SOURCE: Regnery, Henry. “Russell Kirk: A Life Worth Living.” Modern Age 38, no. 3 (summer 1996): 211-17.

In the following essay, Regnery reminisces about the events that contributed to Kirk's political, moral, and social views.

The publication of Russell Kirk's memoirs, The Sword of Imagination: Memoirs of a Half-Century of Literary Conflict, marks a distinguished and fitting conclusion to a literary career that began in 1953 with the appearance of The Conservative Mind. The Conservative Mind was not Kirk's first book, but it was the book that launched his literary career and established his position as a major author. It provided a masterful account of traditional thought and lasting values. The Sword of Imagination, which was published posthumously and, like The Education of Henry Adams is written in the third person, provides us with an illuminating and fascinating account of the author's years as an active participant in the intellectual life of...