Hello John,

It is with heavy but grateful hearts that we join with many friends and sister organizations to mourn the passing of Dr. Lee Edwards. Lee was a dear friend of the Russell Kirk Center and made numerous treks to Mecosta over the years to teach seminars and participate in events. As one of its preeminent historians, Dr. Edwards was a fixture within the conservative movement and his legacy and impact are profound.

This article, adapted from a speech Dr. Edwards delivered at the Heritage Foundation on March 14, 2018, gives a look into the depth of his thinking and historical insight, particularly as it relates to Russell Kirk:

“Conservatives, Kirk said, must reconcile individualism (which sustained 19th-century life at the same time it starved the soul) with the sense of community. Conservatives must open the eyes of the people to the central concept of politics — that the claims of freedom and the claims of order can be kept in a healthy tension, avoiding extremes. The political vehicle by which that tension can be maintained is the U.S. Constitution, with its time-tested checks and balances."
[...]
“In the last chapter of his last book, The Sword of Imagination, Russell Kirk asks, ‘Is life worth living?’ He acknowledges that in our chaotic world, many might shrug their shoulders and dismiss such a fundamental question. Contrary to the modern atmosphere of moral ambiguity, Kirk provides a conservative alternative, writing that life ‘ought to be lived with honor, charity, and prudence.’”

Honor, charity, and prudence is a fitting way to describe the way Lee lived his own life.

Dr. Edwards wrote often about Russell Kirk's contributions to American political and intellectual life, including in “The Mind behind The Conservative Mind” for Modern Age in 2017.

When we were working on a video to help tell the story of the Russell Kirk Center, Dr. Edwards graciously sat with us to discuss the influence of Russell Kirk and the impact of the organization that now carries on his work.

Just last December, Lee attended the Kirk Center’s 70th anniversary of The Conservative Mind panel in DC and told me how encouraged he was by the quality of the discussion among the young conservatives there.

Annette Kirk, who first met Lee in the early 1960s, said that, "The passing of Lee Edwards is a loss for more than the conservative movement, it is personal loss to me. Lee was one of my oldest and dearest friends. He was a source of wisdom and often consolation for me. I admired him immensely and will miss his insights and good cheer."

My daughter, Isabel, who interned with him, remarked that, "Dr. Edwards was a kind and brilliant mentor. He could take an idea and communicate it in captivating prose. A learned scholar, he had much to teach younger generations."

Lee will be missed by all those of us who knew and loved him, and by a generation looking for exemplars of scholarship and piety. We take comfort that Lee is even now in the presence of the Lord, and reunited with his beloved wife Anne. Requiescat in pace.

Jeff

Jeffrey O. Nelson, Ph.D.
Executive Director & CEO