Dear Readers, Over my many years of involvement in the Libertarian Party, I have become friends with many different Libertarians all across the state and nation.
Every once in awhile, one departs. Yesterday, on Sunday evening, David Nolan, the founder of the Libertarian Party, departed -- passing away at the age of 66. The Libertarian Party was founded in 1971 in David's living room. The first time I met David was at the Libertarian Party's national convention in Phoenix in 1985. Back then, when I was a younger man, he seemed larger than life. More recently, I became friends with him as he returned to the national LP spotlight. I am honored to have known him and called him a friend. The political party he founded has given voice to my life's philosophy. Fittingly for his final years, in 2008 he returned to a leadership role in the party he had helped organize, seeking and winning a seat on the Libertarian National Committee, which he occupied until he died. There is not a person who has been involved in our organization who wasn't touched by the life of David Nolan. He helped build our political home and devoted decades of his life to its guidance and service. Nolan's work has influenced the lives of millions of people through the thousands of small and large successes that the Libertarian Party has had in its four decades of existence. If Libertarians hit the streets to protest a tax increase, it was Nolan's creation that brought them together. If a Libertarian is among the nearly 1,000 people who have won election to public office, it was Nolan's creation that helped staff the campaign team. Nolan died as he lived - serving the Libertarian Party and the dream that our Party represents. It is unfortunate that he did not live to see all of the freedom he advocated during his life. However, even though success is often elusive in life, Nolan found much happiness in finding so many new friends and colleagues to work toward that vision -- many of whom would never have found libertarianism had it not been for the political party he founded. The Libertarian Party and the libertarian movement have suffered a terrible blow in the loss of the man who has affected all of our lives so profoundly. His was a voice of reason in an increasingly unreasonable age. May you rest in peace, David Nolan. And thank you, my friend. -- Marc Montoni, Secretary Libertarian Party of Virginia ********************************************************************************** RIP: David F. Nolan, inspiration for the World's Smallest Political Quiz and co-founder of the Libertarian Party, dead at 66. Dear friend of liberty, The Advocates for Self-Government is deeply saddened to report that David F. Nolan, creator of the Nolan Chart that is the basis of the World's Smallest Political Quiz, has passed away. Nolan died on November 21, just two days before his 67th birthday. He lived in Tucson, Arizona. Nolan is famous among libertarians for two major accomplishments. He was a principal founder of the Libertarian Party -- in fact, that party was formed in his own living room in 1971. And in 1970, he created a new multi-spectrum map of the political world that is rapidly replacing the old-fashioned left-versus-right linear model. His model is today known internationally as the "Nolan Chart." The Nolan Chart forms the basis of the Advocates for Self-Government's world-famous World's Smallest Political Quiz. The Quiz took Nolan's chart to a vast, worldwide audience. The Quiz has been taken over 16 million times online, is referenced in numerous major textbooks, is used in countless high school and college classrooms, and has been reprinted in numerous newspapers, magazines, books, and other media. The Quiz has been translated into several languages. Through the success of the Quiz, the Nolan Chart model has won acceptance among political scientists and has changed the political thinking of countless individuals. "The libertarian movement has lost one of its giants, and I have lost a dear colleague and friend," said Advocates president Sharon Harris. "David Nolan changed political history and changed the way millions look at the world of politics. It is impossible to overstate the importance of his legacy to liberty." Nolan was an enthusiastic supporter of the Advocates for Self-Government, speaking at Advocates events, serving on the Advocates Board of Advisors, and publicly endorsing the Advocates and the World's Smallest Political Quiz. Nolan credited the Advocates with rescuing and popularizing his Nolan Chart. Nolan introduced his chart in an article he wrote in the summer of 1970 entitled "Classifying and Analyzing Political-Economic Systems." It appeared in the January 1971 issue of The Individualist, a newsletter published by the Society for Individual Liberty. The idea generated some interest, but, as Nolan later told the Advocates in an interview, "the discussion died down... the idea didn't completely disappear, but it drifted into a kind of semi-obscurity for several years." That obscurity ended abruptly, Nolan said, when Advocates Founder Marshall Fritz -- searching for new, effective ways to communicate libertarian ideas -- became excited by the Nolan Chart's possibilities in the early 1980s. Marshall tweaked the chart and added ten questions alongside it, allowing users to place themselves on the chart by their answers. The result was the World's Smallest Political Quiz -- arguably the most successful outreach and educational tool in the libertarian movement's history. "Marshall essentially resurrected the Chart," Nolan said. "Marshall saw its value as a recruiting and promotional and mind-changing tool more clearly than anybody else ever had, perhaps even more than I had. "Marshall dusted it off, refined it, fine-tuned it, and started promoting it. And thanks to Marshall's efforts, it took off." Nolan's long history of libertarian political activism and leadership dated back to the early days of the modern libertarian movement. He credited Robert Heinlein and Ayn Rand as key influences on his political thinking. His activism started with the Goldwater for President campaign, and continued with organizations including Young Americans for Freedom, the Liberty Amendment Committee, and the Society for Individual Liberty, before the formation of the Libertarian Party. Nolan remained active in the two organizations that most represented his legacy until his death. He spoke at the Advocates 25th Anniversary celebration at FreedomFest in Las Vegas this past July, and this month he completed a vigorous campaign for the U.S. Senate on the Libertarian ticket. FURTHER INFORMATION: A detailed profile of Nolan is available at the Advocates' Libertarianism.com website: http://www.libertarianism.com/pop_celebrity/157 A great photo of David Nolan and Marshall Fritz, standing before the Nolan Chart, is at: http://www.theadvocates.org/content/david-nolan?nav=quiz A history of the Nolan Chart can be found here: http://www.theadvocates.org/content/the-nolan-chart?nav=quiz The World's Smallest Political Quiz can be taken at: http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz ********************************************************************************** -- end -- ############################################################# Have an announcement you'd like to post? 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