James J. Kilpatrick

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James J. Kilpatrick is a conservative columnist.

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.

But Kilpatrick achieved his fame in the 1970s during nine years as a debater on the "60 Minutes" segment "Point-Counterpoint," opposite Nicholas von Hoffman (and subsequently 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 has long since 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 Writers Art. He is the author of a book of the same title. His books include The Foxes Union, a charming 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.

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