How K came to objectivism and Rand.

The summer before K's senior year in college she had a friend who was getting married. It turned out that the groom had a brother coming from Texas (to Iowa) who was single, but the bride had already reserved him (without his knowledge) for her sister. When the brother shows up to bar where the wedding party is meeting that night K decides that her friend had no right to reserve anyone. As a result, she and the other two brides maids cornered the brother. They had heard he was a little weird, after all he was not an Iowa socialist and thought capitalism was great. K and the other brides maids thought they would challenge him to explain all of Rand's philosophy off the top of his. The sister seemed to lose interest fairly quickly, but K and the other bride maid thought it was great fun to smile and joke and harass the brother as he explained objectivism. K went so far as to play footsies with the brother during his explanation. Despite this the brother took it all good naturedly and he got his revenge with K when he flipped her later that night. The rest is history.

I read The Fountainhead in 1958. My new husband had a copy. I got Atlas Shrugged a couple of years later, attended the 1965 NBI 20-lecture course on tape and met Ayn Rand at the opening session. Shortly thereafter I divorced to regain my life. I am now happily married for 45 years to a man who loves me for who I am.

I have all of Rand's books, fiction and non-fiction, and all the original copies of the various newsletters, to which I subscribed in real time. I have all 3 Atlas films and other Rand-related videotapes. I have read AS seven times, including the new paperback edition put out by Peikoff's group. I sent him a list of all the typos (hundreds of them) in that volume. My own original volume is in tatters, and I've bought both the deluxe hard cover and paperbacks for friends. And yes, I have Branden's book on self-esteem and his vengeful Judgment Day, and Barbara Branden's biography of Rand. Read them with a grain of salt.

I have lived through, in real time, the Rand/Branden split and the Peikoff/Kelley split. It amused me greatly when I first joined the Gulch that, in the first discussion in which I participated, one of the commenters accused me of being a Communist. I appreciate that the disruptive elements have been purged or have chosen to withdraw from the Gulch. The conversations here are a bright spot in the otherwise dismal current state of the world, and there is always something new and worthwhile to learn. I probably spend way too much time here, amidst running my business.

I want to make clear that I am not a Rand worshipper. I admire the intellect that produced the statement of values and principles, the body of philosophy that expressed with full clarity and non-contradiction the values I had always held but lacked the words to express. It was like coming home.

I finished reading AS for the third time just before watching AS3 on BluRay. Every time I read it it's more history and less fiction.

I read AS about 15 years ago now, before the movies. I have many of her audio books, hardback books and Piekoff's Objectivism: The philosophy of Ayn Rand.

About two years after reading most of what Rand has published (other than her books about writing) I had a liberal friend loose several different arguments with me as I used Objectivism to put down his arguments. He asked where I was getting some of these ideas and a conversation ensued in which he said "We need someone like her for socialism."

I told him to read some Marx, that was the person he was looking for. He responded "I have and his arguments are just not as good." to which I responded that perhaps he needed to check his premises resolve the conflicts and find the truth.

The movies got him to read the book and today he has not yet gotten off the socialist cool aid but at least he is questioning it and there is hope that he can be saved.

Every so often we have a good conversation. There is much that hast to be weeded from his brain and the process is slow.

I read AS later in life than I would care to admit to. ;-)
That said, I felt like I wanted to shout from the rooftops what I had found! It literally left me bursting with a fierce joy that I had found what it was I had yearned for but could not name. It wasn't until several yer later that I saw the trailer for the first AS movie, and looked more rigorously online for sources of info. I found The Atlas Society first, then came across GaltsGulchOnline....

I've been a producer ever since, and have never looked back. I must say that Anthem had a rather profound effect on me, as did The Virtue of Selfishness. It put things in crystal clear perspective. But my favorite AR protagonist is Roark, from Fountainhead.

I don't remember all the details about how I found my way to reading Rand, but, in retrospect, I realize I was always on a mission for things to make sense when so many things, and people, around me didn't.
I know at one point I heard Rand Paul, in an interview answer the question about him being named after Ayn Rand and he explained that Rand was short for Randall, but he admired Ayn Rand. I looked her up, watched a video that shed her in a bad light and I thought she was nuts...like left wing nuts (I have no idea how I got that idea). But I dismissed her. (omg!!!!)
I then saw Atlas Shrugged I on netflix and enjoyed it so I started researching the author and watched The Prophecy of Ayn Rand (also on Netflix) and I was hooked. I bought AS immediately, took it on vacation and devoured it on my parent's back porch a few Summer's ago in MI. I remember telling my Mom when I finished part I "This is where the movie left off, but there is sooo much more going on in this book than the movie. And so much of it is actually happening in this country right now, and this was written in the 50's! You HAVE to read this!" (And she did :)).
I soon starting looking for info on Part II of the movie and found a website where I signed up for notifications...soon thereafter I was informed of galtsgulchonline and I dove in head first without blinking.
I have since read many of her other works, both fiction and non fiction, sometimes more than once and I am continually blown away by the spot on perfection of Rand's explanations and reasoning.
My only regret is not finding my way to Objectivism sooner. Finally, somewhere where everything makes sense. Much like sitting on your parent's back porch and breathing the fresh air of HOME. :)

I started AS after I graduated college. I then bought the unabridged AS book on CD (36 CD's) when I got a job to listen to and from work and during down time at work (I worked in IT). I also bought Anthem and Fountainhead in both book and audio form (which i have ripped from their CD's and stored on my mp3 players). I still have about 10 books still packed in their amazon boxes with their e-book counterparts on my kindles (phone, computers, and reading devices). I have seen Ms. Rand's vision of what the US was heading towards and made sure when the country starts to a fail, I have the hard copies to read if I can no longer access my digital media. Now that I have typed it out, it makes me seem like some sort of Ayn Rand survivalists with some cabin hidden in the woods ready to flee to. LOL.

My stepson, now 41, stayed with us the summer after HS graduation, along with a friend of his. They read AS while working a construction job and getting harassed by the construction workers for planning to go to college, as well as being sober and, hmmm...shall I say, sexually pure.

I read all of Ayn Rand's work while I was in college, and shortly thereafter. I built a complete Ayn Rand archive.

I was an Objectivist before I read the book but I didn't know it. I read AS first (don't remember where I found it) but it definitely was not life-changing. It just seemed common sense and confirmed my beliefs. I gave the book to my brother and he had the exact same response. I thank my Dad for that.

Hello khalling,

Since 1983? I have read many newsletters and every book (fiction and non-fiction) I know of written by Rand as well as a few compilations of essays produced after her death except the Romantic Manifesto, The Night of January 16th, and We the Living*. I also read/studied Piekoff's Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand. I have found the non-fiction just as compelling as the fiction, though perhaps not as entertaining. I have DVDs of *We The Living, The Fountainhead, A Sense of Life, and of course all of the AS movies. I have watched as many youtube videos of Rand interviews and other objectivist related ones as I could find. Most of this I have done before coming to this site, or for that matter, the at least two? other previous iterations of this site I contributed to. After joining the first Gulch I did read Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology and The Voice of Reason. During my time on this newest Gulch site, my only new material exposure has been the movies, and newer lectures etc. linked from this site.

I have always wanted to read The Romantic Manifesto and We the Living, but somehow they keep eluding me. So many books, so little time...

Regards,
O.A.

Back in 1962 late at night when I should have been asleep I used to stay up late watching TV. M-F it was Johnny Carson. Weekends it was pot luck. Channel surfing was tough. No remotes. Back in '62 when I was but 15 I stayed up late on Sunday night much to my usual detriment the next morning. Next time I am 15 I will know better. So it was 11PM and each time I wanted to change channels on the B&W TV in my room I had to get up to do it. What a pain. Horrible night on the Telly. By the time I got to KCRA Channel 3 out of Sacramento CA (I was in Stockton) it was 1115PM. What was on was an old movie and it was already 15 minutes into the story. There was no way to hit rewind. I had to do without. The film was The Fountainhead. I quit channel surfing and watched it to the end. Next day I bought the book. I was an Objectivist although at the time I had no idea what that was. Then I followed up with the rest of the novels and The Objectivist Newsletter then the Nathaniel Branden LP recordings. Even went to a meeting of an Objectivist Club in San Francisco and attended a talk by NB himself. By the time I had landed here I had read all of the non fiction works and did not to go on to read books I had already finished. Long story short. No I did not. Well maybe to late for the short part.

Not answering your question precisely, but ...
In my 20s I was working with another young man in real estate finance and development. He had read AS and often recommended it, as he thought my views were developing in that logical way. I was too busy with my career for reading fiction at the time. A few years later, I was flying on business frequently and one trip took me to Detroit. While there I visited my uncle and he had a paperback of AS in his bookcase, and he gave it to me. I read it slowly as I travelled over the next few weeks. The front cover wore off from travelling in an overstuffed leather bag, but I taped on a DIY front cover and kept reading. I still have that worn copy. I have since bought almost everything Rand wrote in its first published form if possible, and have read almost all of it. (Still have to find time to read some Objectivist, Objectivist Newsletter, and Ayn Rand Letters.)

My father left a copy of Anthem around the house, and I picked it up and read it. It made a big impression on me. In HS, I checked out a copy of AS.

I began reading it after school on a Friday...was abstracted through dinner...continued reading as soon as dinner was done. When my mother woke up in the morning, I was in the middle of Galt's speech. She pointed out that I had not yet done the dinner dishes (my chore) from the previous night. "I will, I will. Just let me finish this chapter." An hour later I finished. Wow.

I got up to do the dishes, and stumbled...I had sat in the same position all night, reading. My mother looked at me, "You look beat - go to bed. I'LL do the dishes. Just go."

That was my real intro to Rand. It is not so much that I felt I wanted to follow her philosophy as that she had elegantly articulated the thoughts I was forming in my own brain. Her words 'clicked' into place - and have not left.

Jan

I read AS and Fountainhead years and years ago. Saw a blurb about the movies and bought 1&2 on Amazon. Also have Fountainhead on dvd.

Looking for word on #3, brought me to the Atlas Shrugged site, which led me here.

I have a mix of both her fiction and non-fiction.

I read Virtue of Selfishness. Amazing how much of Rands writings just make sense.

I heard about AS1, started to reread Atlas Shrugged. Saw AS2, finished the book. Got the DVD's of 1 and 2. Saw 3 and ordered the DVD. Have not read any other books but I am way behind in my reading. I have a stack of books and plenty more on my Kindle App, including a couple of Ms.Rand's books, but have not gotten to them yet.

Great post KH. I have read and reread AS. I have read some, but not yet all of her non-fiction, and I love to read other O authors books too. I can hardly wait for the next Hank Rangar adventure.

I first read AS in 1963. Loved it...it was how I always felt but didn't know how to articulate those thoughts.
Since reading AS, I've read everything AR has written, and AS several times.

I retired 20 years ago and have not read AS during those 20 years. My daughter bought me a nice new copy for Mother's Day.

What was a nice serendipity, there were four 30 yr old couples there and me opening my copy of AS brought the subject of AR and her philosophy to the crowd.

I wished I had copies to give to them. (note to self, I will get some to give away)

I go to many O sites that I find reference to while being "in the Gulch".

I have not seen the movies as I like to read better than watch films.

Have read, and been re-reading, Ayn Rand since I was 16 - in the 60s. We the Living has always been my favorite with the Virtue of Selfishness a close runner-up. I didn't appreciate Atlas Shrugged until I was in my thirties. Since the Gulch, I've again re-read AS and Anthem. Also have viewed all the movies twice - watching a movie more than once is rare for me. Shawshank Redemption, almost any John Candy movie and Mathilda are the only others that get repeat views from me. :)

Before coming to the Gulch, I had read AS, The Fountainhead, Anthem, and We the Living, but I had not read any of the non-fiction works. While I still like the fiction better, The Virtue of Selfishness was definitely enlightening.

I had not really spent more than a couple of minutes at any other Objectivist sites until the last week. I wanted to see who was speaking at The Atlas Summit and what they were speaking on. I was quite disappointed to see that there was no science/engineering/technology to complement the philosophy. I find it very common amongst my colleagues and my students to see that their interests go far beyond the nerdy ones you might expect. About half of my science and engineering colleagues perform music in public, for instance.

K, I did the reverse -- found Rand in '64 and the
online gulch in '13. . you and the fine folks here are
now an extraordinary part of my life. . Thank You!!! -- j

p.s. I read everything I can grab, about Rand!
.

khalling, how the Atlas Shrugged movie influenced reading Rand is a great topic. The following is an account of how it inspired some developments in western North Carolina. I hope this isn’t too long for this forum.

My acquaintance with Ayn Rand’s work began long before the movie hit the screens. I first read Atlas Shrugged in the 1960’s and immediately took out a subscription to The Objectivist and began reading her other works shortly thereafter. For several years in the 1970’s I participated in a Pittsburgh-area Objectivist group led by Fred Seddon and Herb Heller. Even though I’ve considered myself an Objectivist most of my adult life, it wasn’t until leaving the corporate world and a demanding career that I treated myself to reading further with the books of Peikoff (Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand), Smith (Viable Values and Ayn Rand’s Normative Ethics) and many others. These works served to solidify in my mind that Objectivism indeed offers a constructive, uplifting, insightful, life-affirming outlook unmatched by other philosophies I have encountered.

Anticipating retirement and after moving to a small town in western North Carolina, I found myself longing for the intellectual stimulation and companionship that the Pittsburgh group offered. Not unexpectedly, relatively small towns like Hendersonville and Asheville had no such groups up and going. In fact, for a few years I thought maybe I was the only Objectivist in all of western NC. We are in the midst of the Bible Belt, after all.

In 2010, upon learning that Atlas Shrugged the movie might finally become a reality, I thought maybe its release would bring a few other well-hidden Objectivists out of the woodwork or sufficiently raise the interest of others so that a local Objectivist group might attract a few people and gain some traction. So, I set up an informal group named Western North Carolina Objectivists (WNCO), advertised it on-screen at a small, one-screen local theater for the month preceding the movie’s release. That ad garnered a couple of interested parties as did some other out-reach efforts. We advertised a private showing of AS, Part 1 with a discussion to follow. That showing attracted about 25 attendees, many of whom are still active with WNCO. Our fist series of meetings were book club-style discussions featuring Atlas Shrugged (of course). Over the years we have been meeting monthly with anywhere from just a few to around 20 attendees. Not bad for a little town I fondly refer to as Hooterville.

A couple of years ago another group started up in Asheville headed by Dennis Desimone who last year presented a sold-out extension course at UNC Asheville called, “Ayn Rand: Her Life and Her Philosophy.” Dennis has done a fantastic job of introducing Objectivism to newcomers to Rand and providing a rallying point for others in the Asheville area.

Back in the olden 60s, Rand was required reading -The Fountainhead in 7th grade - the Trilogy in 10th. I am 60+ now but I still have my well worn paperbacks. The Trilogy took an entire semester. In 6th, 8th and 9th we read Shakespeare, Orwell, Hesse, Camus. 4 years later they had already dumbed down and libbed out the reading list. My sister had to read Judy Blume, Eudora Welty and Maya Angelou. Not calling them dumb but the "victim" indoctrination had begun.

My first exposure to Ayn Rand was seeing "The Fountainhead" on TV when I was a child. I knew nothing about Ayn Rand, but I liked the movie, and Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal became some of my favorite actors as a result of seeing that movie. I really liked it, even though I was clueless about philosophy. Years later, a friend recommended that I read "The Fountainhead," after talking with me about my position on current events. I immediately knew that it was the movie that I'd liked so much years earlier. After that, I read everything that Ayn Rand wrote. Her insights helped me immensely. The clarity of her thinking saved me probably years of struggle; I will always love her more than I can say. One thing that I wanted to see was "Atlas Shrugged" made into a movie. I was expecting it to be a cartoon, because I didn't think it could be covered in a 90 minute movie; I was thinking of a series of up to 10 episodes. The 3-part series that Aglioloro made was a good attempt at bringing much of the philosophy contained in the book on screen. However, a multi-episode series could flesh out the movie and bring its ideas closer to the book, and make it even more attractive to a general audience. I periodically re-read AS to help me keep focused on important ideas. I also watch the movie series pretty regularly.