I see, via Ann Coulter on Twitter, that Joe Sobran has passed away. I didn't always agree with his positions—he may for all I know, be the writer John Derbyshire refers to here—but he did a lot of important work, and introduced me to some useful ideas.

I thought of him recently when Steve Sailer blogged on gypsies in Europe—Sobran, discussing prejudice, wrote that

"But most prejudices aren’t created by official doctrines; they result from popular experience and the slow spreading of a group’s reputation. The first gypsy I ever met — on a street in Rome — grabbed a wad of money out of my hand. I’d been too naive to be wary of her, though my companions had warned me against her."

Sobran got crossways with Bill Buckley, and was fired from National Review, like many another conservative writer.

He ran a newsletter and then a website, and more or less retired in 2007. His last column was titled "Adieu."