Ayn Rand and the World She Made
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Ruth Beebe Hill and her husband: Dr. Borroughs Hill was a cancer research physician at UCLA Medical Center. RBH later wrote and published a prize-winning novel, called Hanta Yo, about the Teton Sioux Indians (New York: Doubleday, 1979).
“Plato? The father of Communism?”: Author interview with RBH, May 25, 2005.
“I saw it”: Author interview with RBH, June 8, 2005.
had become lovers again: TPOAR, p. 249.
not anticipated the emptiness she felt: BBTBI.
“It’s the kids!”: Author interview with RBH, May 26, 2005.
wasn’t aware that he was behaving seductively: JD, p. 105.
“I was so cautious”: JD, p. 62.
“If Ayn had designs on Nathaniel”: Author correspondence with BB, November 8, 2006.
the third and final part of the novel: At the time, “Atlantis” was the beginning of part 2; the novel was originally planned in two parts (Ayn Rand Papers, LOC, box 9, folder 1).
expected to see it at sixteen: AS, p. 643.
“He says … I can’t live without you!”: JD, p. 107.
long drive in Frank’s new Cadillac convertible: Author interview with NB, April 3, 2008.
whose surroundings contributed to the topography: In a letter to philosopher JH written in August 1960, AR noted that she had marked Ouray on a map of Colorado as the right place for Galt’s Gulch “long before I saw it.” She added, “It is the most beautifully dramatic spot in the whole state,” although “Galt’s Valley would be somewhat larger” (LOAR, p. 509).
provided a model for the revolutionary new motor: AR’s proofreader, the ex-marine Evan Wright, who was also an electrical engineer, remembered that AR was still looking for a new source of power for Galt’s invention in 1951 and that in discussions they eliminated lightning as too difficult to capture (100 Voices, Evan Wright, p. 142).
Dr. Stadler’s terrifying weapon: “Death Ray for Planes,” NYT, September 22, 1940, p. D7.
“He uncuffed it for dinner”: Author interview with Connie Papurt, September 21, 2004.
On October 24, they took occupancy: Letter to Pincus Berner, October 12, 1951 (LOAR, p. 494).
who were to live at the ranch while they were away: The Hills moved into the Chatsworth house in summer 1952 (100 Voices, RBH, p. 127).
gave their convertible car to Branden: Author interview with NB, April 3, 2008.
aware of having reservations: Author interview with BB, November 2, 2006.
enrolled at NYU: TPOAR, p. 249.
“I wanted it desperately”: Author interview with BB, November 2, 2006.
“The Fountain Pen, by Frank O’Connor”: Author interview with RBH, May 26, 2005.
insisted on paying rent: Undated note from RBH to BB, courtesy of MSC.
In 1962: 100 Voices, RBH, p. 129.
for a price of $175,000: TPOAR, p. 186.
“That property was his business and his world”: Author interview with RBH, June 8, 2005.
“She said it too insistently”: TPOAR, p. 251.
“Francisco, the Lobbyist”: Mary Ann and Charles Sures, Facets of Ayn Rand (Irvine, Calif.: ARI Press, 2001), p. 117.
began to paint—figures, city-scapes: Facets of Ayn Rand, p. 118.
heaped from countertops: Author correspondence with RBH, August 2005.
apart from whatever they may have taken: Ruth Beebe Hill, “Shared Moments with a Famous Author,” The Journal of the San Juan Islands, July 23, 1986, p. 1.
cats sharpened their claws: Facets of Ayn Rand, pp. 40–41.
bill collectors sometimes showed up: Author interview with Roberta Satro, July 20, 2006.
job to pay the bills: TPOAR, p. 252.
natural and charming: Author interview with Iris Bell, March 8, 2004; Facets of Ayn Rand, p. 46.
foyer doubled as the dining room: Mary Ann Sures, “Portrait of an Artist,” Impact, September 1997, p. 1.
see the Empire State Building: Facets of Ayn Rand, pp. 32–33; TPOAR, p. 251.
launched into a spirited discussion of John Galt: JD, pp. 109–10.
“One does not approach a god too closely”: JD, p. 109.
Rand had written back: Author interview with BB, December 16, 2005.
“a pain that … was excruciating”: JD, pp. 110–13.
Barbara remembered Rand’s manner: Note from BB to author, November 7, 2006.
become her “moral mentor”: “The Liberty Interview: Barbara Branden,” Liberty, January 1990, p. 55.
refrain from seeking his mentor’s advice again: Author interview with BB, November 2, 2006.
should have ended their relationship that night: JD, p. 111.
“He was going to help me”: “The Liberty Interview: Barbara Branden,” p. 55. Interview quote was altered slightly for grammatical correctness, at the request of the subject.
“expand our circle”: MYWAR, p. 108.
German and Polish Jew: Justin Martin, Greenspan: The Man Behind the Money (Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus, 2000), p. 3.
“Alan had his own relationship with her”: From taped, unpublished interviews by journalist JW in preparation for a CBC special report on the tenth anniversary of AR’s death, titled Ideas: The Legacy of Ayn Rand (1992).
they dressed with care: Author correspondence with Al Ramrus, March 1, 2007.
“Is Roark idealistic”: MYWAR, p. 60.
“total awe, as though I were on a different planet”: Ideas and Action, videotaped interview with LP by James Valliant, WJM Productions, August 5, 1995.
her deepening interest in Nathaniel Branden: In an author interview with two of NB’s sisters and Jonathan Hirschfeld, a nephew, in Toronto in August 2006, Hirschfeld, who knew the group members well, said, “I think that, for her, the main draw was NB. I suspect that the rest of it happened and she participated and she cared, but she didn’t need [a following].”
“I’ve always seen [the Collective]: BBTBI.
at a pivotal point: Rand was writing part III, chapter 2, “The Utopia of Greed” (Ayn Rand Papers, LOC, box 9, folder 4; begun November 6, 1951).
the strain could cost her two or three days’ work: TPOAR, p. 255.
“When I’m writing”: JD, p. 120.
“What? What is it?”: Author interview with BB, November 2, 2006.
politely raised their hands: In and Out of Books, “Class of ‘43,” p. 136.
“It was the world of Atlas Shrugged”: Author interview with NB, August 10, 2004.
returned to their new studio apartment: TPOAR, p. 253–54.
some of Nathaniel’s relatives noticed: Author interview with NB’s sisters Florence Hirschfeld and EK, August 25, 2006. In a December 2005 interview, BB told the author that both NB’s and LP’s mothers were jealous of AR. “They knew that if [their sons] had to choose, they would probably choose Ayn.”
“he liked Ayn better than he liked her”: Author interview with Florence Hirschfeld, Jonathan Hirschfeld, and EK, August 25, 2006.
165 East Thirty-fifth Street: MYWAR, p. 100.
ELEVEN: THE IMMOVABLE MOVER: 1953–1957
“Only the man who extols”: AS, p. 454.
it hadn’t yet splintered: “Godless Capitalism,” pp. 359–85.
penthouse apartment of J. B Matthews: Author interview with William F. Buckley, Jr., June 12, 2006.
reformed Communist fellow-traveler: “J. B. Matthews, R.I.P.,” National Review, August 9, 1966. Matthews is credited with having coined the phrase “fellow-traveler” (Margit von Mises, My Years with Ludwig von Mises [Bel Air, Calif.: Arlington House, 1984], p. 157).
often stopped in at Matthews’s: “J. B. Matthews, R.I.P.”
first met McCarthy: Author correspondence with BB, who was present, September 17, 2008.
246 “Tell me your premises”: MYWAR, p. 185.
“singular”: Author interview with WFB, June 13, 2006.
“Mr. Buckley, you arrrr too intelligent”: WFB, “Recollection of Ayn Rand,” syndicated in the Chicago Sun-Times, March 13, 1982.
“I had just written a book about him”: The book was McCarthy and His Enemies: The Record and Its Meaning (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 1954).
“an instantly communicable charm”: Author interview with WFB, June 12, 2006.
written in liturgical Latin, as a joke: “Ayn Rand, R.I.P.” p. 380.
payback for earlier leftist allegations: Discussed in Ralph Raico’s taped speech, “Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, and Ayn Rand,” Ludwig von Mises Institute lecture.
“Oh, I see. The Big Lie”: Author interview with JKT, May 21, 2004.
told a young friend: 100 Voices, Susan Ludel, p. 412.
“From an author who voted for him”: 100 Voices, Richard L. Phillips, p. 137.
reportedly didn’t vote: According to a student’s notes, LP told a class of philosophy students that Rand hadn’t voted in either election; notes courtesy of MSC.
Branden recalled her indignation: MYWAR, pp. 117–18.
“I was hard put to it when [Zhukor] insisted: Quoted in “No Invitations, Please,” Time, July 29, 1957.
“the noblest, freest country”: MYWAR, p. 118.
newly appointed editor of The Freeman: Beginning in 1950, ARs and IP’s mutual friend Leonard Read financed The Freeman through the Foundation for Economic Education, a libertarian think tank he founded, based in Irvington, New York. By the early 1950s, AR had broken with him, too, over a “pernicious” pamphlet he published called Roof or Ceilings? by Milton Friedman and George Stigler. Friedman, at that time a self-declared Keynesian, would become famous as an advocate of free markets, but he and AR continued to be at odds (Murray Rothbard, “Milton Friedman Unraveled,” 1971, reprinted in Journal of Libertarian Studies, Fall 2002). At the height of Friedman’s fame in 1979, they would appear on the same Phil Donahue show in May 1980.
Frank Meyer and Willie Schlamm: Interview with Bettina Bien Greaves, January 6, 2007.
Mises, as he was known: Though LVM would ordinarily be referred to as von Mises, his American admirers called him Mises.
didn’t see eye to eye: George Reisman, “Reisman on Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, and Ayn Rand,” speech presented to the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
dinner party he and Frances gave in 1941 or 1942: Unpublished letter from Henry Hazlitt to WFB, March 13, 1982, courtesy of Bettina Bien Greaves. Hazlitt, correcting Buckley’s errors in the National Review obituary of AR, tells the story and sets the date as approximately 1942. Over the years, Hazlitt recalled different dates for the famous argument, ranging from the early 1940s to 1950 (unpublished interviews with Hazlitt by Mrs. Greaves, courtesy of Mrs. Greaves), but in all other details the narrative remained the same.
assuming that they were arguing about the doctrine of natural rights: Author interview with Bettina Bien Greaves, December 22, 2006; also “Books,” TON, September 1963, p. 34.
peace was restored: Unpublished letter from Henry Hazlitt to WFB, March 13, 1982, courtesy of Bettina Bien Greaves.
during one of Hazlitt’s trips to Los Angeles: Author correspondence with BB, June 24, 2008.
“Did he really say man?”: Unpublished letter from Henry Hazlitt to WFB, March 13, 1982, courtesy of Bettina Bien Greaves.
irritated by Mises’s rejection of a moral … argument: MYWAR, p. 116.
“allowed normal human considerations”: MYWAR, p. 116.
with the Brandens in attendance: Author correspondence with BB, June 24, 2006.
He liked to stop by her apartment: Author interview with Richard Cornuelle, August 5, 2006.
and helped him to promote his books: Through the NBI Book Service.
Cornuelle was half relieved: Author interview with Richard Cornuelle, August 5, 2006.
added embellishment that she wept: That AR wept was a detail added by Frances Hazlitt, who was present at the dinner party, according to Bettina Bien Greaves, January 6, 2007.
requesting a written denial: NB wrote to LVM in response to a report that the conservative theorist Russell Kirk had told the story of “the silly little Jewish girl” during a lecture he gave at the University of Wisconsin in 1962. Unpublished letters from Winfred Blevins to NB, May 16, 1962, and from NB to LVM, June 20, 1962, both courtesy of Edward Hudgins.
Mises, then in his eighties, complied: Unpublished letter from LVM to Russell Kirk, July 5, 1962, courtesy of Edward Hudgins.
immediately after Rand’s death he wrote: Unpublished letter from Henry Hazlitt to WFB, March 13, 1982, courtesy of Bettina Bien Greaves.
“She felt no pity”: AS, p. 560.
“all the years of ugliness”: AS, p. 702.
Rothbard found the experience of paying court to her: Letter from MR to Richard Cornuelle, August 11, 1954, quoted in Justin Raimondo, An Enemy of the State (Amherst, Mass.: Prometheus, 2000), p. 110.
called themselves the Circle Bastiat: The group was named after Claude Frédéric Bastiat, a nineteenth-century French political economist.
The date was set for a Saturday evening: The meetings took place on July 10 and July 17, 1954, according to George Reisman (“Reisman on Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, and Ayn Rand”).
arrayed on the sofa: “Reisman on Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, and Ayn Rand.”
“the voice of Judgment”: “Reisman on Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, and Ayn Rand.”
“While I agreed”: Letter from MR to Richard Corneulle, August 11, 1954, quoted in An Enemy of the State, p. 110.
“an enhanced sense of male power”: JD, p. 140.
Heretofore apprehensive in his relationships: Author interview with BB, July 1, 2008.
would claim that he and Rand were still unaware: Broadcast interview with NB by Ken Wilber, Integral Naked online, 2005.
advised him, and also Barbara: JD, p. 126.
a capacity for sexual passion: JD, p. 140.
on Father’s Day of 1951: JD, p. 100.
which is a perfect anagram: Nora Ephron first pointed out the “ben Rand” connection in “A Strange Kind of Simplicity.” NB and BB have frequently and strenuously denied that their chosen surname has anything to do with the last name of their mentor. BB has stated that she and NB chose the name from a New York City telephone book.
jointly fielding questions: Author correspondence with BB, June 24, 2008.
They felt a degree of spiritual unity: MYWAR, p. 121.
he had never really contemplated: Author interview with NB, August 10, 2004.
“I am in love with you”: JD, pp. 142–47.
Rand suggested that the affair: JD, p. 153.
“It was not named but it was felt”: JD, p. 154.
Not so Barbara: MYWAR, p. 133.
“There is nothing in our feeling”: TPOAR, pp. 258–59.
turned pale and looked downcast: JD, p. 156; TPOAR, p. 259.
We don’t hold our values”: JD, p. 155.
“No! I won’t be part of this”: TPOAR, p. 259.
only wanted to spend a little time together: JD, p. 157.
“With Ayn’s mind”: “Passions: A Disciple Confronts Ayn Rand’s Power,” p. 1.
series of conversations with their spouses: TPOAR, p. 259.
“You both know how little I’ve had”: JD, p. 159.
“What we’re asking for is temporary”: JD, p. 160.
“the epitome and standard of the human potential”: “Passions: A Disciple Confronts Ayn Rand’s Power,” p. 1.
approved of the affair: TPOARC, pp. 135–41.
“arouses his sexual desire”: August 28, 1949 (JOAR, p. 605).
“On the right philosophical premise about sex”: October 6, 1949 (JOAR, p. 609; italics added).
swore everyone to silence: TPOAR, p. 272.
“involve all four of us in a life of deception”: “It’s a Dirty Job, But …”
“an old woman pursuing a younger man”: TPOAR, p. 260.
“If the four of
us were of lesser stature”: JD, p. 160.
“I’m amused that you condemned”: “Home Atmosphere.”
“Ayn frightened most people”:JD, pp. 158–61.
drafted the first line of the speech: The opening page of “This Is John Galt Speaking” is dated July 4, 1953 (Ayn Rand Papers, LOC, box 11, folder 3).
allotted roughly three months to its completion: TPOAR, p. 266.
260 “I swear by my life”: AS, pp. 670, 979.
“a dramatized summation of the Objectivist ethics”: “The Playboy Interview: Ayn Rand,” p. 38.
“Just as there are no contradictions”: AS, pp. 939–40.
It was while working on this famous section: Author interview with BB, July 1, 2008.
“drops-of-water-in-a-desert kind of torture”: TPOAR, p. 267.
her favorite nightgown: Facets of Ayn Rand, p. 34.
for thirty-three days: WIAR, p. 226.
seeing no one but her husband: JD, p. 177.
nagged at O’Connor: MYWAR, pp. 169, 189.
pushed her to the limits of her endurance: TPOAR, p. 267.
tendencies became more marked: TPOAR, pp. 267–70.
“You are my reward for everything”: Author interview with NB, December 11, 2008.
“A mind”: JD, p. 163.
both Barbara and Frank: MYWAR, pp. 168–69.
felt both too large and too small: JD, p. 218.
“Do you think only of yourself?”: TPOAR, p. 277.
“Why should I be victimized?”: JD, pp. 167–168.
What’s the matter with you?: “It’s a Dirty Job, But …”
“Repression”: Ayn Rand, The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (New York: Signet, 1971), p. 62.
“She became more than a stranger”: MYWAR, p. 169.
She often phoned him: “It’s a Dirty Job, But …”
“emotionalist”: TPOAR, p. 272.
“You cannot imagine what a nightmare”: R. W. Bradford, “Ayn Rand and Her Movement: An Interview with Barbara Branden,” Liberty, January 1990, pp. 7–8.
anxiety as a crisis of self-esteem: NB, The Psychology of Self-Esteem (Los Angeles, Nash Publishing, 1969), pp. 160–65.
considered turning the theory into a book: MYWAR, p. 147.
began to offer therapy: NB recalled that he charged five dollars an hour, beginning in the spring of 1955 (JD, p. 169).