David Boaz and the Ideas of Liberty

Gabriela Calderon de Burgos

I met David Boaz when I was an intern at Cato during the summer of 2004. He was such a great speaker. Soon, I found out he was also a great writer. One of the first books I read about classical liberalism was David’s The Libertarian Reader. This was the first time I read John Stuart Mill, Isabel Paterson, Richard Epstein, Mary Wollstonecraft, Benjamin Constant, Frederick Douglas, Charles Murray, Lao‐​Tzu, Herbert Spencer, Bertrand de Jouvenel, and so many others. Looking back at my Libertarian Reader copy from that summer, I now realize that my personal library is filled with books that I was inspired to read after being introduced to these authors that summer by David’s fabulous guide to libertarian/​classical liberal thought.

After my internship, I became the editor of Cato’s Spanish‐​language publications, including the Institute’s Spanish‐​language website, www​.elca​to​.org. I was always surprised by David’s attention to detail, especially when he noticed a comma was misplaced in a text in Spanish. In a way, David has embodied what Cato strives to be: a clear, clean, and precise presentation of libertarian/​classical liberal thought.