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Monday
Aug042014

Andrew Ian Dodge

Sorry to hear that Andrew Ian Dodge has died aged 46.

I didn't really know him and had only the sketchiest grasp of what he actually did, but he was one of a handful of libertarians who managed to create a distinctive, larger than life persona online.

His Twitter profile describes him as a "former US Senate Candidate Maine (libertarian), former Tea Party cordinator, freelance writer, pundit and lyricist/singer".

I don't know how long he lived in London but he came to several Forest events, which is how I met him.

The first was at the Groucho Club in 2006. I still have the email acknowledging his registration:

Dear Andrew, We look forward to seeing you on Monday from 6.30pm. Please note that entrance to the Soho Bar at The Groucho Club is via 42 Dean Street.

After the event we wrote to all our guests:

A quick note to thank everyone who came to The Groucho Club on Monday night. If you couldn't make it, but are on this e-list, you missed a typical Forest event - chaotic yet entertaining, crowded and very smoky! David Hockney's presence, alongside the likes of Joe Jackson, Trevor Baylis, Claire Fox and others, was a bonus.

Andrew's response was characteristic and to the point:

Are pics from the night going up on the website? It would be good to show people we had a good time on Monday night.

The next Forest event he attended was at the House of Commons exactly a year after the introduction of the smoking ban in England.

By now Andrew had offered to write occasional pieces for The Free Society (an offshoot of Forest) but his first contribution, about extreme video games, unnerved me a bit.

It introduced me to a world I knew nothing about and forced me to admit that I probably wasn't a libertarian – well, not in the Andrew Ian Dodge mould. (See Freedom has its limits.)

Occasionally he would comment on this blog. A fairly typical comment, in response to a post about a Labour government advisor proposing that anyone who wanted to buy tobacco should have to buy a permit to do so, was:

Crypto-fascist idiocy is the first thing that comes to mind. Second thing is that this government will take everything they can; preferably twice.

He moved back to America with his wife Kim a few years ago. He would mention his illness on Facebook from time to time and the prognosis wasn't good.

A quick glance at his Facebook page – where he posted a final message to be published after his death – shows just how many friends he made on both sides of the Atlantic.

See also: Andrew Ian Dodge - writer, US state candidate, musician – dies at 46 (Breitbart News).

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