Dr. Sharon Presley • 1943—2022
Sharon Presley was a friend. As I see things that is one of the highest compliments one individual can pay to another.
Of course, she was so much more as well, far too many things to say in the few minutes one has for a eulogy. She got her baptism of fire in promoting individual rights at the University of California, Berkeley as an activist in the Free Speech Movement, in Students Opposed to Conscription, and in the Alliance of Libertarian Activists.
And, of course, in recent years she organized the Association of Libertarian Feminists.
Over the years Sharon and I ran into one another at various conferences, but the first time we had in-depth conversations was when a conference I organized in New Zealand brought Sharon over as a speaker.
She went back to the United States and I went to work in Germany but about a year later I moved back to the Bay Area of California. That is where Sharon lived, just a couple miles from my new home. We started chatting regularly, almost weekly and often in-depth. We compared notes and found lots of agreement and what disagreements we had paled in comparison to our common ground.
We shared a passion for a libertarianism that emphasized BOTH economic freedom and social freedom. We both loved to discuss the psychology of politics — both in how it works, but also how so many libertarians undermine the cause they claim to love.
I just said the one word that described Sharon — passion. She was a fervent advocate for the rights of all — especially minorities facing the persecution of prejudice and political power.
If you knew Sharon you knew her passion for ideas, especially for rights. We had disagreements but they were always civil because our realm of agreement was far, far more important.
Sharon responded to the persecution of individuals by the collective herd with a passionate fury but her response was more bark than bite — she never sought to hurt anyone. There were times I had to remind her honey was a better weapon in the art of persuasion, but we both agreed there were some, so vicious and nasty neither compassion nor reason could reach them.
In those cases it was proper for Sharon to exhibit her passion for the rights of others.
She understood libertarianism was not about the defense of “our” rights but the defense of all rights. She knew it was not some “right-wing” ideology and there was no virtue in tolerating hate and bigotry. Her libertarianism was not of the “me-libertarian” variety. What makes one libertarian is NOT how others treat you, but how you treat others.
In recent years I know Sharon was disheartened at the state of our country and the rise of a vicious authoritarian Right. She was also saddened, and infuriated, by the immolation of the libertarian movement by a gaggle of bigots. The one comfort I take is Sharon no longer has to listen to the howling banshees of hate pretending to support the cause to which she dedicated the last 60 some years. Her battle is over, and in honor of her, we all must continue for that cause.
In a story I once wrote, a character describers her own imminent death:
“The world, for us, came into existence the day we were born and it will cease the day we die. There is an eternity after our death, and an eternity before our birth. Our life is like a slim, but wonderful book sitting between two vast bookends of nothingness. Why worry about the nothingness when we have such a wonderful volume in our hands right now?”
What a wonderful volume Sharon wrote with her life.
SUPPORT THIS PAGE AT PATREON
Your support to fund these columns is important, visit our page at Patreon.
Follow our daily comments at Twitter. If you wish to subscribe, free of charge, to this page you can have all new essays emailed to you as they are published. Just sign up here. If you wish to leave a one time tip see the link below.
