William Norman Grigg (February 4, 1963 – April 12, 2017) was an American author of several books from a

constitutionalist Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...

perspective. He was formerly a senior editor of ''The New American'' magazine, the official publication of the

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas. T ...

Biography

Born in

Burley, Idaho Burley () is a city in Cassia and Minidoka counties in southern Idaho, United States. The population was 10,345 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Cassia County. Burley is the principal city of the Burley, Idaho, Micropolitan ...

, Grigg was adopted by an

LDS LDS may refer to: Organizations * LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah, US Religion * Latter Day Saint movement (LDS movement), a collection of independent church groups **The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest group within t ...

family and grew up a member of the church. He graduated from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

, majoring in political science. He served as ''

Provo Daily Herald The ''Daily Herald'' is a daily newspaper that covers news and community events in Utah County, central Utah. Much of the coverage focuses on the Provo-Orem metropolitan area in Utah Valley. The ''Daily Herald'' is owned by Ogden Newspapers. Th ...

'' columnist and Washington journalist before "seeing the light" and starting work in 1993 as a correspondent, researcher, and senior editor for ''The New American'', the official biweekly magazine of the

(JBS). Based at the JBS's office in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, Grigg covered

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

summits and conferences from 1994 to 2001, and wrote ''Freedom on the Altar'' (1995), a study of UN family policy. Associate Kevin Bearly, a minister and former police officer, conducted JBS summer youth camps in the 1990s at which Grigg and others promoted conservative causes. Grigg has also spoken frequently on conspiracies and

Clinton impeachment Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was impeached by the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on December 19, 1998, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The House adopted two articles o ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. Grigg was associate director for Activate Congress To Improve Our Nation (ACTION), a committee incorporated by JBS to promote the impeachment of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, with chapters in 50 states. In 2005, Grigg called for the resignation of the JBS president and CEO, G. Vance Smith, who had promoted two sons to leadership positions; Smith was narrowly deposed in a September 2005 Board of Incorporators vote. The new CEO, Arthur R. Thompson, and other leaders initiated a staff blog to which Grigg contributed heavily. Just prior to this, Grigg had left the Mormon church, which had been a point of contention between him and Smith, the latter being the local

stake president A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine h ...

. Grigg formed a personal blog, "Pro Libertate", in August 2006, saying that JBS leadership had deleted some of his posts from their blog, such as a June comparison of immigration debate to professional wrestling. He stated that he was fired by JBS on October 3, 2006, officially for unstated reasons. Grigg met his biological mother later in life. Until doing so, he had believed he was part Irish and part Mexican, hence his use of the handle "Blarney con Carne" but his biological mother informed him that his biological father had been of Pacific Islander descent. After his death, Grigg's children took genealogy tests that showed they were actually of African descent.

Views

Grigg's writing reflects views heavily influenced by

constitutionalism Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...

libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

, and

anti-communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

Ward Churchill Ward LeRoy Churchill (born 1947) is an American author and political activist. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1990 until 2007.

favorably quoted Grigg's observation that

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

is defined by abundance and unintelligibility of laws. The new JBS leadership launched the U.S. immigration issue as a major campaign in 2005. Grigg, of Hawaiian/Cherokee/Basque/Irish descent, had often in JBS publications called for controls on immigration. His ''New American'' article "Revolution in America", a study of immigration problems and issues, was reprinted for its "current and incisive" rhetorical qualities by a

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

college text. Grigg has promoted the concept that "white Leninists" desired to send "millions of Mexicans across the border with the idea of having each kill 10 Americans". Grigg was a critic of

neoconservatism Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and ...

and considered foreign aid to be a tool of US

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

Welch Foundation

The Robert W. Welch Foundation (Right Source Online), founded in 1997 by former California JBS members, adopted Grigg's Pro Libertate blog and made him a weekly cohost (December 30, 2005 – May 4, 2007) on the nationally syndicated afternoon radio show "The Right Source" with Kevin Shannon (Bearly's pseudonym). It also launched the ''Pro Libertate'' e-zine, where Grigg brought in writers such as

James Bovard James Bovard (; born 1956) is an American libertarian author and lecturer whose political commentary targets examples of waste, failures, corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in government. He is a ''USA Today'' columnist and is a frequent c ...

and fellow

LewRockwell.com Llewellyn Harrison Rockwell Jr. (born July 1, 1944) is an American author, editor, and political consultant. A libertarian and a self-professed anarcho-capitalist, he founded and is the chairman of the Mises Institute, a non-profit dedicated to ...

columnist Scott Horton. It commissioned Grigg's 2007 book alleging Bush and Clinton attacks on liberty, ''Liberty In Eclipse''.

Other activities

Grigg has recorded the radio spot "A Liberty Minute" weekdays since February 19, 2007, which, since July 2, has used the tagline, "Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free" (

Galatians Galatians may refer to: * Galatians (people) * Epistle to the Galatians, a book of the New Testament * English translation of the Greek ''Galatai'' or Latin ''Galatae'', ''Galli,'' or ''Gallograeci'' to refer to either the Galatians or the Gauls in ...

5:1). Grigg was also a studio and live musician who served as lead guitarist in the Wisconsin band Slick Willie and the Calzones, until his 2005 move to Idaho. The band's 2001 CD, ''Green and Gold'', featured rock, country, and jazz homages to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, such as the novelty song "Tailgate Polka". He and his wife had six children.

Death

Will Grigg died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on April 12, 2017.

Books

* * * * *

References

External links

Will Grigg's Liberty Minutes

Pro Libertate blog

Pro Libertate e-zine

on

Notes on the Jerry Seinfeld Society

Bio
at The

William Grigg
at The American View Forum {{DEFAULTSORT:Grigg, William Norman 1963 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American columnists American foreign policy writers American rock guitarists American libertarians American male guitarists American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American political journalists American political writers American writers of Mexican descent Christian libertarians Critics of neoconservatism Former Latter Day Saints Hispanic and Latino American journalists John Birch Society members Journalists from Idaho American opinion journalists People from Burley, Idaho People from Payette, Idaho Utah State University alumni Writers from Idaho