William F. Buckley Jr. led a remarkable life, and it was not confined to enlivening conservative thought in America for more than 50 years.

Some of us first ran into him in the 1960s, when he would travel the country for public debates with local liberals on college campuses, including one Louis Lomax in Los Angeles.

Then he wrote a series of spy novels. The books were pure entertainment, and pretty good entertainment at that.

Buckley was a sailor who crossed the Atlantic in his own boat. He wrote about the experience in “Atlantic High.” The book came out nearly 30 years ago, and anybody who enjoys boats and boating found it interesting. One reviewer noted that the author seemed to place as much importance on stocking the wine cooler as making the trip.

For years Buckley ran the weekly “Firing Line” program on television, conversing with guests and entertaining them and the audience with two-dollar words. His main effect on the country was that he showed that conservatives could be funny and have ideas at the same time.

As his magazine says when it writes about the departed: RIP. (hh)