P.J. O'Rourke

(Fixes typographical error in paragraph 8) By Tyler Clifford (Reuters) - P.J. O'Rourke, the American journalist, political satirist and best-selling a...

Later in his career he was the H.L. Mencken Research Fellow at Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, and a panelist on the NPR’s weekly current events quiz show, “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me.” He was also a close friend and partner for more than 40 years,” said Grove Atlantic CEO and publisher Morgan Entrekin, adding that O’Rourke played a key role in helping the company stay independent. Patrick Jake O’Rourke authored more than 20 books whose topics included politics, economics and cars.

By the standards of the American political culture of 2022, P. J. O'Rourke seems like an impossible figure.

You see it in the way that progressives fume about the “semi-rich,” the “ upper-middle class,” “ the 9.9 percent,” and “ status-income disequilibrium” — when a progressive has a high social status but a modest income. O’Rourke has no natural or obvious successor — and while a huge part of that is because he was immensely talented, another reason is that vast swaths of mainstream-media culture don’t want another O’Rourke — an extremely likable, sharp-minded guy who reminds the audience that those conservatives have a point. The recall movement first gained steam more than a year ago as San Francisco Unified School District students remained stuck in distance learning, even when state and county officials gave the green light to reopen and while other public education systems were returning to in-person instruction. What’s the use of belonging to a self-selecting elite if there’s a real elite around? Liberals want the freedom to put anything into their mouths, to say bad words, and to expose their private parts in art museums. . . . Also wealth is, for most people, the only honest and likely path to liberty. He was briefly a commentator on CBS News’s 60 Minutes, and he appeared on The Tonight Show. When the U.S. sent troops to Saudi Arabia in the run-up to the Persian Gulf War, ABC Radio sent him to Saudi Arabia to cover it. But for all the cigar-smoking, jokes about hangovers, and reminiscences about sex with easy hippie chicks, O’Rourke seemed quite comfortable when he settled into the pleasures of domestic tranquility and fatherhood. Have you ever heard a kid learning to play the violin? And in 1971, when somebody punched me in the face for being a long-haired peace creep, I hope that was you.” Perhaps it was O’Rourke’s status as a former long-haired hippie that bought him so much goodwill from the not-so-conservative mainstream, and a de facto hall pass for deviating from the leftist counterculture attitudes of his youth. None of those publications or institutions were eager or itching to give valuable space to a conservative writer.

O'Rourke authored more than 20 books, including Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance, both of which reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

We all will miss him terribly, and extend our deepest condolences to his wife Tina and his children." Their statement continues, "as much fun as he was to have on the show, he was even more delightful in the bar afterwards. In the early 1990's he moved to New Hampshire, where he continued to write. "His insightful reporting, verbal acuity and gift at writing laugh-out-loud prose were unparalleled." His father sold cars and his mother was a housewife. Author, journalist and political satirist P.J. O'Rourke has died.

P.J. O'Rourke was an author of more than 20 books, including best-sellers such as the best-sellers “Parliament of Whores” and “Give War a Chance.

It was orderly,” he said. “He was so fascinating,” she said. He was the funniest guy, very warm, very generous” He just traveled more.” “He was P.J., Alex’s friend. “To us, he wasn’t famous,” she said.