In praise of Roger Bissell


Jody Gomez

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I for one, just wanted to thank Roger for his contributions here, and to objectivism, and to life. Thanks Roger, your posts are a joy to read and ponder. They necessitate thought, and I think that is one of the reasons we are all here.

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Guys, I appreciate the kind words.

Jody, I do try to be provocative and interesting -- and clear in how I say it. Barbara told me that, even when she disagreed with me, she appreciated the clear manner in which I said it. Style is important to me, and sometimes I even experience an essay or a passage I have written as going beyond just an argument and approaching art. That is a really good, exciting feeling. But in general, I'm happy when I can stimulate people to think outside the box that others would be content to keep us in. (No names :-)

Oh, and I owe you all a report on that fantastic LAON meeting the other night with Duncan Scott, Nathaniel and Barbara Branden, and John Hospers. Stay tuned!

Best,

REB

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Thanks, Jody, for this tribute to Roger. He is a real star here, writes wonderful, thought provoking articles, and has been a major force in getting this forum off the ground. Most importantly, Roger is a really great guy, a great mind, and principled individualist. One of the things I admire most about Roger (and this applies to most of the people here) is the fact that he is not about to accept someone else's truth as his own truth. A fine and truly independent mind is a rare asset. Roger has been a wonderful friend and inspiration to us all. Becky is a very lucky woman, indeed.

Roger, a toast to you, a big hug and a nice round of applause from all of us at Objectivist Living. You Rock!

=D> =D> :D/ =D> =D> :D/ =D>

Kat

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I lift my coffee cup to you, Kat, and everyone here who appreciates a zone of sanity and civility and synergy away from the vitriol and nastiness that drags down so many Objectivist and Libertarian discussion forums. (I know, I know: fora. But yuk, that's a funny-looking word.)

And you know what? The best is yet to come! So, onward and upward!! (Lifting coffee cup again.)

And hugs to all them what wants one! :-)

REB

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  • 9 months later...

I found this thread buried deep somewhere and moved it over to Roger's corner.

Roger, thank you so much for all you have been doing with Objectivist Living, all the Corners of Insight, including going around and digging up all kinds of writings from very influential people in Objectivist and Libertarian circles, retyping everything and getting permission to post all these wonderful things on Objectivist Living. It is a lot of work and it is greatly appreciated. Michael and I are very grateful for your friendship, your help with the Corners of Insight, as well as your own original contributions to OL.

You deserve a standing ovation! Roger you rock!

Thank you,

Kat

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Hey, guys, thanks for the kind words. My corner hasn't exactly been Grand Central Station these days. But that's fine, because I'm too busy to worry too much about things I'm essentially doing for fun. If someone else appreciates and enjoys the pieces I post by the Brandens, John Hospers, Jeff Riggenbach, Henry Veatch, or Roy Childs, fine -- but I'm just trying to honor them for the wonderful things they've done and haven't gotten enough credit for recently.

BTW, I had a wonderful time at the Sun Valley (Idaho) jazz festival -- very reaffirming of my musical values, plus all the free food I ate (gourmet, at that) resulted in a net weight LOSS of two pounds!! (Huh??) Perhaps it was the combination of no breakfast, and the high altitude aerobics (trombone playing and singing). I dunno...

Anyway, carry on, enjoy, look on the bright side, create, produce, and always ask yourself: What would Godzilla do? Then...don't do that!

REB

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Hear, hear! Star you are, Roger :)

I too would like to acknowledge the clarity and understanding I gain from reading your posts.

I also really love the quote at the end of your posts.

Edited by Fran
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Fran, you are a sweetheart. :-)

Several people whose opinions I greatly respect have told me that they appreciate the fact that even when they don't agree with my opinion on certain issues, I always am able to express my points clearly, and they enjoy reading what I write for that reason. I wish I could say it's a talent, but really it came about because of lots of hard work and attention to principles of effective writing. Back in the late 70s and early 80s is when I delved into this most heavily. I wish I had the books handy, so I could recommend them right now.

REB

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Roger, I join the others in saluting you for the valuable work you're doing on OL And, people, you should hear him blow that horn!

Kat, you said that Becky is a lucky woman. I agree. And Roger is an equally lucky man. I got to know Becky better at the Atlas Society Summer Seminar in July; she is a warm, sensitiive, and highly intelligent woman. And the love and respect between Roger and Becky is a delight to see.

Barbara

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Roger, I join the others in saluting you for the valuable work you're doing on OL And, people, you should hear him blow that horn!

Kat, you said that Becky is a lucky woman. I agree. And Roger is an equally lucky man. I got to know Becky better at the Atlas Society Summer Seminar in July; she is a warm, sensitiive, and highly intelligent woman. And the love and respect between Roger and Becky is a delight to see.

Barbara

Barbara, if it's a delight for you, think of what it is for Becky and me! <unashamed, cat-ate-the-canary grin>

We are truly fortunate, indeed, to have had the last 17 years together. The only sad thing is that we had the enormous good fortune to have met and favorably responded to one another 37 years ago, but it took us 20 years, two failed marriages each, and six children between us, to realize that we ought to be together -- and to do something about it. (Rich, you'll be interested to know that we were married in a Unitarian Church.)However, while the four ex's are of little or no further interest or importance to me, those six children are an all-important blessing and part of our lives, along with our own little Rachel (who is now nearly 12 and only 2 inches shorter than her momma!).

When I reflect on how much differently things could have turned out in a more repressive society -- a Dr. Laura society, I think of it -- we'd probably still be locked in our first or second miserable marriages, with kids growing up in gross dysfunction and no decent role model of a happy man-woman relationship to guide them. No doubt, the path we took was difficult for our kids, but "the road not taken" would have been worse, I'm sure.

So...back to the present: I had two medical exams today, one a CT scan for the two small aneurysms in my abdomen (still waiting for a report as to whether they have grown and might need surgery), the other a treadmill stress test following up on some chest pains I had two weeks ago (which were probably an upsurge of gastric reflux, but the doctor wants further follow-up in two weeks with an echo-cardiogram to check out heartbeat patterns that suggest some parts of my heart may not be getting enough oxygen). We'll see how this all works out, but I'm presently in no pain or immediate danger, so please don't worry about me. Just know that, like everyone else, I have a mortal, destructible body that is starting to make rattles and noises that deserve my attention -- and that, as long as I have my Disneyland gig, these various pokings and proddings are covered by medical insurance, so I can continue to spend my hard-earned dollars on books, CDs, DVDs, and dates with my sweetie. :-)

One more note: I'm going to Florida this weekend for two concerts with the Side Street Strutters jazz band (it will be somewhere north of Orlando), and on the way back I'm spending 3 days in Nashville TN with three of my grown children and my four grandchildren. My 28 year old daughter, Rebecca, asked me to make a menu decision, so we're having a family dinner Monday night with spaghetti casserole, salad, rolls, and pumpkin pie. And lots of dandling of the grandkids. And photo-taking, of course!

So, life is good. Enjoy, savor, revel in this amazing fact of our capacity for self-sustaining, self-generated activity -- and happiness.

REB

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Roger,

I'm delighted that you and Becky are so in love. And I will second Barbara's appreciative comments about her.

From a personal viewpoint: it heartens me to hear from people who have been married for 17 years and still feel so much love for each other, as I didn't experience this from my parents' relationship whilst growing up. From a world view: happy, fulfilled, in love people, make for a happier world to be in :)

Fran

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Roger, I'll worry if I want to. Please let us know how your various medical tests work out.

I understand your regret that you and Becky took so long to decide to be together. But I wonder if it wasn't better that way. Perhaps the failed marriages were what you both required in order fully to appreciate each other, and to have gained the maturity and wisdom to make your marriage work. Love is not always enough to make a relatiionship successful; timing is often crucial.

Barbara

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Roger, I'll worry if I want to. Please let us know how your various medical tests work out.

I understand your regret that you and Becky took so long to decide to be together. But I wonder if it wasn't better that way. Perhaps the failed marriages were what you both required in order fully to appreciate each other, and to have gained the maturity and wisdom to make your marriage work. Love is not always enough to make a relatiionship successful; timing is often crucial.

Barbara

Sure, Barbara, I'll provide an update in a couple of weeks. Push "pause" on the Worry button and remember to push "play" again about November 7. :-)

As for the "timing," issue (in re "maturity and wisdom"), you are 100% correct, Barbara. Very wise, astute thinking on your part. We have often speculated that if we had married in the early 70s, we might not have had the coping techniques (that we since learned) to work through our conflicts.

More importantly, though, I think that the "contrast objects" (to use an Objectivist epistemology term) of our failed relationships gave us a very clear idea of what we ~did~ want (but weren't getting), and when we re-met and corresponded, we found that we had each found he missing "puzzle piece," so to speak.

Not that we just emotionally and impulsively leaped from frying pan into fire. During our long-distance courtship, we did a lot of self-counseling, using books on relationship problems to guide us through various checklists of pitfalls and how to clarify and deal with them. That helped enormously to give us a clear view of what we were getting into (which we did not have with our ex's either).

So, I'd say that the combination of reason and experience (hmm, sounds like I have done a Sciabarrian transcendence of rationalism and empiricism!) was the biggest component in our "luck" at reconnecting with one another. As Einstein said, "Chance favors the prepared mind." (Or soul = mind + values, in this case.)

REB

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So...back to the present: I had two medical exams today, one a CT scan for the two small aneurysms in my abdomen (still waiting for a report as to whether they have grown and might need surgery), the other a treadmill stress test following up on some chest pains I had two weeks ago (which were probably an upsurge of gastric reflux, but the doctor wants further follow-up in two weeks with an echo-cardiogram to check out heartbeat patterns that suggest some parts of my heart may not be getting enough oxygen). We'll see how this all works out, but I'm presently in no pain or immediate danger, so please don't worry about me. Just know that, like everyone else, I have a mortal, destructible body that is starting to make rattles and noises that deserve my attention -- and that, as long as I have my Disneyland gig, these various pokings and proddings are covered by medical insurance, so I can continue to spend my hard-earned dollars on books, CDs, DVDs, and dates with my sweetie. :-)

Good luck to you, Roger. I understand that abdomenal aneurysms are the most common by far and are usually monitored rather than surgically corrected.

My brother worked for Disney for 23 years, most of it part time. He is married to the daughter of E. Cardon Walker. The idea was to keep that health insurance. It must be pretty good.

--Brant

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So...back to the present: I had two medical exams today, one a CT scan for the two small aneurysms in my abdomen (still waiting for a report as to whether they have grown and might need surgery), the other a treadmill stress test following up on some chest pains I had two weeks ago (which were probably an upsurge of gastric reflux, but the doctor wants further follow-up in two weeks with an echo-cardiogram to check out heartbeat patterns that suggest some parts of my heart may not be getting enough oxygen). We'll see how this all works out, but I'm presently in no pain or immediate danger, so please don't worry about me. Just know that, like everyone else, I have a mortal, destructible body that is starting to make rattles and noises that deserve my attention -- and that, as long as I have my Disneyland gig, these various pokings and proddings are covered by medical insurance, so I can continue to spend my hard-earned dollars on books, CDs, DVDs, and dates with my sweetie. :-)

Good luck to you, Roger. I understand that abdomenal aneurysms are the most common by far and are usually monitored rather than surgically corrected.

My brother worked for Disney for 23 years, most of it part time. He is married to the daughter of E. Cardon Walker. The idea was to keep that health insurance. It must be pretty good.

--Brant

Brant, I'm hoping that what you say applies to me. I have no significant problem with high blood pressure, so I'll probably be all right. However, one of the two aneurysms is not a straight-line bulge, but a bulge at a junction of arteries near the kidney. If it goes bad, the surgery will be rather tricky. Naturally, I'm trying to lead as placid a life as possible -- you know, not getting involved in food-fights on other websites, etc. But my Disney gig is a significant source of stress and aggravation, for reasons which I won't go into. Suffice it to say that the health insurance (which is pretty good) is only a reasonable compensation for what they put us through. In another 6-8 years or so, it won't matter, because I plan to quit around age 65 and move to Nashville TN and play free-lance there, while living off the Am. Fed. of Mus. pension and (if it still exists) Social Security. Ah, geezerhood beckons. :-)

REB

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So...back to the present: I had two medical exams today, one a CT scan for the two small aneurysms in my abdomen (still waiting for a report as to whether they have grown and might need surgery), the other a treadmill stress test following up on some chest pains I had two weeks ago (which were probably an upsurge of gastric reflux, but the doctor wants further follow-up in two weeks with an echo-cardiogram to check out heartbeat patterns that suggest some parts of my heart may not be getting enough oxygen). We'll see how this all works out, but I'm presently in no pain or immediate danger, so please don't worry about me. Just know that, like everyone else, I have a mortal, destructible body that is starting to make rattles and noises that deserve my attention -- and that, as long as I have my Disneyland gig, these various pokings and proddings are covered by medical insurance, so I can continue to spend my hard-earned dollars on books, CDs, DVDs, and dates with my sweetie. :-)

Good luck to you, Roger. I understand that abdominal aneurysms are the most common by far and are usually monitored rather than surgically corrected.

My brother worked for Disney for 23 years, most of it part time. He is married to the daughter of E. Cardon Walker. The idea was to keep that health insurance. It must be pretty good.

--Brant

Brant, I'm hoping that what you say applies to me. I have no significant problem with high blood pressure, so I'll probably be all right. However, one of the two aneurysms is not a straight-line bulge, but a bulge at a junction of arteries near the kidney. If it goes bad, the surgery will be rather tricky. Naturally, I'm trying to lead as placid a life as possible -- you know, not getting involved in food-fights on other websites, etc. But my Disney gig is a significant source of stress and aggravation, for reasons which I won't go into. Suffice it to say that the health insurance (which is pretty good) is only a reasonable compensation for what they put us through. In another 6-8 years or so, it won't matter, because I plan to quit around age 65 and move to Nashville TN and play free-lance there, while living off the Am. Fed. of Mus. pension and (if it still exists) Social Security. Ah, geezerhood beckons. :-)

REB

Stress and aggravation will drive your blood pressure through the roof. You need to bifurcate yourself into two people: one lives in the land of your employment and that is intellectual. The other is you and that is everything except Disney. The you that is you must be apart from the you that is subject to that stress. It must be an observer and acknowledger, but serene unto itself. You see, the source of the stress is existential so why is it able to hit you in the gut? Because you let it in to hit you there. The trick is to always be centered. CENTERED. The center is in your lower belly. You need to contemplate THAT!

--Brant

Edited by Brant Gaede
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Roger,

I want to add to the record my own appreciation for the work you have done on this forum by making available great philosophical and objectivist-historical materials, as well as your own fabulous original contributions to Objectivist thought. You keep thinking, and that is an inspiration.

In the years I have known you online, you always come across as an exceptionally decent guy. I would like to meet you in person some day, and I really would like to hear you wail on the trombone. If you ever come by Bangkok, look me up. Maybe we could get you a gig here, but be forewarned: this is a wild and wicked town.

-Ross Barlow.

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Roger; Let me join the praise. I hope all goes well. It was nice to meet you at Chapman and hope you can get to the next Summer Seminar. Thanks for all your contributions to Objectist Living.

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