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Sam Tanenhaus, when speaking about William F. Buckley, Jr., said he was drawn to the man by the size of his personality, generosity and great temperament. That observation was among the reasons that led Tanenhaus to spend nearly 20 years working on his book, “Buckley: The Life and Revolution That Changed America,” which is due out in June. Buckley and his family had deep roots in Sharon, living in the house called Great Elm on South Main Street, which was built in 1812 and bought by Buckley’s father in 1923.
The author will give a talk on “The Buckleys of Sharon” at the Sharon Historical Society on Saturday, April 12, at 11 a.m. following the group’s annual meeting. The book has details on the family’s life in Sharon, which will, no doubt, be of interest to local residents.
Buckley, who came from a family of 10 children, including his brother Sen. James Buckley and his sister Priscilla Buckley, who were familiar faces in Sharon during their lifetimes, was a well-known conservative writer and political commentator.
“He was a true intellectual,” Tanenhaus said during a recent phone interview. “He would even talk to his dogs in that way.”
Buckley’s name was synonymous with the conservative movement back in the middle of the last century. He was the founder of the National Review magazine in 1955 and host of the public affairs television program, “Firing Line” that ran from 1966 to 1999. The key aspect of Buckley’s conservatism was a push against the tide of liberalism, said Tanenhaus. “It was more a negative than positive movement. He lived as a conservative, being highly patriotic, family-oriented and practicing civility and order.”
Tanenhaus said Bill Buckley was the first political writer/thinker to understand political controversy was really cultural controversy. When he was waging a cultural war, the stakes were about such things as the communists winning and Jim Crow.”
Tanenhaus relates his subject’s relationship with a variety of individuals, including the explosive encounters he had with writer Gore Vidal. “There are indications he had a large capacity and never held a grudge. He didn’t disparage Vidal as a writer and didn’t say he was a bad person. Nowadays that approach is really uncommon.”
Buckley was always interested in other people’s lives, including such figures as Huey Newton of the Black Panthers and Jesse Jackson, of whom he was very fond.
Tanenhaus spends time in the book delving into Buckley’s personality, noting he could talk with anyone and was always interested in those he met. “He wanted to maintain friendships. He never wanted politics to supersede relationships. He was just such an exciting person to be with.”
What he couldn’t tolerate, said Tanenhaus, was being bored. He enjoyed being in the company of others and was a great listener; not so great a talker. He was a great publicist and promoter of ideas and arguments.
Often asked what Buckley would think of today’s political scene, Tanenhaus said he really couldn’t say, but he said he did have lots to say about Donald Trump back in the 1990s. “He might say different things now. He never did have him on ‘Firing Line.’” They had one friend in common; attorney Roy Cohn.
Tanenhaus revealed his political leanings do not mirror those of Buckley’s, but took on the project to see how the world thinks of him.
LAKEVILLE — The Hotchkiss School girls lacrosse won the 2025 Founders League championship with an 11-10 victory over Choate Rosemary Hall May 21.
The Bearcats battled back from behind by as many as four points.
MaryHelen McCooey scored the game-winning goal with about two minutes remaining.
The win marked the fourth consecutive Founders League title for Hotchkiss girls lacrosse.
The Marvelwood lacrosse team poses for a group photo May 20 after winning the HVAL title for the second year in row.
KENT — On Tuesday, May 20, Marvelwood School lacrosse defeated Woodhall School 15-9 in the Housatonic Valley Athletic League tournament final.
It was second straight HVAL championship win for the Pterodactyls and their fifth league title since 2018.
Marvelwood and Woodhall played twice this past season with Marvelwood winning both games. They met in the championship as the first and second ranked teams in the league.
In the pre-game huddle, Marvelwood Coach Zach Maizel pumped up his players and urged them to “be aggressive early.”
Eli Jamieson, No. 4, congratulates teammate C. Jones after a goal.Photo by Lans Christensen
Taking his message to heart, attackman Eli Jamieson scored in the first minute of game play. He scored twice more in the first period, which ended with Marvelwood ahead 6-3.
Woodhall played aggressively and stayed on the attack, but the first half ended 9-4 in favor of Marvelwood.
Jamieson was the key player on the Marvelwood squad, and he scored twice more in the final period to maintain the Pterodactyls’ lead.
Woodhall fought hard and possessed control for most of the final period, scoring five goals but falling to a final 15-9 Marvelwood victory.
HVRHS sophomore Ryan Segalla went three-for-three May 17 with Berkshire League gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m races. He was also on the gold-winning 4x400m relay team.
Berkshire League track and field wrapped up a season of competition with the league finals in Litchfield May 17. The BL festival followed with decathlon, heptathlon, steeplechase and hammer in Falls Village May 20 and Thomaston May 21.
The events included athletes from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Gilbert School, Lakeview High School, Nonnewaug High School, Northwestern Regional High School, Shepaug Valley High School, Terryville High School and Thomaston High School.
In the gold medal tally, Nonnewaug led with 12 golds, Housatonic won 10, Northwestern won six, Thomaston won six, Lakeview won five and Shepaug won three.
For Housatonic, Senior Mia Dodge won the girls 300m hurdles.
Mia DodgePhoto by Riley Klein
Sophomore Ryan Segalla won the boys 100m, 200m and 400m races.
Senior Kyle McCarron won the boys 800m and 1600m races.
The boys 4x400m relay team of Anthony Labbadia, Patrick Money, Kyle McCarron and Ryan Segalla won gold.
Junior Anthony Labbadia won the boys triple jump by a margin of more than three feet. He also earned second place in the boys 400m race.
Senior Patrick Money won the decathlon.
Senior Gabi Titone won the steeplechase. Junior Olivia Brooks took bronze.
The girls 4x400m relay team of Mckenzie Lotz, Harper Howe, Mia Dodge and Maddy Johnson took silver. The same team took bronze in the 4x100m relay.
Harper Howe took silver in the girls 400m race.
Gabi Titone took silver in the girls 800m race.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class S state track and field meet will be held in New Britain on June 2.
Patrick Money
Photo by Riley Klein
Lime Rock Park is slated to host the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Friday and Saturday, June 26 to 28, in Lime Rock, Connecticut.
SALISBURY — First Selectman Curtis Rand agreed to sign approvals for changes in traffic patterns and a “hauler parade” for Lime Rock Park’s NASCAR event June 26 to 28 after a lengthy and detailed discussion at a special meeting of the Board of Selectmen Wednesday, May 21.
Lime Rock Park is hosting a weekend of NASCAR events. In anticipation of a larger than usual crowd, park leadership has asked to have one-way traffic on Route 112 — Lime Rock Road — from the junction of Route 7 and Route 112 to White Hollow Road and the main track entrance between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and one-way traffic in the opposite direction between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, June 27 and Saturday, June 28.
On Thursday, June 26, there will be a hauler parade. The trucks will form up at Salisbury School and proceed west on Route 44 starting at 4:30 p.m., with state police cars in the lead and bringing up the rear. Westbound traffic on Route 44 will be stopped as the parade gets underway.
Rand expressed frustration with many aspects of the plans. He was critical of park leadership for setting up arrangements with local businesses for the parade prior to coming to the town for a discussion.
Selectman Chris Williams said Lime Rock Park should have come to the town considerably earlier than the first notification a couple of weeks ago.
Selectman Kitty Kiefer said she has not heard anything positive from anyone she has talked to about the plans.
Lime Rock Park President Dicky Riegel and facility safety director Tom Burke, a retired State Police sergeant with Troop B, answered the questions and criticisms as they came.
Burke said there will be 30 state troopers both along the roads and at the track, and there will be 11 variable message boards deployed to alert motorists several days ahead of the events.
Asked why park representatives had not sent out plans to their immediate neighbors, Riegel said they couldn’t do that until they had an approval. With approval, the track will publicize the information about the traffic flow and the parade.
Riegel also apologized for not coming to the town sooner.
Public comment was uniformly negative.
After an hour or so, Rand asked the selectmen for their opinions.
Kiefer said she would deny both requests.
Williams said he would approve them but reiterated his earlier criticisms.
Rand made up his mind.
“I will sign these.” He said he was “going on good faith.”
“But if it comes up again I might easily say no.”