Carl Watner, founding member of The Voluntaryist academic journal/newsletter (along with Wendy McElroy and George H. Smith, in 1982) passed away yesterday after a long fight with cancer. Carl convinced me to call myself a voluntaryist and inspired me to create this website and everything else I’ve done under the voluntaryist label. He was also the first to introduce me to Stoicism, which I talk about in tomorrow’s episode of “Thinking & Doing” (Episode 048). His work can be found at Voluntaryist.com, but here’s an essay on how he became a voluntaryist. A fun fact: he had me send a large print edition of his book I Must Speak Out to Irwin Schiff (father of Peter Schiff), a tax protestor and political prisoner in Federal prison at the time (now deceased). Here is Wendy McElroy on his passing.
Carl Watner, Rest in Peace (1948-2020)
