Allow me to add one more encomium to the late Lawrence Auster on the second anniversary of his death. Coincidentally, Mr. Auster’s death preceded my mother’s by exactly one week, so in remembering her death, I automatically recall that of my late friend, too.

Like so many of his admirers, I came to know and appreciate Mr. Auster on the basis of his writing, an appeal that grew and matured as I came to know him better. I recall with some clarity the first time I wrote to his website, and his response that my contribution was unacceptable in its current form, which took me by surprise. But a lesson had been taught: Mr. Auster took what went on his website very seriously. My later contributions were carefully edited for form and clarity of expression.

We became friends and enjoyed each other’s company, and in that friendship I decided to call him, Lorenzo il Magnifico, for his was a magnificent effort to alert the nation about the serious problems that were undermining this country, as well as much of Western Europe, all of which have gathered steam and show no signs of retreat. I sincerely thank the The Thinking Housewife website for picking up the cudgels where Mr. Auster left them, and continuing the never ending battle – for that is what it is – to point out the foibles and fallacies of our world today.

After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he recognized that to face his final days he needed and sought a more substantive religious belief to help him through those days, many of which were replete with all of the side effects of the medicine and treatment he was receiving. I believe that desire was substantially aided and abetted by the friends who visited and cared for him near the end.

These words, found in the funeral Mass, are appropriate here: Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace.