Liberty Publisher R.W. “Bill” Bradford Passed Away

To some he was a friend, and to others he was a foe. He was frequently controversial within the libertarian movement, and often took the Libertarian Party (and me) to task. In my opinion, he always tried to report what he saw as the truth as fairly as possible. According to Tom Knapp, editor and publisher of “Liberty” R.W. “Bill” Bradford passed away. Here is one announcement:

Dear friends,

I am grieved to tell you that R.W. Bradford, founder of “Liberty,” died on Thursday, December 8, at his home in Port Townsend, Washington. He was 58 and had fought heroically against cancer for many months.

Bill was surrounded by friends and family, and by the good wishes of his many friends throughout the world.

An upcoming issue of “Liberty” will feature a commemoration of Bill’s life. His work will continue.

Stephen Cox
For “Liberty”

I’ll miss him, but am pleased that his work will continue. I’m sure he would have wanted it that way.

posted Dec 10th, 2005 by Stephen Gordon · This entry was posted in self. Bookmark the permalink.
  • http://swmolibertarianparty.blogspot.com Keith Rodgers

    Ya done good in your life, Mr. Bradford. Now you can argue the merits of smaller government with the cosmic engineer.

  • Margaret M. Fries

    I met Bill when we were serving on a LP platform committee at one of the national conventions in the early eighties. He published my first article (on the News Election Service) in one of the early issues of Liberty. He could not pay for the article at the time, but went to the trouble of “shopping” it to another, more established, publication which then bought a re-write from me.

    I remember Bill as a complete person – a funny, thoughtful, curious, knowledgeable, wild and crazy guy who was absolutely serious about individual liberty. I look forward to my print edition of Liberty and hope it will continue to be an important libertarian publication.

    I am saddened by his loss.

  • Stephen Gordon

    Margaret,

    I think your words speak for the entire Libertarian community.

  • http://www.libertycoinservice.com Patrick A. Heller

    Bill Bradford was the founder of Liberty Coin Service in 1971 in Lansing, Michigan. Although he “retired” in 1980 to Port Townsend, Washington, he remained part owner of the company through 1994. He helped build Liberty Coin Service into the largest coin shop in Michigan through relentless competitiveness and a refusal to admit failure, just as he did with everything in his life. The profits from this company provided the funds to begin and support Liberty magazine. He was a strict taskmaster, but his word was his bond. I personally learned a lot from him, first as a customer since 1975, then as a successor owner of this company since 1981. There was only one Bill Bradford. He will be missed.
    Pat Heller

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