Robert G. Anderson writes to tell me the sad news of the death of the great Idaho libertarian, Ralph Smeed, at 88 of pancreatic cancer. Ralph, a livestock dealer and good friend and collaborator of Leonard Read’s, Ron Paul’s, Bob’s, and so many of us, was a charming, untiring champion of freedom. He wrote a newspaper column for many years, where he was billed as a “Curmdgeon,” but a less curmudgeonly man is hard to imagine. Ralph never met a stranger, and never passed up an opportunity to advance the cause of liberty. He was also a generous supporter of the Mises Institute. God rest his great soul.
