Following up on Justin’s post on Alan Bock going into a hospice –
Alan Bock has done great work for freedom. His jovial good nature is rare in this biz. He can be a hardliner without being abrasive or bitter. In the waning days of the last century (12/27/2000), shortly after the Bush legal team had hustled a victory out of the Supreme Court, he sent me an email: “Dubya will make us free, right? — Alan.” This was typical of how he relied on irony instead of wrath.
The last time I saw Alan, he was visiting DC for a freedom-oriented conference in 2007 or 2008. He and I caught up for dinner at a hamburger joint in Arlington. The beer was better than the burgers, so I put away a few. At one point, Alan casually tossed out the smartest quote I ever heard from a monarch – King Edward’s quip that “a man should never miss a chance to hit the loo.”
Alan did the best book on Ruby Ridge – his 1995 classic, Ambush at Ruby Ridge book – subtitled How Govt Agents Set Randy Weaver Up and Took his Family Down. His 1993 articles were far better than anything else I saw on the subject that year. Alan provided the philosophical and legal framework – as well as the damning facts. Alan never hemmed or hawed or made excuse for killer feds. His work and his courage helped Americans recognize the outrage that had occurred in the mountains of northern Idaho.
I hope things can go as well as possible for he and his wife and family in the time remaining.
Present day interest in white water rafting and kayaking evolved from John Macgregor, who designed the first canoe, which he based mostly on sketches he derived from the Inuit individuals kayaks. Macgregor then set about making it a aggressive sport by holding the first regatta in 1873, this elevated curiosity as a sport and it is now part of the Olympic programme including a variety of events by top performing athletes. Kid Sports Hadley