A dear friend died this morning.
Burt Blumert was not only an old and close personal friend, he was an important friend to Antiwar.com.
In 1999, when Antiwar.com started really taking off, Burt took us under his wing by making us a part of the nonprofit Center for Libertarian Studies, giving us the ability to substantially expand. I don’t think we would be even a shadow of what we are today without Burt.
I met Burt in 1975, during my early involvement with the Libertarian Party. Burt was well-known as a successful businessman and and a very successful fund-raiser for libertarian causes. He was a good friend and early promoter of Murray Rothbard, forming the Center for Libertarian Studies to publish his works. He was a good friend and advisor to Congressman Ron Paul, and served as Ron’s national finance chair in his 1988 run for the White House. Burt was also a very close friend of Lew Rockwell, and was the publisher of LewRockwell.com. Burt was a radical, antiwar and anti-state to the core.
Over the next 34 years, Burt was always there, helping me with both my political endeavors and my personal problems. He always had great advice, just the right connections, and a loose wallet to help with seed money. And Justin Raimondo told me he doesn’t think he’d be alive without Burt’s help.
Burt was one of the funniest men I ever met. He really missed a career as a stand-up comic. His material and timing were flawless. Last year, the Mises Institute published a collection of his essays, Bagels, Barry Bonds, & Rotten Politicians. I highly recommend it to anyone of any political stripe.
Burt recently retired from his successful coin dealership, Camino Coins. Only months after he retired, Burt was diagnosed with cancer. He spent the next year battling the cancer while still keeping active to the end. Just last month, Burt cooked me a delicious feast. The way he waited on me, you would have thought I was the sick one. Burt turned 80 a few weeks ago.
I will write further about Burt, and I know Justin will be writing about him. Check out Lew Rockwell’s thoughts on Burt, and David Gordon’s essay on his humor.
I am indeed saddened by his passing. He was an extremely warm and welcoming man and dedicated himself tirelessly to educating others about liberty. RIP Burt.
RIP. The liberty community, and the Burlingame/San Mateo goldbugs for sure, is now missing a key piece that will take dozens of individuals to complete again.
I met Burt only a few times, but the most memorable was Camino Coin and LRC’s gold conference in Burlingame many years ago. Attended by Gary North, Ron Paul, and many other pro-liberty gold advocates, Blumert was a hilarious addition to the festivities.
“If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” -Sir Issac Newton
We all owe Burt so much. Talk about long-range vision…
Burt played a big role in Ron Paul’s 1988 run for president as the Libertarian nominee. He didn’t trust the Libertarian state parties to always do the paperwork properly, so he had me telephone all the states in August 1988 to check up. Then, he generously gave me a 1904 $20 gold coin. It was the only time I ever had any contact with the coin world, and I loved him for that gift.
God speed, Mr. Blumert.
I am very sad to hear of Burts passing. Though I was never able to meet him in person and thank him, Burt Blumert sold me my first gold coins in 2002, and patiently explained this clueless young man the value of sound money. I read many of his articles on LewRockwell.com and later the Mises institute and was completely enthralled with the words of the great men who inspired me to light my own personal torch of liberty.
Before Burt, Lew, Ron Paul, and the writings of Von Mises and Murray Rothbard. I thought I was alone in the world. I thought that I was strange for turning my back on the mainstream thinking process of my friends and family.
These men showed me that not only was I not alone, but that what I felt, was not only correct, but moral and logical and good.
I have passionately followed these men as well as all of the
others that have taken up their sword.
Thank You Burt, for shining a light on liberty. Thank you from my wife and sons, for helping to protect my family in these troubled times.
I wish I could have told you just how much your life has affected mine.
Mr. Blumert may be gone, but he’s not forgotten—just like Peace, Freedom, and Liberty. May we all come to an end where we all fought for the same.
R.I.P. dear Burt. Although I never met Mr Blumert, any friend of true liberty is a friend of
mine. Personally I have learned much the past 5-6 years learning more and more about what actual freedom looks like, and the barriers preventing our collective advancement towards it.
Digging deeply (for me at least) into history and our current situation has been the only way I have made some sense of the world. May I humbly suggest to you all that true freedom might never appear whilst an oligarchical few control the monies of the world, for their own private gains. Even the bible suggests that the world lies in the power of the “great deceiver” and that there is a demon for every nation. Could this possibly mean the central banks, as setup by the western oligarchical banking cabals? The FED, the IMF, the WorldBank, etc, are all run by privateers, and actively prevent the sovereign governments from issuing their own lawful currency.
The ‘weak footing’ of the world system lies IMHO in the fraudulent money systems. And so I give a hearty THANK YOU and toast to Mr Burt Blumert for his works and sacrifices in the cause of Liberty and Freedom for mankind. We’re all part of the motion of change in a sea of changeability. I pray that more of us realize this essential truth.
William
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