I have been writing this column, off and on, mostly on, for–dear God, can it be nearly thirty years? Yet nothing lasts forever, neither columns nor columnists, and Fred on Everything, for unexpected reasons with which i will not bore the reader, has reached its end.
Columnizing is a curious trade. I suppose that from time to time most in it ask themselves, why am I doing this? It is not from vanity or the desire to see one’s name in print. At the age of twenty, a new writer thinks that if only he can be published in the next most important outlet, he will be happy and fulfilled. At thirty, he thinks, oh hell, its deadline, what can I write and how can I make it seem fresh and interesting when almost every subject has been written about thousands of times by thousands of writers also on deadline?
I suspect that few columnists think that their output will accomplish anything. People seldom change their minds. Most likely we are just bellowing at the universe to behave itself. It doesn’t.
Unlike many in our ashen trade, I have been fortunate in not having an editor to tell me what to write and not being constrained to specialize. “Fred on Everything” may sound pompous but it is not restrictive. Thus i could write about anything from the military-industrial complex to being a barefoot-and-BB gun-toting Tom Sawyer simulacrum in small-town Alabama to robots and the realities of Mexico. This has been fun for me and, apparently, for a certain kind of reader.
But not to most. What most readers want is to be told over and over what they already believe, preferably in combative prose. Most columnists and websites do exactly this. I could never do it, perhaps because of some psychic defect. Or maybe I am just bull-headed. The result has been that readers have been few by internet standards but, at least in my judgement, a superior and versatile sort who can disagree without huffing-and-deleting. I regard them–you– as fellow conspirators against the expected, the tedious, and the ordinary. It has been fun. I thank you for the years.
Ciao,
Fred
Fred, I am very sad to see you hang up the keyboard. I’ve been reading your column for nigh on thirty years, and I went back and read all the columns that I had missed. I hope you and Violetta are well, and I wish you all the best.
I started reading your columns on a website called Toogood Reports and learnt a lot. Thanks Fred.
You will be missed. I was nearly always amused, and often in agreement, with your columns. I wish you the best in whatever endeavor comes next… and if you ever want to be on The New American Dream Radio Show I’ll be sure to make that happen!
Be well.
All the best!
Fred, you are truly a one-off: an independent thinker who always enlightens and rarely disappoints.
I am among the many who thank you and wish you well in your life and future endeavors.
Tony Simpson
Bon Voyage.
There will be a big void.
Next man up!
Well, I make a point to never tell someone what to do…unless it’s to go to Hell, which I do a lot lately…and I’m not going to tell you you should keep going, because you have your reasons, but your columns will be missed and while read by few, I feel we need voices like yours floating around in the ether. I don’t know if it helps or not, but somewhere there must be a record of a contrary opinion. But all I will say is I’m sorry to see you go.
Disagree that Fred’s columns read by few.
Carry on, soldier.
Farewell and thank you
Adios, Fred. You will be missed.
Cheerio Fred. I shall miss you. I did not always agree with what you wrote, but always enjoyed what you wrote. It was never boring and always humorous.
Thank you.
I have been reading this column for 20+years. Thanks
Fred, you will be missed. I didn’t always agree with you, but I was always entertained and often made to think.
Hi Fred, I have been reading you for perhaps 25 years. Well before I set up my business.
Your columns were infrequent and when I got notification of them I almost always stopped what I was doing to read them. Like now, when I should be driving to an important quote but decided your column was more important to me in the moment.
Well, I will miss you. 🫡
Thank you for the years..from the times I lived in Mexico(Veracruz) and read your work, to your books,,,,Your voice has been both a joy and an inspiration to this Alabamian(Mobile)……at 73 I find time passing and like you, am not far from some changes in my life….Gods Speed to you and family. Thank you for sharing what you saw, what you did and what you thought. It means more than I can say here…
Carr McCormack III
Cotacachi Ecuador
Sad to see you go, I just discovered your writings only a few years ago. I’ve enjoyed your perspective and insight, thank you for sharing
Fred,
Thank you and best wishes.
Long-time reader as well.
Before hanging it up forever, have you considered going the Substack route? Many excellent and varied writers, and of note is that there are a massive number of also high quality readers who support “their” writers.
Just a thought before you put your step away from the keyboard forever. 🙁
Yeah, I hear ya. You let some troll with the intellect of Cheez Whiz get under your scrotum and you decided to stop torturing yourself. Problem is, you weren’t torturing yourself and you believed in some of what you wrote. So you’ll keep on writing. Yay!
Thank you for your wit, your discernment and your scathingly sarcastic take on just about everything. It has been a pleasure and I wish you all the best.
Farewell Fred. Thanks for the laugh and thought-provoking content. I wish you the best.
I’ll miss you. Thanks for much info & entertainment. I grew up in DC. Some summers at Colonial Beach so I know about Dahlgren.
Good luck in your future!
Bill Drissel
The Colony, TX
Goodbye and thanks, Fred:
I have always enjoyed your columns and agreed most of the time. Enjoy your life, your wife and family and don’t worry about the increasing amount of morons that inhabit our world.
God bless!
Sad to see you go, Fred. You brought a lot of great people together with your writings. Be well and God bless you and your loved ones. 🫡🏁🫵🏼
Fred,
I’ve enjoyed your views and share your tongue in cheek, warped sense of humor and whimsy
at the foibles of most of our fellow travelers on this planet.
The two most notable things we can do is to make people think and to make them smile and laugh. You’ve succeeded at both.
May the wind always be at your back and blowing you towards good things in whatever the future holds.
Gracias por todas esas horas de amena lectura.
Suerte Federico.
Vaya con dios. Thanks for your insight and prose. Best wishes for you and yours.
I’ll miss you Fred. Take care.
Deane in Florida here. I was a late comer to your column, Fred, but you got me from the first one I read. I’ll miss reading your thoughts (on everything!) and the discourse of your commentors. The bunch of you are so much smarter than me and I eagerly opened your email every time it came.
I’ll miss you.
Please do yourself a favor sometime before your last breath, if you haven’t already, and look into the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. If you find it’s all bunk, then let me know so I can stop with all this constant annoying evangelism. On the other hand, if you conclude, as I have, that the evidence points to it’s validity, take the deal! Only family get a key to Heaven’s door.
God bless you and your family.
You will be missed. Good fortune in your next chapter, Fred.
Adios Mi Amigo. You have been telling it like it is all these years. Thank you for you thought provoking rants over the years.
Sorry to see you hang it up. I’ve enjoyed your columns over the years, and have even purchased the books
Fred ~ It’s always a bright spot in the day when your post arrives quietly in my mailbox. No matter what I may be reading or doing at the moment, it gets paused while I peruse it. There are few wordsmiths out there today with the erudition and punchy narrative found in your pieces. They make me feel like I’m sitting in an off-the-beaten-path bar, enjoying a few beers with the lads, punctuated with lively debate, politically incorrect anecdotes and incredibly funny nostalgia. There is a small handful of writers to which I am considerably envious, envious of their apparent effortlessness in putting together strings of words that are moving, surprising, and memorable. One of the first writers that caused me to feel this way was Steinbeck. You Sir, are in that group. I had the presence of mind to keep your publications saved on my digital bookshelf. I shall refer to them from time to time when I need to sweep aside the accumulated detritus of everyday living. Best wishes to yourself and Violetta. Later I shall raise a Guinness (or two) in your general direction.
So the world’s articulate voices are less and less. Thanks for your presence in my inbox from time to time.
Well, crap. I’ll miss you Fred. At least I still have your books.
Thanks for the years of enlightening me and all of your readers. (I really loved your article on USMC boot camp!) I wish you the very best, Fred!
Sorry to see you go. Common sense is in short supply these days. God Bless.
It’s a sad day for me Fred. You are a rare find in the way you tackled often very serious subjects and arguments with a wry (and often very humorous) but logical prose.
I don’t believe I’ve missed your column since I first discovered you on TUR. I was also that guy who purchased your books of essays and fiction. You may not have changed my mind on anything but you certainly helped me refine and better defend my beliefs. Thanks again and Good Luck. Dr M
I’m sorry to read it Fred, but wish you well in retirement. I’ll wonder, from time to time, how you are, what you are up to. I started to follow you – oh, I think over 12 yrs ago. Once, for a short time, we both wrote for the now long gone “The Autonomist”, before it’s owner – Reginald Firehammer – closed it down. I have read your every output every since. Your tales of your boyhood were fascinating to me – a Celt from the British Isles – and your accounts of life in Mexico encouraged me to go searching for a new life for myself – not in Mexico, but Ecuador. I still write comments, but fewer and fewer. Like yourself, the cohort who wanted to talk more about what one said, has shrunk. Few even understand – it gets a bit tiresome, being a person of a culture now long gone, with few around who have ever read much, it seems, or understand what one is trying to say. The Autonomist is gone, Russian Insider, Saker of the Vineyard – they too, I suspect, begin to suspect there seems to be little point in carrying on. As I am coming to do myself. So — thanks for the memories, thanks for pleasure your writings gave me, laughs too, and the feeling that there was someone left out there who vibrated with me. Go find your bar, where you eat ribs, drink a decent red, and swing to the juke box until a dawn that never comes [see, I even remember some things 🙂 ]. Best wishes.
Ciaobello! I’ve enjoyed your racially conscious essays over the years. Who knows, perhaps in your next life, you’ll feel confident enough to name the tribe when you discuss social grievances.
I have very much enjoyed your articles (even if I did not fully agreed). You always gave me more to think about and I am in your debt!
Dear Fred, you have made a great contribution to many people by expressing insights that no one else has. In a world where we are all bathed in official narrative rubbish, your columns enable us to shower off in common sense, lived experience and wry humor. Please take a break but don’t give up on your audience. Life is hard and we need you. You give us parallax that helps us find truth. Writers have to write and your readers need you. Just even once in a while let us know you’re still there by speaking to us, and yes, by applying your blowtorch to the straw men who have sought and hijacked leadership everywhere. With warm regards and respect. Charles Fitzsimmons.
official narrative rubbish,
Hamba Kahle Fred !
Thanks for all the years of great columns.
Greetings and best wishes from KwaZulu-Natal
Fred , it has been Real ! Best wishes !
I’ve been reading since your ETMCAS post and shall miss them. If I get too feeble (now 80) to go to Vietnam in the winter, then we should have an another meal together!
Sorry to see you go. I started reading your column in the Washington Times (Cop Column?) many years ago. While my reading has been a little intermittent of late, I always enjoy it. Best of luck to you and yours and if you ever change your mind, we’ll be here.
I’ve been reading you since Police Beat in the Washington Times. Best of luck with whatever’s next for you. Take care.
It’s always sad to see the end of an era. I’ve always savored your columns, Fred. Like the others have written here, you will be sorely missed. Good luck to you.
I will miss reading your thoughts. There are so few things to look forward to these days and now there is one less. The total is now approaching zero. Please enjoy the rest of your life and I’ll try my best to do the same!
Adieu Fred – I bought your books, I read your columns – I shared many with others. Thank you for your contribution to Western Civilization.
Fred , it has been Real ! Best wishes !
Fred, are you sure you couldn’t squeeze out one more column on tonight’s debate? I don’t know what Trump and Harris are going to say, but I’m sure your take on it would be more entertaining–and probably more informative–than either of them.
Sorry to see you go, Fred….
Sorry to see you go, Fred…. It’s been a fun ride!!!
Semper Fi Fred. Best wishes and good health for you and yours.
Please please please don’t abandon me! You are the most perspecacious and hilarious writer I read!
Dear God, we need you
Fred,
Thanks for brightening our lives and stimulating our minds.
I hope you’re able to leave your website up, so your fans can go back and read your considerable inventory of wit and wisdom for years to come.
Of course, this will allow you to post something new now and then if you get the spontaneous and insuperable urge to do so. In particular, the world is going to get VERY interesting over the next 6 months, and we may want (need?) to hear from you.
Fred, I didn’t always agree with you, but you became my favorite curmudgeon. I share your disdain for American politics and now its decent into lies, Populism and demagoguery.
I will miss your column, but you have earned the right to hang up your pen many times over.
Happiness to you and your lovely family. ¡Buena suerte!
Rogelio Nixon (no relation)
I am sorry you have decided to stop publishing. Completely understandable. Your work will be sorely missed. Will you leave your website up? There is so much quality material newer followers like myself would like to review.
Well, I’m sorry to see the end of your newsletter, but everything does. I’ve been reading it for, I don’t know, 10+? years, and while I occasionally disagreed with your observations, I always found them interesting.
Best of luck in your future, wherever it takes you.
Cheers!
You will be missed, but I will think of you every morning when I fill my “Fred!” coffee cup. Not just another Religion, indeed.
Be well.
That’s a body blow. Not only did we sort of walk together for decades, but the column has also been one of the best things to read out there.
Don’t disappear on us completely. The squad may be thinning but we need to stay in touch ’til called away. Maybe take up the gentleman’s offer to be on his New American Dream radio show. Thanks for the great entertainment, and for tipping off the lid of that teapot of yours.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
So the white mouse is withdrawing from this dimension. Thanks for the years of answers (42) and good thinking.
Fred, you are the best journalist I’ve ever known. Why now? Can we help?
Thank you Fred for years of incisive and humorous commentary. You added ballast to my center of gravity when attempting to make sense of what does not make sense. Your writing gave me strong echoes of Heller’s Catch-22. Exposing insanity without hysteria always helps with resilience needed to face reality. Add laughter to that, composure sealed. Happy trails.
Very sorry to read this, Fred. I’ve been with you for a lot of years. Bring somewhat to the Right of you, I didn’t always agree with you. When I did agree, I cheered, and when I didn’t, you inspired me to rethink my position. Thanks for the ride.
Being, not Bring.
This makes me sad.
NO, my occasional entertainment is going away. I always copied the columns that I agreed with, so I will have them for future fun reading. Thank you, oorah.
Fred, it is with disappointment I read this column today. I have enjoyed your writing since the turn of the (last) century. They have always been interesting and insightful, usually from an angle that I was not used to seeing. You were not afraid to talk about social issues that would not be touched by “mainstream” writers, and you had the facts to back it up. Even when I did not agree with you I respected your viewpoint and was grateful you had the courage and intelligence to support it. Along the way I learned new words to add to my vocabulary – some of which I suspect were made up on the spot – and the OCD grammarians among us had no issues with your style.
I always looked forward to the next nugget of wisdom, and now I shall miss them much.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Good luck with What Comes Next – I wish you well .
Semper Fi Fred, sad to see you go. Best wishes & best health for you and your family!
Fred,
Back in the 80s, I was in the USMC and read your column in the Navy Times.
I have always enjoyed your writing.
With your background as a former Marine and Vietnam War veteran, a police writer, and a war correspondent, I have enjoyed your perspectives for decades. Your frequently unique perspectives were invaluable and expanded the conversation. Most riveting recently was your article about the carnage of war, too often ignored. You will be missed!
Sorry to hear you’re ending your column which has been both enlightening and humorous in equal measure. Good luck with future adventures.
I am sorry to see you go. When I think of you/your columns “sage” comes to mind.
God bless you.
Thanks Fred. Hasta la vista and all that, from deepest, darkest Africa.
Well that sucks…from a selfish viewpoint I don’t like it, but I understand. It’s becoming more and more rare to find someone that “tells it like it is” without regard to wokeness, political correctness and criticism. You made me think hard about many things, while at the same time I was laughing. You have a rare gift. You’re the type of guy I could sit next to and people watch on a afternoon while having a few beers and shot or two of tequila. Someone that has no problem calling a spade a spade and backing it up with facts for anyone that might pretend to be offended. I wish there were more of you in the world and I’m going to miss your writings. I’ve been following you for at least 30 years and it’s been a pleasure. I can relate to your small-town upbringing since I was raised the same. Best of all, I can relate to your subtle, and more often not too subtle, sarcasm. Sarcasm has kept me alive, so far. As the song goes, “if we couldn’t laugh, we’d all go insane”. Take care, my friend!
How dare you, Sir. I wasn’t done enjoying your columns.
Best luck with whatever comes next.
You might consider seeking a publisher for a volume of your collected works.
I’d buy it.
Best wishes, sir. You have entertained, enlightened and amused me for many years. You will be missed.
Aw, man!
Thanks for the years, it’s been good to know you through your writings and columns.
Sad in a way as it just points out one’s own advancing years as one by one another writer/author goes into that sunset.
Thank you,
Rudy
I didn’t always agree, but from the first time we met, I’ve read every column.
I started missing you at “A Farewell”.
It’s like saying goodbye to an old friend.
Hi Fred,
Thanks for the memories.
Wishing you fair winds and a following sea!
Best – Ed
Fred – Thank you for all the great reads. I’ve always enjoyed your perspective – whether I agreed with it, or not. Always refreshing. I’ll miss your rhetoric.
You will be missed. I’m surprised you didn’t decide to “Go Out with a Bang!”
yours,
John Gilmer (inmate of King George, VA)
Fred,
Change your name and start over. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. If you’re tired, take a nap. Don’t bother being an intellectual. Just continue being a great comedian. Your wit will not fail you, nor will your principles. And you won’t need to study. Just ad-lib. Be sure to let us know your new name. Thanks for everything.
Very sad to see this, Fred. You will be missed.
Thank you for all your work over the years Fred. Your column has been the only piece I’ve always kept up with reading since finding it through Lew Rockwell’s site more than 20 years ago. Your perspective on things always remained fresh to me, and most importantly, never boring.
I’m genuinely a little bit sad to read your goodbye. But All good things, etc…
Wishing all the best to you and yours!
I always enjoy your writing. One need to think and you encourage that. One less thinking voice!
Fred,
I have enjoyed reading your unique takes on various issues for over twenty years and you will be sorely missed. I wish you and yours nothing but the best. Be well.
Fred,
I have laughed my ass off so many times at your wit and keen writing over the years. I remember reading your column when you still lived in the DC area. Our beliefs in military matters and government stupidity and larceny are the same, but your writing makes me laugh so hard it hurts. Take care, live well in retirement, and enjoy life, especially the humor of it all. Which reminds me: I may be old, but I got to see the USA before it all went to shit. 🙂
Fred, you will be widely missed
I have enjoyed reading you for a very long time. Sometimes strongly agreeing, sometimes not so much, but always appreciative of your perspective
Always
Damn, now i”m sad
Yeah I know all things must end, but it just seemed you’d always be there, I was counting on that actually
I often fantasized about running into you in a bar in Mexico, and losing a long afternoon and evening swapping tales with you. That would’ve been a life experience for me, and I’m thinking many of your other readers
I truly hope you are well.
We’ll miss you friend
Peter Marshall
Dear Fred,
As you wrote, I am one of many such readers, following and sharing at times, your wonderfully insightful and, beyond my ability to describe posts, for perhaps ten years if not more.
“This has been fun for me and, apparently, for a certain kind of reader.”
This is my first reply to your posts. I do hope you will again return, as the saying goes, “God willing”, or if your reasons for stopping, also stop, and you rekindle your posting. Please consider doing so, at some future time.
Thank you,
B Joseph Kotrich
75 years old and still going, and not gone….
Fred, I’ve been following for a long time. The internet won’t be the same without you.
Thanks for the fun and the memories!
All the Best,
Bill
Fred,
I sometimes agreed with you, sometimes disagreed but always enjoyed your writing. I have often used you to show my younger friends the difference between writing well and the garbage most produce now. Thank you for your efforts and I for one will miss you.
Farewell, Fred:
I’ve greatly appreciated your words over the years. Believe it or not, there have even been times when did succeed in changing my mind, and for the better in my estimation.
I admit your retirement makes me very sad. I see individuals such as yourself leaving the stage and I do not see individuals from the younger generations who are capable of replacing what we are losing – losing in greater numbers every day.
I don’t see any new Fred Reeds ready to take your place, nor any Gerald Celentes or Marc Fabers or Alistair Crookes, and the list can go on and on.
Enjoy the remainder of your years in Mexico with your fine family. You are entitled to take whatever break you need from entertaining us.
All the best to you, my friend.
Sincerely,
A fan from Alberta
…I feel somehow diminished. Always enjoyed your work. You spoke the truth to power…I will miss your insights and wit. My day was always brightened when I saw your latest offering in my Email. Good luck. Live well. Stay safe.
From the farewell messages above, it is obvious that you reached more of us than we imagined. I, for one, always enjoyed your thoughts and comments, and was pleased to hear your consistent defense of the Mexican people. Be safe, be well, and I hope you will keep us informed – whatever the future brings you.
Vaya con Dios mi amigo, may your roads all lead to home…
I’ve appreciated and looked forward to your columns for years, always savoring both the wit and the irony, not to mention the not-infrequent genuine wisdom.
We’re of the same generation, and with your retirement, our shared perspective will now be less one of its most eloquent and humorous commentators.
Very best to you and your lady-wife.
Sad to see you go. It’s been a wild couple of decades.
Best wishes,
Frederick Michael Carl Frederickson,
aspirant to be a curmudgeon of your caliber
I have been reading you since your days at the Washington Times in the early 80’s. My favorite Fred truism was in an article you wrote about the differences between Republicans and Democrats. You commented that in rare cases, there is some agreement. Democrats believe that criminals should be on the streets and Republicans believe they ought to have guns.
We will all miss you greatly.
Chris Baum
Greatly saddened by this news. I think that the very first column of yours which I read was the one where you likened typical modern American women to “Prozac-sucking shrews who could induce erectile dysfunction in an iron bar.” Naturally from that point on, I devoured all the prose I could find which had your name on it.
Fred,
Thank you. I’ve been reading your columns since Jerry Pournelle in Byte wrote about you.
I’ll miss you and your thoughts.
You and Jerry Pournelle did make a difference in my life and thinking.
Thank you again
charles.t
How sad. It has always been a pleasure to read your columns; I hope once in a while you come back again and write us something. Retirement is boring.
Fred, I hope those “unexpected reasons” with which you choose not to “bore” us are positive, happy, and healthy. I no longer recall how I first encountered your writing, but I’ve long been rewarded by hearing your ever so articulate and special twists. I’ll miss your missives. Best wishes, pal!
¡Vaya con queso! (Similar a “Vaya con Dios,” pero mas delicioso.)
Damn. All good things come to an end I suppose, so God-speed Fred.
Pete
Damn. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and now Fred. 2024 has been a year of immeasurable loss, I’m afraid.
You and I are the same age and share many of the cultural elements that made us both who we are, i.e. rural Virginia upbringing, absolutely irreverence for the conventional, and a bawdy sense of humor served neat. Best to you, old friend. And remember: the only decisions that are permanent are suicide and amputation. Absent those, you can always come back!
Thanks for the memories!
Ah, damn.
You were one of the reasons I decided to get dial-up way back when. Back when the internet was fun (and optional. Now that it’s required for everything it’s just another rotten thing.)
Meanwhile, enjoy yourself. You gave thought-provoking chuckles to many. In these weird times, that is no small thing. Farewell and best of everything to you.
Hi Fred! Thanks for your Body of Work . I have enjoyed it immensely–and, not a few times–huffed and puffed (but never deleted) when I disagreed with you.
Most appreciated has been your writing style, often subtly dropping the casual “irony bomb” upon us all. Because, who can live, in this messed up excuse for a planet, without a strong sense of humor, irony and the scientific knowledge that I have garnered, through years of study, that constantly rebalances my understanding of humans, “leveling the playing field” no matter the greatness of any person:
At the end of the day, and every day, everyone has to take a dump.
Babies, and certain U.S. leaders, more often than the rest of us..
[If you would like my salsa recipe–the best North of the Rio Grande, IMO–simply respond to this post and That Which is a Secret Shall Be Shared].
Your columns, Fred, have been the only blog site on the internet that I enjoy reading. I deeply appreciate the effort you’ve devoted to writing your columns. They were extraordinary and they brightened my days.
That sucks!! I know all good things must come to an end, but it seems that the endings are coming so much more quickly. Sorry to see you go.
PLEASE DONT LEAVE US NOW FRED, I’M 96 YEARS OLD AND NEED YOUR ADVICE MORENOW THAN I EVER DID. TEXAS IS NO LONGER TEXAS , IT’S CHANGED FOR THE WORST. WE NEED YOUR VALUABLE ADVICE ,OUR GOVERNING BODY IS ALMOST COMICAL? I SINCERELY THANK FOR YOUR ADVICE ALONG THE WHOLE TIME YOU SO GENEROUSLY gave IT OUT, IT HELPED ME HAVE A MUCH BETTER LIFE AND I AM INDEBTED TO YOU …
Bummer. I’ll miss you Fred. I enjoyed reading your writing. One of my favorites. Take care of yourself happily.
Sorry to see you go!
You will be missed!
Have you ever imagined sitting down to dinner with Samuel Clements had his most curmudgeonly? I think the two of you could’ve had a good time together.
Good luck and hopefully health going to the future.
Farewell and thankyou!
Fred, Thank you for your observations and contributions to inquiry and insight. You will be missed, Marine.
Semper Fi, viejo.
I am Sam, in Argentina ( 2/9, ’66-67 )
Fred, Thank you for your observations and contributions to inquiry and insight. You will be missed, Marine.
Semper Fi, viejo.
I am Sam, in Argentina ( 2/9, ’66-67 )
Mr Reed,
First, thank you for your many years of insightful revelation, research, teaching, wit and entertainment. It has been a beacon for intelligent and free expression and proof that not all have become Eloi. So often you confirmed information I either suspected and couldn’t prove or simply stated what I did know more eloquently and academically than I ever could. At 70 I realize adult supervision in American government has become non existent. Your articles provided the adult analyses sorely lacking in media now. As a retired Marine I have always felt a very strong kinship with you and had often wished the opportunity to have spent a few hours in conversation. There will now be a void in my intellectual world and I hope you will leave us with access to your archive. Perhaps you will write an epilogue one day just to close the tale with the rest of the story.
Your voice was powerful for those of us who followed and listened. We will all mourn the loss.
I wish you the best for what lies ahead on your journey.
Semper Fi,
Marty Burnett
Fred, been following for muchas anos with mostly agreement to everything you wrote.
You will be missed mi amigo. Vaya condios.
Estaben in So Cal.
What more can I say than what has already been said by this plethora of readers and supporters? Yes, sure is sad to say adieu. You have made me laugh for years with your reckless abandonment of the politically correct attitude to everything. For sure, I will miss you. God’s blessings to you and your family. May we meet somewhere, someday.
While I have only occasionally agreed with you, I have consistently found your writing to be interesting and frequently thought-provoking. It will be missed.
Best of luck in your future endeavors!
Fred: I am going to miss your insights. Have been eagerly reading your columns for many years. If you ever consider cranking it up again, I wouldn’t mind paying for a subscription.
Bert Stahr from Australia, The time has not arrived Fred, the fat lady has not sung. So I look forward to your next revelation. Anyhow before you snuff it my heartfelt thank you for truth.
All the best to you and yours. Fare well my friend.
Probably like most of your readers, I sometimes was irked by you stance, but I am greatly impressed by your vocabulary and breadth of knowledge.
I wish you well, Mr. Reed. I will miss you.
Fred, a word of advice. Retirement is the number one killer of old people. Don’t do it! You’re far too smart and entertaining to be lulled by that siren song.
I regret not having encountered your column earlier. Regards.
In the immortal words of Douglas Adams: “So long, and thanks for all the…” interesting reading. Good luck and Godspeed.
God be with you Fred.
I always look forward to your pontifications regardless of the subject. Seldom do I disagree, and even then it is with respect for your position. I am a little more into conspiracy theories regarding some political events and national tragedies than you, and less agreeable with government explanations, but we are otherwise much in agreement. Your humor and general understanding will be greatly missed. May you enjoy what is left for you in life.
Jim
I discovered you in about 1999, and have been enjoying your columns ever since. I am sad to hear this news, but completely understand. You have enlightened me many times over, and I frequently have wholeheartedly agreed with your opinions.
I’ll miss you, Fred. I wish you and Violetta and your family all the best.
Respectfully,
Dwayne
Good luck Fred. I hope it’s not health-related. You’ve been making me think for over 25 years. I and apparently many others will miss you.
So sorry to see you go. I’ve always enjoyed your serious columns but really appreciate the years of humor. And whenever I see a certain showbiz personality, I always remember your description of her as 300 lbs. of bear liver in a plastic bag.
Fred, I ran across you far too late. But the past four-odd years I have really enjoyed your writing. As an old hack who started reporting in newspapers fifty years ago, i can genuinely say I have seen very few originals in this biz. But you are truly one, and I will spend my remaining years recommending your writing to any young types I meet who are deluded enough to think they might want to write for a living. Vaya con Dios.
Fred,
I would like to thank you for the pleasure you have given me over the years. I stumbled across your articles a good 50-odd years ago and for some reason became addicted. Thank you. I wish you and family all the best from down under.
Alex S.
I too shall miss your pithy (not pissy with a lisp) wit and good humor. I have also been reading your columns on the various venues for as long as I can remember and can’t imagine where else to go for your brand of wit (PJ is no longer with us). You have my eternal respect and gratitude.
If you get bored in retirement, I suggest you keep the mailing list and offer a subscription service to all your loyal readers which would, I’m sure, be adequate at least to keep you in Tequila. Maybe a Substack?
In the meantime, we must respect your decision. Thanks for the laughs over the years and I too wish you and Violetta all the best for a quiet life away from the madness in the US.
Very sorry to see you retire, but I understand. I always enjoyed your columns and your books.
Hey big guy,
It doesn’t overly matter, and you should certainly know how long you’ve been penning your missives more than I do. That said, you mentioned in line one, ”can it be nearly 30 years?” I don’t think it can. I worked in Denver from 1981-1986. And that’s where I recall first seeing your writings. So, to me, it’s been almost or actually north of 40 years. What am I missing?
I also recall exchanging a few emails with you over the years. Enjoyed them all, amigo! Best to you always.
Sorry to hear this news.
All the best to you and yours Fred!
Go in peace my Brother!
Mike
Funny, I had decided to start reading this column with this post. Oh well.
Hi Dad,
First time writing on your page! I love how many people are popping on to appreciate you here. Lord knows we have not always agreed, but its also never been boring and Im lucky to have such a smart parent to talk about the world with.
Im proud of you and all your curmudgeonly ways. Thank you for always encouraging me to think on my own and to be another proud weirdo in our family.
For anyone who is reading this, my dad (Fred) always raised me with three slogans: “(Be good or) Dont get caught,” “Always get more out of the government than they get out of you,” and “Dont get a job, get a good scam (like being a journalist).”
Love you Dad,
Blonde Poof, Sweetpea, Hija, Mekong…and any other nickname I cant remember right now!
Fred, thanks for the many years of entertainment and thought-provoking material. Maybe we will meet up sometime in the future, either here or in another place.
All things, good or bad, come to an end.
Thanks for everything, Simon
The end of an era. Good luck and I hope you are ok.
Sir: it is with dismay that I read your farewell note. You have inspired me to look at many issues from a different perspective. In some cases you did indeed change my mind on a subject about which I only thought I knew.
Best of luck with all your future endeavors. Your insights and opinions and with will be missed, and I do hope you’ll keep all of your columns online for future re-reading.
Take care,
Bill
Fred, Thank you for all of your columns! We have them all to read again and again.
Take care
Via Con Dios!
Whenever I would get the email alert for your column I would cry out
“A Fred! What have I done to deserve this?”
Thank you for your writings.
From South Africa, this announcement was like a knife in the heart to me. I have read your column for many years, it has always, without fail, entertained me and more importantly made me think. It’s almost like losing a fiend. Go well Fred, go VERY well
Hah, you definitely have a “psychic defect”, Fred, but I have immensely enjoyed your ‘column’ for more than 20 years and am very, very sorry to see you go. The prose was always entertaining and the subject matter, interesting, never mind whether I agreed with you or not. Thank you, deeply. best rgds Marten
Thank you for all the years of writing. It was a pleasure to enjoy your “psychic defects”. Best wishes.
Fred, thank you for your many years of writing. We have enjoyed the ride. Take care and thank you for making us think. Take care.
Fred, thank you for your many years of writing. We have enjoyed the ride. Take care and thank you for making us think.
Oh for Pete‘s sake Fred. Dont leave us now… Where am I going to get another curmudgeon from?
I have been Reading your Postings since the nineties.
And I Almost Visited you on a Business Trip to México. Could Not get the shedule to work, otherwise the Beery evening would have been the stuff of legends.
But if you absolutly have to Go then a Fond farewell from Germany.
I have agrred and disagreed with you over the years but I have ALWAYS been entertained and appreciate your insights. You will be missed!!!
Fuckin’ quitter.
What about uncle Haunt back in the Hollers?
No more selling fortified cat squeezings to the yups?
Thank you for all you have given to us over these years. You made us stop and think and consider. This is a sad day for me. May God bless and keep you and your family, Fred.
Thank you for your musings, Fred. I learned of you from another great man, Talkshow Man, Ron Smith. I miss you both dearly.
I will miss your columns. At some point, perhaps you will jump back into the game. We can hope.
Thank you. You will be missed. Best of luck.
I’ve read your column for so many years I can’t even remember anymore.
I’ve mostly agreed and sometimes disagreed. (Ain’t that like real life?!)
One thing we do have in common – we’re both Vietnam Vets – You, up
In Eye Corps; me, down in the Delta. Remember – we didn’t lose the war –
The politicians lost it for us.
Take care of yourself and your family…
Mike
Came to your writings via word of mouth (a comment about you on Taki) 10 years ago and have, at various times, been entertained, enlightened and, here and there, enraged by your essays. Bought several of your books and sought out your rare interviews just to hear your voice. An original writer like yourself was never going to find a large audience in this day and age, but you have been a wonderful companion to me and others.
Hope you collect all the uncollected pieces in one humongous final book. Would love to sip a mezcal with you one day in Mexico but I know it’ll never happen. Thanks for the entertainment.
We never met… I wish we had.
It will never be the same. Be well.
As a weekly columnist myself, I totally relate to what you say “oh hell, what can I write and how can I make it seem fresh and interesting?”
You and I are nearly the same age, and when you don’t need to write to pay the bills, you reach a point where the effort to be creative approaches its limits. I haven’t reached that yet – but can see it on the horizon . This farewell of yours brought that horizon a little more in to focus.
Will miss you, Fred – but I understand.
This is sad news. You are not replaceable.
Thank you, Fred!
Fred, I am genuinely sad to see you leave the arena. I don’t know how long I’ve been reading your columns but for many years you have been the one I turned to for rational discussions of difficult but important topics and a wonderful “poke in the eye” attitude for politicians and such like. Wishing you and the family all the best. Maybe you can do a “Year in Review” occasionally as our country slogs through whatever will happen after the election in November. And I definitely agree with ft: you are not replaceable.
Tough news. Maybe a post retirement epistle every now and again? I feel like I did years ago when the great Charley Reece gave it up. Your kind are too rare Sir!
Fred, I cannot really add to the many thoughts of gratitude and well wishes expressed here, except to say thank you for the many years that your writing has provided me with clarity and enjoyment. I miss you already.
Come on Fred you enjoy writing, that bullshit as much as I enjoy reading it you got plenty of time to not write when you’re dead
Carry on till your carried out
until again
Dean
Fred, I really hope your archives remain online. If it will help I would like to donate US$20 (I am an old fart dependent on Social Security), but I am unsure if that means MX$400 or not. Can you help with instructions.
I really don’t have time to copy them all.
Fred; I didn’t always agree, but then, there were moments of insight that I never expected.
Thanks buddy, thanks for keeping on keeping on. I have enjoyed our time together and will miss your posts very much. I can only hope that you have not made this decision based on bad tidings. God bless!
Oh no! You will be missed.
It was a wonderful run. I thoroughly enjoyed your columns and learned much from all of them (yes I read everything).
All the best to you and yours.
Warm greetings from Brazil.
[…] Guest Post by Fred Reed […]
DAMN ! !
Fred, I hope that the long list of well-wishers above serves as an indicator for how much of a difference you did make in people’s lives – even if it was just for a chuckle or a thought-provoking moment.
I’ve enjoyed your writings, though not nearly for long enough. All the best and God Bless you, and your family.
Wow, Fred: so many readers have regret that you are ending your column, and are grateful for the content, always interesting, that you provided for so long. I add my voice to theirs, echoing the same sentiments. You and have the same age, so I fully understand your desire to retire for good. Farewell, I’ll miss you! MB.
Thanks for the ride Fred. So be it.
Rats! The fragment “so many readers have regret that you…” should read “so many readers regret that you…” That’s what happens when proof reading only once. MB.
In my lifetime I’ve read a few that stand head and shoulders above the others. Mencken, Breslin, Red Smith, Chesterton. Lewis. and you. There may be a few others, but not many. Thank you for the hours of humor, enlightnment, outrage, and envy over your incredible talent. Guys like you make me feel somewhat guilty over dancing through the Port Authority bus station in January of ’72, having taken the bus back from the Universoty of Maryland and finding out my draft number was 212, and they were taking only those with 100 or less. And you got your eye torn up. I would have enjoyed a conversation over a few cocktails with you. Godspeed to you and your family. Thanks for makimng me feel smarter than I probably am since I sincerely believe I understand you, as much as that is possible. Slainte’ Mhath.
Hello Fred
“Fred on Everything, for unexpected reasons with which i will not bore the reader, has reached its end.”
I do hope those reasons are not more ominous than you make them sound.
But so long, Fred. And thank you.
Dear Fred:
I have been reading your columns for more years than I can recall. I’ve learned a lot, and your signature style made it so much fun.
I hope all is well with you and wish you the best. I will miss you.
Yours Truly,
PostUmbraLux
Sorry this journey is going to end. It’s been fun reading about your life in Mexico and learning of you experiences that makes my bigoted thoughts stretch into something I’d never see my myself thinking. Good luck with your future endeavors and thanks for making me think arghhh “outside the box”.
Farewell, I hope you reflect on this decision and change your mind eventually.
So long, and thanks for all the fish, Fred. I got many laughs and many insights into the world via your columns. May the future be kind to you. Andrew
“I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.”
Goodbye old friend. See you on the other side.
“I suspect that few columnists think that their output will accomplish anything. People seldom change their minds”.
However few minds you changed, Fred, I am certain there were some – because mine was one of them. If the world of journalism lacks room for your work, so very much the worse for it – and us. You have been as intelligent and witty as Mark Twain or Gore Vidal, and hugely informative, too. (I think of your descriptions of police life in Washington, of the real Mexico, of China…)
I will miss you as much as any other friend who disappears from one’s view. More, because I have never had a friend who was cleverer, funnier, more edifying, or even as downright human as you. We shall miss you, Fred.
Thanks Fred, it s been a honour. But you are an old fart and death is calling for you. Still I thank you for all the awesome articles.
Sad. This column was a gust of fresh air.
You are almost Mark Twain, Fred Reed.
Very sad news! Didn’t always agree with you but always enjoyed reading what you put out – and for years at that.
To me, as an inveterate 70+ expat Euro, you’ve always represented what I have found to be the most admirable and – yes, that too – hope-inspiring about American writers and thinkers when they manage to shed their countrymen’s myopic, self-centred parochialism and cheapskate ill-reflected “patriotism”, manifesting and amplifying instead what even the French revolutionaries deigned to genuinely cherish and appreciate: the spirit of libertity based on pragmatic realism and individual responsibility. (It’s what Goethe was referring to when he wrote: “America, you have it better.”)
This – and you – will be sorely missed. So at the very least let me thank you for all you have given us/me over this long (and yet far too short) period of time.
My Dear Fred,
As a reader of all of this century and some of the last, I am truly sorry to see you go. As is evident from the comments I am only one of many who enjoyed your writing.
When we perceive that one of our constants for so long shifts our foundation seems to also shake.
As another Vietnam Veteran, I enjoyed your thoughts and rants. The world shall seem a bit diminished with you gone. It was made so much brighter with you in it.
Many Thanks.
God Bless!
Fred like most of the commenters I will miss reading your columns. I usually agree with your takes, but always found something that would make me laugh.
If you’re tired of writing about politics and human frailties, maybe take up travel writing about Mexico. You make it sound like a place worth seeing. All the best and thanks.
Fred, I’ve been reading you work since Navy Times, and I have always enjoyed your work. As you can see from the comments, I’m not alone. Fortunately, the internet archives will keep you alive.
As an 80 year-old native of Philadelphia, now in East Tennessee, I have always appreciated your ability to call bullshit on the conventional, with wit and perception. Please consider putting together a volume or two of your best columns; some may have aged, but others are still fresh.
In any case, thank you and I wish you the best.
It’s been a most enjoyable ride Fred, I wish you and your wife smooth sailing.
GodBless, R.G. RVN 66-68
Sorry bout the ‘Singapore truffle’ of some years back…lol
Farewell Fred!
You will be missed.
Gonna miss your Columns Fred!
Probably be through Lake Chapala area in the next couple months in my F350/truck camper rig, mind if I look you up? Do you have a regular spot where you frequent you might be willing to name? So I can stop by and ask where is that rascal Fred these days?
See you soon
Fred,
So sorry to learn that you will cease writing Fred on Everything. I have enjoyed it immensely!
My best to you & Violetta; may you both live long happy lives!
Believe it or not, you will be missed.
Sigh. I suppose this was inevitable. But I was hoping this day would never come.
I have been reading you for many years, and have loved almost everything you wrote, especially your incisive analyses of the military-industrial complex.
Also, partly your fault, is that I am seriously considering retiring in Mexico. Perhaps near Chapala. Maybe we’ll be neighbors. LOL. But the rents are seriously escalating there.
I do wish you’d reconsider, and perhaps write the occasional column, just to ease our withdrawal symptoms.
Regardless, good luck and Godspeed.
Never say never … por favor. Like others have opined/pleaded … maybe pop back now and again for an occasional take.
On the other hand, you sure as hell have put in your dues and deserve whatever you choose to do.
Thanks for everything.
We have most of your books here on the farm and I can assure you that you ain’t goin’ nowhere. We’re going to keep you around for a good while yet if for no other reason than to laugh our way through the coming shitstorm. God bless.
Thanks, Fred. I’ve really enjoyed your column over the last fifteen or so years. Take care..
Thank you for all the gadfly moments and reminding us that perspective requires satire. I shall truly mis your work.
Thanks for the thoughts, laughs and memories. I grew up not far from Athens Alabama and still go through that area on occasion; however, as far as I know our paths never crossed in the same time frame. God speed.
Thanks for everything, you will be missed. I only found you column 7 or 8 years ago but have never missed a post since then. I think that the comments above will give you some idea of just how much you will be missed. All the very best to you and Vi, may you live a long a happy life.
Thank you for all your writing over the years. You have been one of my favorites.
If it’s not too much trouble, please keep the articles up. I would like to return to them in the future.
Take care!
Very sorry to see you’re stepping down, Mr. Reed, but understand your motivations. I wish readers could have gotten your take on V.P. Harris and the obvious rush to push her into the presidency.
I’ve enjoyed your columns very much for years. You’ve broadened my perspective and frequently made me laugh out loud. Kudos and godspeed to you!
I will sorely miss you. I have read you for years. We are both Southern boys that love the South, share a background in law enforcement, and have a similar world view. I was an APD officer for 13 years. I know you speak the truth. I have 2 of your books and will buy the rest soon.
You have blessed my life and mind. I have laughed with you and appreciate you sharing life’s secrets with us. I pray you have a long peaceful life in front of you. I also pray that we will met in that Heavenly kingdom where all lovers of Truth reside.
YHWH bless you and your family
S. Owens
I thought it might be a vision problem – Best of luck with the surgery and I hope you are able to write again in the not-too-distant future.
Meanwhile your articles remain prophetic as the lunatics runing this mad world seems to be intent on self destruction.
I just saw your message that you may be able to continue. I am praying for you and your doctors and that you have a full recovery and good health.
Fred, Gonna miss you man. My God, you led an interesting life. I’m really sad to see you go.
All the best. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Gosh, Fred. I’ve scrolled the comments and read many. Nothing erudite I could add to those comments except one; Truth. Not found easily these days. Also hard to swallow at times. It will be in shorter supply now. Thank you.
Grampster
Fred, good luck with your surgery. Here’s hoping it goes well and that you’ll be able to return to keeping your loyal readers both educated and entertained. I’ve been reading you for, gosh, at least the past ten years or so and I’m gonna miss the hell out of your wit and insights, if, God forbid, it turns out that you indeed have to retire from wordsmithing.
I don’t pray, but if I did I’d sure be doing that for you and for your future. Instead, I’ll send you some good vibes from the sixties, when the world made sense. Well, on second thought, it didn’t make a lot of sense back then either, but it was more fun.
Thanks Fred for all the entertaining and thought-provoking articles you’ve provided over the years. Vaya con Dios.
Brother Fred
I have read your columns for years and almost always either posted them on Facebook, but before that, forwarded them to sane people I know on the internet. As many have said, I almost, but not always, agree with you, but my observation is that you have always defended you comments with facts-whether we like them or not, and for that, I believe you are head and shoulders above the tripe that passes as observers today. Additionally, you earned the right to your opinion on the battlefield-a claim very few can make.
We are disappearing now in large numbers as I watched WWII vets disappear a couple of decades ago, so I fear that your retirement may be health related-I most sincerely hope not, but every Viet Nam vet I know, including myself, faces challenges.
I am grateful for the thoughts and insights you have shared over the years. As we approach the end of our journey, I trust that you will know that while your loyal readers may not be the majority, that there are still some of us left that most sincerely appreciate your contributions and reasoned insights into our lives. You will leave a void, and I have no idea who may step up to fill it.
I wish you and your family all the best, Sir.
Thanks Fred for all of the columns over the years.
You are an original and I have always enjoyed your pithily erudite commentary on innumerable topics.
All the best mate
David, Adelaide
Thanks for Everything, Fred.
Fred, it’s been a blast. I don’t know exactly when I started reading, but it’s definitely been a good long while. I wish you all the best for the future.
Vaya con Dios.
-Ogre, Albuquerque
Gonna miss you Fred.
Best of luck with whatever comes next.
Semper Fi.
You are a great man, Fred in your own right! God knows you have given us truth, humor, satire, the ugly facts of life and government and more for years. You will be significantly missed. I know that many of your followers will join me in praying for a successful surgery on your eyes and a speedy recovery to start writing again.
God Bless you,
–JB
Really enjoyed your column Fred. Will miss it greatly. Your contrarian (common sense ) views are a rarity today.
All the best in Chapala.
Harry in Vancouver &Mazatlan
So long, and thanks for one of the more interesting columns to be found on the web. Your writing and insight will be missed.
For years it has been a pleasure reading your columns. Thank you. 🙏
I’ve been reading your columns for, oh lets say, 20 years. First heard about your columns when I was listening to a talk show while driving. Although I didn’t always agree with your opinions, I think the various administrations missed a the mark when they didn’t scoop you up to inject some reality into their various political schemes. Best wishes on your future endeavors.
Thank you very much!
You will be missed!
Sarcastic, entertaining, humorous, and informative. Loved your writing for a long time. I’ll miss it. Thanks!
Damn. This September has been a chain of reminders that everything good goes away, while the bad stuff digs in and doubles down.
Fred, Thanks for your output. You have amused and challenged me since the time 2400 baud was high speed. I’ve stolen as much of your style as I could carry, which wasn’t much.
Best of luck in all things, for all time.
Good bye Fred Reed!!!
I have been reading your columns since the early 00’s Sad to see you hang up the old keyboard but as you said , nothing lasts forever. It has been good reading these past years.
God speed my good fellow.
So sad to see you go after so many years.
May the wind be at your back,
and the road rise to meet you,
and wherever you choose to go,
may there be cheers and glasses to you!
Thank you for years of enjoyable reading. I’ve cherished your articles and books. You’re not only funny, but thoughtful. You will be missed.
Well, dammit Fred. Typically I’ve arrived late to the party only to find it ending… That’s what I get for not reading my mail promptly, pero, ¡Ay que flojera! I swear I’ve felt it coming for a while, your full (or semi) retirement. Everything all your well wishers above have commented, I echo as well. Best of luck with the pending procedure, pal. If you could find a way to let us know how it goes….
If you are ever coming to Aguascalientes, drop me a line.
Sir, (yes you are Sir as you are in my father’s generation and also his war),
Thank you. My dad was a long time reader and brought me into your audience for the last 10 years. Your column was well written and reasoned and I enjoyed most of them. Sorry to see it end but methinks it would have had a forced ending with the way times are trending. I hope I’m wrong.
Farewell
Scott
In case you missed my misplaced smartass remark: peace out, you quitter.
Fred, I thank you for all of your efforts and insights. I wish you and Violetta all the best in your life and future endeavors.
Tarjan in Chengdu, China
I enjoyed your columns. Well written and humorous. Goodbye and good luck.
Damn . . .
Just, damn . . .
We will miss your voice in the wilderness. Meanwhile, the goose-steppers of both parties continue to abound and flourish.
Hasta
All the best for you, Violeta and a Padre Kino in the sunset.
Good bye, Fred. I will miss your articles. I wish the best for you and your family.
Yet another voice to wish you well and thank you for all the entertainment.
Thank you Fred. Been reading here for the last 20 years
While I know it’s none of our business, I wish you would share with us your reason for leaving. While most of us know little about you, we still have established a bit of a relationship over the years and you leaving us with no clues as to why, leaves a void in our lives. I guess that’s our problem not yours but I still wish you would consider filling us in and not leaving us to speculate.
Anyway, if this is it. Thanks. I’ve enjoyed your columns over the years, have learned a lot and on occasion have yelled at my computer, but it has all been worth it. I wish the best for you and regret that another one of my favorites has gone.
Thanks for all the columns in all that years, best wishes and stay healthy
You will be missed by so many. I have enjoyed your column for years. Best of luck and thanks!
Good bye Fred, I’ve enjoyed your columns for more than twenty-five years. Thank you for all you have written: I often disagreed with what you said, just as often agreed, but always found your writing and your perspective well worthwhile.
You’ll be missed.
I’ll miss you Fred. I’ve been reading your articles for 25 years. I wish you the best going forward.
My favorite quote from Fred; I read this when I was still a teenager, and it really influenced me and shaped my outlook on many things:
“I wish to propose a salubrious anarchy, a deliberate renunciation of fealty to country, society, and government, an assertion of independence from folly and moral decay. Permit me to offer a taxing political idea: When a society ceases to be worthy of support, it is reasonable to withdraw support. The time, I submit, has come.
Here I do not mean to urge crime or counsel treason, but to suggest quiet renunciation of the national disaster. Ask yourself how much of American life pleases you. The schools are run by fools to manufacture fools, government grows more intrusive by the day, and culture is determined by the triple cloacae of New York, Hollywood, and Washington. Freedom withers, not only in the ominous encroachment of police powers, but in the loss of control over schools, church, hiring, daily life. We are no longer our own. The United States is not the country we are told it is, and not the country it was.
How to escape? The beginning, and the most difficult, is a moral distancing. Those who care must disentangle themselves from the cobweb loyalties and factitious duties with which we have been unconsciously encumbered. From childhood we learn patriotism, that one must vote, that if our way is not perfect it is at least best, that we must support anything however bad because were were born in a particular place. Why?
Let me suggest that one owes loyalty to one’s family and friends, to common decency, and to nothing else. Render under Caesar what you must, keep what you can, and swear allegiance to nothing. Here I do not mean just the government, but the zeitgeist, the miasmic fetor of trashy culture, the desperate consumerism, the entire psychic odor of a society in decomposition…..You will still read of the rot and running sores of a declining culture, but it will bother you less. These things are your problem only to the extent that you feel yourself to be part of the society that produces them. Don’t fight the government, as it will win. Don’t try to reform society, because you can’t. Laugh at it. Live well. Read much.”
Thank you for all of the articles over the years Fred. I’ll miss you.
I’m sorry to see Fred hang it up. I have enjoyed his meanderings for many years. I wish him well and hope he is leaving in good health.
Fred, I have followed you for over 20 years and always enjoyed your column and your wisdom. It was not that you were coming with a different perspective or point of view, it’s that you were coming with the truth. It spoke to me like no other and you articulated the way I felt in a way I was incapable of articulating. Sometimes when people asked me what I thought about something I’d pass along one of your articles or I’d recite a memorized example from your writings. Thank you for your service, good luck and you will be missed.
Thank you Fred Reed. Your accomplishments as a writer are far beyond most. I really admire your writing style and your wisdom. I have taken much of it to heart for 15+ years. Though admittedly I don’t always agree with your opinion or conclusions, what is far more important is, as you state, the ability to disagree without “huffing-and-deleting”. You’re an all-around fantastic human being and I wish there were more like you. You won’t be forgotten. You will be missed.
Thank you again.
I hope it hurt.
Slurp shit an die.
The thing about hatred is that when we hate, we cannot be happy.
As a bonus, if the target of our negative emotion doesn’t care about our hatred, then for us, it’s a lose–lose situation.
O. Danny Bouy
I see you almost as a Mencken of our time, and your columb has brought my soul solace in the knowledge that I am not wrong about the world. Hope you can visit China.
Sadness prevails….
Thanks for the many years of thought provoking writing. You will be missed.
Thanks Fred – but if you get the urge once in a while to write a little more we would be happy and grateful.
Cheers from Cochrane, Ontario Canada in the summer – and Chiang Mai Thailand in the winter.
I disappeared for a while, only to return and find you disappeared. I don’t think it would be a stretch to say I have enjoyed your thoughts for the last 25 years. Best wishes in whatever you are doing or not doing.
Damn, Fred. I’ll miss you.
Goodbye, Fred. Even when you weren’t serious, you were always truthful. Even when you were wrong, you were always honest. And I suspect that you were wrong far less often than many of your colleagues and compatriots.
Well done sir.
Having appreciated your work for some years I shall miss your voice. You are unique and admirable.
I’m 70 and about to hang it up while I can still tie my boots and get out the door. We can all hope to deserve the salute you are receiving here.
Enjoy the sunset
Fred, sorry to see you pull stumps but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
All the very best for whatever lies ahead of you and Violetta.
Maybe you could squeeze one more article out on the election result?
Cheers, Mike from OZ.
I am saddened to see you go. You said a lot of things I have found to be true, and introduced me to a lot of things I never considered, and brought a lot of joy and chuckles to many people.
Please feel free to fire up the keyboard any time.
you are missed.
Was your readier for decades. Thank you for everything Fred! Be well.
I keep coming back, hoping to see if there’s been any change. Godspeed, sir, you did change my mind on a few things.
Godspeed, Fred.
Just checked in on you, and found out you’re gone. I hope you can stay in touch on some back channel. We’re pretty fucked up here, as I’m sure you’ve learned by now. All the best to you.
Fred. You don’t know me. But you reminded me of a dear friend, also a Vietnam War veteran, also articulate, also iconoclastic, long passed. Reading your column felt like talking to my dear friend Hank.
I read you for about 25 years and agreed with you often, disagreed occasionally, but always welcomed your thoughts. I will miss you and wish you well on the shores of Lake Chapala.
Come back you old fart.
Fred… you are the best and have used your missives on the sad state of America’s education with friends and enemies and educators. Would appreciate a jump in every once in awhile – just to let us know you are alive and well.