I turned on my computer and saw that Fr. Richard John Neuhaus died yesterday. Fr. Neuhaus' Naked Public Square was one of the first "adult" books I read as I started to take an interest in politics, philosophy, and other such matters. When I was at Notre Dame Law School, I made some comment to a professor to the effect, "Well, at least us Lutherans have Neuhaus." He looked at me funny and said, "Didn't you hear he became Catholic?" I don't know if it played a role in my conversion, but it definitely startled me. I met Fr. Neuhaus briefly when I attended a Touchstone conference about five years ago. He struck me as a jovial fellow, but smart. It may have been the only time in my life that a writer in person fit the mental image I had formed of him in my mind.
