A celebration of conservatism and grief of a major loss

I had first heard of William F. Buckley, Jr during my college years. Being a conservative Republican all of my life, I became more interested in the meaning of conservatism beyond Ronald Reagan. I heard about WFB and the National Review on a TV show and headed to the only bookstore in town, Books-A-Million, to take a peek. I remember buying my first issue and immediately subscribing. That was over 10 years ago and I have kept every issue. In the meantime, I was turned on to his fiction novels. If you like spy books, none can compare. In recent years, I began collecting his books and buying first editions of his earlier writings. I knew that he was a legend and that this collection would be of great value, at least to myself. I often said that Buckley was the smartest man alive. Anybody that has written their own lexicon (which I own) is brilliant. In fact, I printed off a list of his many, many books over a year ago to begin checking off the ones that I already have. That list sits on my desk right now. Today's news came as a big surprise and its reality hit me this afternoon. Some may find it a bit odd that I would grieve the loss of a man that I had never met (although, I had every intention of meeting him one day for him to sign a book). WFB was a man that conservatives could be proud of. He articulated his thoughts in such a way that they could not be argued. WFB is to conservatism as C.S. Lewis is to Christianity. His critical reasoning and intelligent responses made clear any questions that you have. I am thankful for his many writings that we can reference in the future and sad that I won't be reading his thoughts on this year's election. Of course, he probably left at the right time. I could only imagine the frustration this election season had imposed on him.
Mr. Buckley, thank you for speaking your mind and heart through your books to help me to understand what it means to be conservative. Thank you for being a man of faith and professing that faith without shame. Thank you for creating a magazine (NRO and NRODT) that is intellectually sound while being cleverly witty. It has helped to shape the woman that I am today and the leader I hope to be tomorrow.
My prayers are with the Buckley family and the NR family. Such a loss is heart breaking but the legacy he left is inspiring!