This may have been the first time I ever enjoyed
myself at a memorial service, but I had a blast at Nathaniel Branden's memorial
service. Hosted at the Los Angeles Ebell Theater by the Atlas Society, it was great to hear a lot of big names in the liberty movement discussing
the importance and personal impact of Branden’s work (which also had an impact
on me, personally).
I remember one of the defining moments of my
last few years: I was sitting on top of a Humvee in the Mojave Desert, wearing
full (bloody) combat armor, reading “The Moral Revolution in Atlas Shrugged”
under the desert sun. At the time I’d
been wrestling with some major personal issues and I was at a crossroads in
life. As a matter of fact, the Humvee I
sat on was literally parked at a crossroads where two dirt paths crossed and continued
into the sandy wilderness.
The number one theme I took away from Branden’s
essay is this: with great liberty comes great responsibility—not a responsibility
to strangers, but to self. Branden wrote
about asserting one’s rugged individualism and never being ashamed of success,
especially when “social” pressures dictate otherwise. But there’s another, more important side to
that: one must always own up to one’s own failings. But rather than self-castigate, one should
alter their actions for the better and move forward in life.
In that one essay, Mr. Branden had a hell of
a punch for my brain that helped put the Atlas
Shrugged novel and my own confused life into proper context for me. That
was a big deal.
It also spoke highly of Branden’s character
that both his wife Leigh and amicably divorced ex-wife Estelle Devers were
present, got along, and treated each other with dignity and respect. Hell, I
already know which exes are totally banned from my funeral!
The service lasted almost three hours, with a
variety of accomplished objectivists and libertarians speaking both of Nat
Branden’s work as an intellectual and personal memories of a dear friend
departed. People shared funny, silly
stories about Branden and played audio clips from his academic lectures.
It was fascinating to hear in Branden’s own
words a new context for the infamous rape scene in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. While I didn’t agree with him 100%--rape is
rape in my book—I will admit that there’s something to Branden’s reasoning in sexually repressed people who are intensely attracted to each other having rape fantasies. After all, it’s the reason why 50 Shades of Grey is so wildly popular.
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| Judd Weiss shares memories of Nathaniel Branden |
Many of the speakers who were mentored by
Branden were aged, in their 50s and 60s. In this context, it was especially
refreshing to hear from the cream of the crop of the second generation of
Nathaniel Branden’s pupils: Judd Weiss.
Apparently other speakers ran over their allotted time, so Judd had to
slash most of his remarks and deliver his speech in five minutes. Judd's words were touching and he spoke from
the heart, not so much about Nat’s work, but about the growing role Nat played
in Judd’s life over the last 5 years.
Nat Branden spoke and wrote often these
simple instructions: Feel deeply so you can think clearly. I learned a lot and left the service feeling
better about myself. I suppose the greatest feeling of all was being surrounded
by people of strong character who aren't ashamed of their success, but also own
up to their failures. Men and women of this
quality are few and far between, and no small part of their character and integrity
was inspired by the words and deeds of Nathaniel Branden.
* * *
Color photo by Judd Weiss. Black and White photo by Avens O'Brien.
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