Saturday, May 26, 2012

Friends of John Reilly, you are welcome here.

This post will serve as a meeting place for online friends of John Reilly, especially those who have frequented his website, The Long View. Please post any news and information, prayers for John and his family, and discuss your plans for continuing his work in the wake of recent serious health concerns.

This blog is certainly not a substitute for The Long View, and I am not much of a webmaster, but we can meet here for as long as we have to.

Your posts are most welcome.

44 comments:

  1. Hello, I have been a regular reader of John Reilly's blog for nearly a decade and have been wondering what happened to him. I am horrified to learn of his serious illness and don't want to lose him, his website or contact with others similarly influenced by his reading and writing. Please do keep updating us about the situation. Lisa D., Toronto

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  2. p.s. maybe those of us who are interested could set up a Facebook group. I never joined the forum at his blog, though we were in very occasional email correspondence. If you like the idea, please let me know how I can contact you.

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    1. Dear Lisa,

      I am pleased to make your acquaintance. As far as I know, The Long View never had a female contributor. I always wondered if any women were interested in the topics discussed there, and what their thoughts were.

      I think a Facebook group for John Reilly’s fans is a useful idea to keep in mind, but with two caveats. First, the kind of person whose interests can be fairly described by terms such as “Esoteric Fascism” and “Tradition” (with a capital ‘T’) is also the kind of person likely to have a natural aversion to modernistic social phenomena such as Facebook. That is the reason I am not on Facebook, for instance; although I would be willing join it for a good reason. Facebook can be a useful tool, but I will need to familiarize myself with its protocol and capabilities.

      Second, many of John’s correspondents wish to preserve their anonymity, and I gather they have good professional reasons for doing so. But anonymity is simply not possible on Facebook, so the Facebook group might never attract the same participants that the blog did. On the other hand, as you pointed out by asking me how you could contact me, there needs to be some way for us to reach each other, some way of connecting in the real world. I will think about that one.

      -Matt

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    2. Hi Matt - I understand your concerns about Facebook and share them to some degree. It's more convenient than anything. In any case, I am heartened to hear that John has made at least some progress. I will definitely be checking back here and at the forum.

      Lisa D.

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  3. I, too, am very disheartened to hear of Mr. Reilly's condition. I have read his blog and other writings for some years now, though I did not think myself qualified to join his forum and was content to read the opinions of persons far better educated than I. And while I too hope for his complete and prompt recovery, it does seem to me to be appropriate to discuss whether perhaps a different venue can be found in the unfortunate event that he should succumb to his illness.

    In any event, I wish to thank you, Mr. Beck, for your forethought on this matter, and hope that an accommodation can be reached.

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  4. Some good news: John appears to be improving. The doctor decided that he no longer needs a respirator, and he is more responsive. This comes from Duane Olsen via The Long View bulletin board, who heard it from Holy Rosary choir and Schola on Facebook.

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  5. I am horrified to hear of Mr Reilly's condition. I first encountered his website in '99 as a 20-year-old college dropout. Originally fascinated by the Spengler and Strauss/Howe components, I spent years attempting to intellectually engage with the whole of Mr Reilly's writings. Now I am quite content to say that Mr Reilly has had more influence on my intellectual development than any other writer, living or dead. I did not agree with all he wrote (although I did most of it), but even disagreement was intellectually fruitful as it spurred me to seek premises and arguments for my opinions. (I will say he changed my mind on some important topics!) More than anything else, what I gleaned from his writings can be summed up by a quote from CS Lewis given in Spengler's Future, which I would paraphrase, "The present is also a period". After many years of pestering him with overlong emails (to which he invariably responded with courtesy and patience), I had always hoped that I would one day have the opportunity meet and bore him in person. At the very least, I hope he recovers sufficiently that we are able to tell him how we've valued his writings.

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  6. Some bad news: John has been diagnosewd with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. CJD is caused by a prion or misfolded protein molecule which alters the properly folded proteins it comes into contact with. This is the same type of agent which is responsible for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (i.e. mad cow disease) in cattle and Chronic Wasting Disease in elk. There is no cure, nor even any effective treatment. The disease causes dementia and is followed by death, usually within 4-5 months according to wikipedia.

    As I said on the forum, we must now turn our attention to supporting John and preserving his work. He may not ever return to the blog, but he may have some lucid moments yet. If we can contact him, show him we care, and ask him what his wishes are, we ought to do that.

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    1. John was my brother. Reading the comments praising his character and intelligence are comforting, especially as my family approaches his 4th anniversay.He is sorely missed and would surely send you all thank you cards. Knowing Johnny,he is looking for the post office. Thanks, Matt....Nancy Reilly Zollo

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  7. Requiescat in pacem, Mr. John J. Reilly. I didn't know you in person but you made a difference in my life. I regret not letting you know how much your writings clarified and made sense of what I could only see on my own as through a glass darkly. You will be missed!

    ***

    To Matt: yes, we must save The Long View and the rest of Mr. Reilly's writings on his website. To lose these now would only magnify this tragedy.

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  8. As you know, John entered eternity on Wednesday night. A requiem mass will be offered for him on Saturday morning. We who knew him and loved him will miss him forever. He was an enchanting dinner guest, a fascinating conversationalist, a good friend to his friends, and a true gentleman, and a truly pure soul. I keep thinking of Aslan's leading the children and others "farther in and higher up" in The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis). Now John's soul without doubt is discovering the Great Mystery.

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  9. I have been a reader of Mr. Reilly's website for the past six months or so. In that short time, it has been a great influence on me and my thinking. I was deeply saddened to read about his passing on his forum, but I get errors whenever I try to make an account there. So I simply wanted to express that I am certain there are many like me whose lives he touched without knowing it. I am thankful for is work and offer my condolences to his loved ones.

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  10. Mr Beck, I have posted a brief and inadequate tribute to Mr. Reilly on my live journal.

    May I have your permission to direct readers to this post?

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    1. Thanks, Matt.

      I am planning to collect some quotes from John's writing that have struck me over the years. I put up a few on my LJ which can be reached at the link at my screen name.

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  11. John today was laid to rest, following a Traditional Latin Requiem Mass (Composed by Spanish composer Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500 – between September 4 and October 7, 1553), exquisitely sung by the Schola Cantorum and Choir of Holy Rosary, Jersey City, NJ. A piper played "The Minstrel Boy," and other tunes as John's casket was carried in and out. Afterwards, his family and friends gathered at the nearby home of his longtime close friends. Requiescat John. May perpetual light shine upon you.

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  12. JOHN J. REILLY JERSEY CITY John J. Reilly of Jersey City, 58, passed away on May 30, 2012. Beloved son of Jean Reilly (nee Harkins) and the late John Reilly, dear brother of Donna Reilly (Dennis Goonan), Mary Spence (Jack Spence), Nancy Reilly Zollo (Louis Zollo) and Nora Reilly, and uncle to David, Jennifer, Elizabeth, Kathryn and Michael, he was also cherished by many compassionate friends, especially those with whom he worshiped at Holy Rosary Church. After graduating from St. Peter's College and earning his law degree from Georgetown University, he embarked upon a career as a writer, editor and at-torney. His keen intellect and wry sense of humor resulted in many publications and a world-wide network of correspondents. His intellectual pre-occupations ranged from theology and in particular eschatology to politics, alternative history, and the philosophy of science and literature. He published four books including Apocalypse and Future, Notes on the Cultural History of the 21st Century. John regularly appeared in First Things, Kirkus Review, and had been an editor at Culture Wars before he with-drew in protest to a drift toward anti-Semitism which he publically denounced. John also main-tained a blog, The Long View, where John serenely surveyed the world and opined that, indeed, everything is going to be ok. John's intellectual interests also expressed themselves in various societies in which he was active including The Inter-national Society for the Compar-ative Study of Civilizations, the Center for Millennial Studies, the Simplified Spelling Society, and American Literacy Counsel. A man of breathtakingly ecumenical feeling, he was without compromise a true and devout Catholic. It must have been his faith and his character formed by it and by his loving family that made him without a doubt the most optimistic expert on apocalyptic movements and dystopias. John explained himself thusly: After long thought, I realized that the most important thing in life is to be helpful. So, I have taken to explaining things, carefully and empathetically, and often at very great length 'Spengler with a Smile' is how I usually characterize the organizing principle. The loss of John's self effacing cheerful genius has left the world a darker place and for those who were privileged to share his company, a son, brother and friend whose absence will always be felt.

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  13. Yes, We miss him terribly.

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  14. For whatever it might or might not be worth, John Reilly was one of the reasons I became the person I am. His work shaped my thoughts for a decade, and his level-headed, reasonable analysis, come hell or high water, will be sorely missed by me if not by the wider world. He was to this day the only Conservative academic I could point to without hesitation as a man worth reading and considering whenever I was asked why I persisted in labeling myself one. For his insight, wisdom, intellect, humor, and skill at writing, I shall miss him dearly.

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  15. I found out yesterday that John Reilly, our esteemed host at www.johnreilly.info has died. I was influenced by his writings, particularly "Spengler's Future" and his writings about the Magic Baron Julius Evola and alchemy. While I rarely commented, and am a political liberal, I read his site off and on since I was a high-school student. I will miss him, and I wish that I could have read more.

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  16. I had some very stimulating and fruitful correspondence with John, and quoted him several times in my http://dlmcn.com/histcorr.html ... so I will certainly miss him. Please pass my sympathy and condolences to his family ... David McNaughton - DLMcN@yahoo.com

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  17. I'll round out the political spectrum of commenters here as a libertarian, who valued John as a check on my own political echo chamber as well as a generally entertaining writer. My direct conversations with him were limited to alerting him on a few occasions to sightings of airships in the media, but I know I've already been missing his insights on current events. I'll continue to miss him in the future.

    I note that his blog seems to have finally come down. While there's always archive.org, I hope his body of work can eventually be maintained somewhere on its own.

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  18. John Reilly and I were classmates at both St. Peter's Preparatory School and St. Peter's College. (I have just yesterday learned of John's passing from the Prep's Alumni magazine.) At the College, we were both members of the Honors Program, a small group of high achieving individuals who were, more than anything else, intellectually curious. Western civilization was our metier. We applied ourelves in the context of a Catholic ethos. As a small enclave at a Jesuit school that was becoming increasingly oriented toward professional services like accounting, we were the outsiders who naturally reveled in each other's company. You can just imagine how much John belonged here.

    Despite being absolutely captivated by John's intellect and wit at school, I am ashamed to say that I had since lost touch with him. A few years ago, I had occasion to visit the College. I ran into an Honors classmate, who had been in touch with John over the years. She told me to look John up, by googling "John Reilly eschatalogy". This sounded about right, so I did. This brought me to the The Long View. And there it was, this fabulous ongoing extension of his senior Honors thesis on Spengler. I have spent hours on the site since. But still no contact with John.

    I have much reflected on John since learning of his passing. Honors Program alumni had gotten together soon after graduation and were discussing the newly released Star Wars film. We asked John what he thought of it. “Greatest film on any subject ever made.” Knowing the knowledge base of mythology and history he brought he to this judgment, we accepted it as true. And then we probably went out for pizza, which John ate virtually every day as an undergraduate. We smiled about the quote for years to come because it made us think of John being John.

    I hadn’t seen him for more than thirty years, but I can tell you that I will miss him. I reconnected with him by trolling The Long View. It brought back to me in a vivid way our time together as young men – trenchant observations about the world, past and present, laugh at loud witticisms and humbling evidence about how little I know about anything important.

    I remembered John at Mass this morning and prayed for him. I did my own mea culpas for not reaching out to him. Because John Donne was right. With John’s passing, we are the lesser. The bell tolls for me and you.

    David Descalzi
    October 12, 2012
    ddescalzi@seabridge.com

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  19. I discovered Mr. Reilly's web site many years ago doing a Google search of articles that contained both the names Robertson Davies & John Crowley. I enjoyed his short stories as much as his articles and asked if he would be writing more fiction. He said he was working on some items. It was not to be. Pity.

    Alas, I also see that his web site is no more:

    "Firefox can't find the server at www.johnreilly.info."

    I was able to grab all the non-forum articles using wget and can view the site locally on my machine. I know others have done the same. Is there any effort to publish the site elsewhere, as a memorial? His copyright requirements would seem to indicate that would be OK, though I suppose his estate may have to approve it.

    -- Austin Yeats

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  20. Horrified to see him dead. His blog/book reviews/alternate histories were such joys to read.

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  21. Also, much of the material from his website still seems to be floating around the Internet Wayback machine. Go to "archive.org/web/web.php" and enter "www.johnreilly.info" into the search engine. Quick, grab as much as you can before it's gone forever!

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  22. It was sad to learn of Mr. Reilly's demise. His web page had a significant following in Mexico as well, where he was appreciated for his clear style, fascinating insights and ideas. He will be deeply missed.

    J.R. Alvarez

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  23. Replies
    1. Simply to contemplate his thoughts was a pleasure...

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  24. John... I still have your copy of Fire in the Minds of Men...

    RIP, My Friend...
    JinJC

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  25. I only recently learned of Mr. Reilly's alternative histories, doing freelance research here in Canada. I am very sorry to gather that he passed on so relatively young and so suddenly, and I really hope those who may continue to publish his writings, will.

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  26. Has anyone bought the Perennial Apocalypse? http://www.onlineoriginals.com/showitem.asp?itemID=239 I am attempting to acquire his books and I want to know if said e-book may be printed off (I don't like e-books but if I could print it off and thus turn it into a real book it would be wonderful), does anyone know?

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  27. Austin Yates wrote:
    "I was able to grab all the non-forum articles using wget and can view the site locally on my machine."

    Austin, are you still here? Or anyone else who grabbed all the articles in a similar way? A lot of them are not available on archive.org, I'd be interested in getting a copy and maybe figuring out a way to make them available (could be something as simple as posting them as a long series of articles on a blogspot page)

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  28. I grabbed most of his site as html files. I could set up a Dropbox account and share them with you.

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  29. It's been almost a year since OEH passed. Someone at the old forums mentioned having crawled and archived the entire "Long View" site. Has it been mirrored anywhere yet?

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  30. Franklin, sorry for the late reply but if you could set that up, it'd be much appreciated. Let me know if you want my email to send me the dropbox link, or if you'd be OK with just posting it here (as there seem to be others interested in seeing all the writings from the old site too).

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  31. The Dropbox account is under the email address kuzefra@excite.com. Send an email there and I'll send you the password.

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  32. Can someone who has the full archive of the site get in contact with me @ spartacus.lee(at)gmail.com ? I'm very interested in it, and trying to find a host for it. It's a shame that the site has been lost for most of us. spartacus.lee(at)gmail.com

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  33. I was the one who posted on John's forums that I had archived his whole site. You can get a copy of it from:
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1hZ1wIeDNpPVWJBSGJUSTlVdTg/edit?usp=sharing

    I have also mirrored John's website on my own:
    http://www.benespen.com/storage/the-long-view/index.html

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  34. I first ran into John Reilly's website while doing some research on Oswald Spengler, who has had a huge influence on my thinking about history, philosophy and a number of other areas. I really loved Reilly's blog, and was shocked to hear he had passed away. I was dismayed at how quickly his website was taken down after his untimely death, and I wish to thank those who were able to save his writings and post them online for posterity. They truly are an intellectual treasure.

    John J Reilly, you will be missed. God bless you. May you rest in peace.

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  35. FYI: Matt Beck died some time ago due to an overdose of anti-depressant medication for bipolar disorder.

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  36. I'm very sorry to hear that. I didn't know. I wondered why the blog never updated. I'm sorry.

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