American Impresario: William F. Buckley, Jr., and the Elements of American Character

In 1994, William F. Buckley, Jr., the conservative icon, received a letter from an eighteen-year-old aspiring pianist by the name of Lawrence Perelman, the son of Soviet Jewish immigrants. Buckley’s response sparked a remarkable cross-generational friendship during which Perelman learned of the timeless elements of Buckley’s character, and the central role of classical music in Buckley’s American vision.

Lawrence Perelman, an eighteen-year-old aspiring pianist and son of Soviet Jewish immigr...