movement. If so, you should really take the time to read about Paul Weyrich and what he meant to the rise of American Conservatism. Another great American, President Ronald Reagan, held Mr. Weyrich in very high esteem and often heeded his council. I think that's a pretty fair endorsement.