James J. Kilpatrick

James J. Kilpatrick (b. November 1, 1920) is an American columnist and grammarian.

Kilpatrick began writing his syndicated political column, "A Conservative View," in 1964, after he had spent many years as an editor of the "Richmond News-Leader". Once a fervent segregationist, he changed his position over many years' reflection and subsequently renounced his former thinking, though he remained a staunch opponent of actual or perceived federal encroachments upon the individual states.

Kilpatrick is perhaps best known for his nine years as a debater on the TV newsmagazine "60 Minutes". He appeared in a closing segment on each show in the 1970s called "Point-Counterpoint," opposite Nicholas von Hoffman (and subsequently the late Shana Alexander). He is now a nationally known columnist for the Universal Press Syndicate and is syndicated in over 180 newspapers around the country.

Kilpatrick is now semi-retired, shifting from a three-times-a-week political column to a weekly column on judicial issues, "Covering the Courts." He also writes a syndicated column dealing with English usage, especially in writing, called "The Writer's Art." He is the author of a book of the same title. His books include "The Foxes Union", a recollection of his life in Rappahannock County, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains; "Fine Print: Reflections on the Writing Art"; and, "A Political Bestiary", with former U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy.

In 1998, Kilpatrick, then a widower, married a second time, to liberal Washington-based syndicated columnist Marianne Means.

External links

* Kilpatrick's Columns on [http://legalnews.tv/legal_analysis.html LegalNews.TV]