"Mr. Larry was a past president of the Sarah Scaife Foundation and also a former board of director for Grove City College and Federal Home Loan of Pittsburgh. His hobbies included fishing, target shooting…” -From the published obituary.

I owe a great deal to Dick Larry. He was the president of a major foundation, a trust, and a long-term board member of Grove City College. Dick took personal and reputational risks to support our work promoting responsible liberty, the market process, and the rule of law.  

Twenty-five years ago we began creating FREE's conferences for Article III federal judges. Our goal was to illustrate how the economic way of thinking could help federal district and appeals court judges make better decisions. Over the life of this program we enjoyed some 600 visits by federal judges.

The program (and me personally) were attacked by the Washington Post and New York Times, NPR, the TV program “20/20”, and others in the mainstream media. Not all publicity has favorable consequences.  Several foundation leaders gave me this declaration: "We invest in policy institutes but we don't buy lightening rods. Your programs have become one. You will receive no more support from us."

Dick, ever the Marine, didn't leave wounded warriors in the field. Rather, he encouraged our work with continued funding. And this was the second time he did so. 

Years earlier his foundation and the trust he ran were among the first that supported our fledging institute at MSU. Our work sorely displeased the then-governor of Montana. He got a click shy of knee-walking drunk at one of our conferences for national editorial page editors and said remarkably silly things in his after dinner address. His comments, of course, were quoted in the press. As a result the MSU president placed conditions on our institute that no responsible academic would tolerate. I left MSU to lead PERC, then the Political Economy Research Center.

I called Dick, explained the situation, and asked about continued support. I'll never forget his response. He said this: "I've seen this movie before and am surprised only by the details. As to continued support, John there is something you should understand. We don't buy restaurants, we follow chefs." Dick then sent a supplemental check to facilitate the move from MSU and agreed with my proposal to allocate the new funds toward a refurbished office near Gallatin Gateway. 

Dick came out to Bozeman every summer to observe our programs and tour the land and waters whose management my colleagues and I studied. He would also fly fish with my colleagues and me. Dick always stayed at our ranch during his tours and we explored ideas for new programs. Dick especially liked fishing the "Blue Ribbon" waters of our region and occasionally brought friends from the East, introducing them to our work. He observed that we "work hard and play well".

Dick retired before Dr. Volney Steele, Col. Eric Hastings, and I began discussing the program that soon became Warriors and Quiet Waters (WQW). In a column published on December 27th of 2006 I introduced the idea for WQW. (Click here for the column.)  Dick usually read FREE's columns as soon as they were published. Were he not retired, I expect he would have called immediately to pledge his foundation's support for WQW. In tribute to Dick's patriotism, loyalty, and good works, Ramona and I have made a special donation to WQW to honor his name.

While Dick was strongly motivated by his mission, his life was rounded. He and his wife Lois restored an old farmhouse an hour from their home. He also was an avid and serious marksman and competed in several regional and one annual national meet. Dick had wanted to be on the Marine's marksmanship team but didn't quite qualify. Decades later he competed annually in the Camp Perry meet. This gave me an idea: give him an M1 Garand in Marksman grade. Tom O'Leary, a Marine on FREE's board, was chairman of Burlington Resources and had great contacts. Tom helped me acquire an M1 Garand in Marksman grade and I gave it to Dick. I don't know if he used it in competition but I know he was quite pleased with this gift. 

Time passes and FREE is shifting its program focus. I will relax a bit and concentrate on writing and speaking. We are also designing smaller programs with high leverage individuals. These are the Yellowstone Entrepreneurial Salon series, YES for short.

I may even fly fish again and will surely target shoot. Both activities will bring Dick to mind. When contemplating FREE's transition and mine, I often think of those who have contributed to our success over the years.  None ranks higher than Dick Larry.