Pro-liberty philosopher John Hospers — who was a personal friend of Ayn Rand in the 1960s and the first presidential candidate for the Libertarian party in 1972 — passed away on June 12, 2011.

I had lunch with Hospers in Los Angeles in 1996, shortly after graduating from college, and enjoyed his gentleness and intelligence.

In 2004, the Atlasphere published a lengthy article by him titled “Election 2004: The Case for Bush.”

Jesse Walker offers a brief tribute at Reason.com.

For more background about Hospers, you can read his bio and also find some of his recent articles available online.

Reviewing the correspondence from Hospers that I’ve seen over the years, I came across this interesting tidbit from him (a reply to Richard Allen on the old We The Living discussion group) about Rand’s take on Charlie Chaplin:

No, Rand didn’t care for the ‘silent comedians’. Several times in our conversations the topic of Chaplin came up — all negative. At first I thought that his political leftism was the main issue — that along with his preference for girls a generation ‘too young’ for him. These all had an influence on her low estimate of Chaplin.

But the main thing was his art, not his life: it was repellent to her that Chaplin celebrated (or seemed to) the ‘hero’ as helpless victim, not in charge of his fate but being buffeted about on the whims of circumstance, always reacting but not initiating action. She didn’t find his antics cute or even funny. Not only did she dislike ‘Modern Times’ as an indictment of capitalism, she found his parody on Hitler in ‘The Great Dictator’ (after the ‘little tramp’ had been abandoned) unworthy of even a single smile.

Rest in peace, Dr. Hospers. And thank you.

The new book I Am John Galt by Donald L . Luskin and Andrew Greta is now available for purchase on Amazon.com.

We plan to publish a full review soon at the Atlasphere. Don’t wait for that, though; the book looks excellent.

From the press release:

“Who is John Galt?” may well be the best known line from all of Ayn Rand’s works. Soâ?¦ who is he? Galt is not only the fictional character from the hugely bestselling novel, Atlas Shrugged, who has come to embody the individualist capitalist who acts in his own self interest and in doing so lifts the world. He is also found in todayâ??s CEOs, journalists, sports figures, and actors who have led their lives according to Galtâ??s philosophy and in so doing they have achieved phenomenal success, not only for themselves but for those around them.

In their new book, I AM JOHN GALT: Todayâ??s Heroic Innovators Building the World and the Villainous Parasites Destroying It, well known market commentator Donald Luskin and financial journalist Andrew Greta introduce us to the real-life titans whoâ??ve lived their lives like Randâ??s fictional heroes and the malefactors whoâ??ve lived like her fictional villains. Filled with exclusive interviews, profiles, and analyses of the superstars who have based their lives and careers on the philosophy of the perennially popular Ayn Rand, this book both inspires and enlightens.

I AM JOHN GALT stars:

· The Individualist: Steve Jobs as Howard Roark, the man who reinvented four industries just because it was so cool

· The Mad Collectivist: Paul Krugman as Ellsworth Toohey, the man who preaches socialism from the pages of Americaâ??s newspaper of record

· The Leader: John Allison as John Galt, the man who walked away after building Americaâ??s strongest bank

· The Parasite: Angelo Mozilo as James Taggart, the businessman who co-opted government and nearly wrecked the US economy

· The Persecuted Titan: Bill Gates as Henry Rearden, the businessman who created revolutionary technologies and was criminalized for his success

· The Central Planner: Barney Frank as Wesley Mouch, the politician who meddled in the economy and almost destroyed it

· The Capitalist Champion: T.J Rodgers as Francisco dâ??Anconia, the modern Renaissance man and agent provocateur for capitalism

· The Sellout: Alan Greenspan as Robert Stadler, the libertarian who became an economic czar

· The Economist of Liberty: Milton Friedman as Hugh Akston, the academic who showed the world the connection between capitalism and freedom

Engaging and entertaining, I AM JOHN GALT examines how the inspiration that is Galt thrives more than 50 years after the publication of Atlas Shrugged. It will spark the interest of Ayn Rand fans everywhere, as well as those seeking a way to succeed in today’s turbulent and confusing times both in their business lives and their personal lives.

About the Authors

Donald L . Luskin is Chief Investment Officer of TrendMacro, an investment strategy and economics research firm. For over thirty years, he has been a leading figure in investment management and financial markets. He was formerly vice chair of Barclays Global Investors (now BlackRock) and is the founder of Investment Technology Group and MetaMarkets.com. Luskin appears weekly on CNBCâ??s Kudlow Report and contributes frequently to the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Index Options and Futures: The Complete Guide and editor of Portfolio Insurance: A Guide to Dynamic Hedging, both published by Wiley.

Andrew Greta is an author and business executive with more than fifteen years of experience in the financial markets and currently holds an appointment with the College of Business at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He formerly led corporate and business development at CME Group in Chicago. Greta is a former contributing editor for TheStreet.com. His articles on finance and investing have appeared in numerous national publications including SFO magazine, DSNews.com, ABCNews.com, Online Investor, and Individual Investor.