More on the Life of Roger Gardner

Last Thursday, our friend, mentor and colleague, Roger Gardner, passed away in Massachusetts after a year-long battle with leukemia. Roger was the founder of Radarsite, a conservative blog that also hosted articles by myself and others. Those of us who cross-posted on Radarsite have been putting together some tributes to Roger. What I have cross-posted below was put together by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook and Holger at Holger Awakens. They both are currently running on Radarsite. The first (by Maggie)is an interview of Roger by a local newspaper. Second is an essay that Roger produced on Radarsite, which Holger pulled up. I think they give you a flavor of what Roger was all about.
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"Roger did not often give his reader's a glimpse into his own personal life. As he said, "this blog isn't about me, but about America." What we knew, we knew from those passionate words and images, slashing like a swift and terrible sword at America's enemies. In an interview with the Newburyport Daily News, however, Roger gave us a bit more of himself, including a mention of his "red scooter," which prompted a surprise response from me. He emailed a great pic of that scooter but after changing computers, I can no longer find it."

-Maggie (Maggie's Notebook)
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Roger Gardner


By Katie Curley
Staff writer



NEWBURYPORT — Roger Gardner often feels like he is living a secret life.

From his apartment at the James Steam Mill, what once started as a small blog dedicated to politics and shedding light on the cultural aspects tied to the War on Terror, has caught the attention of government officials from around the world. Readers include President George W. Bush, top media outlets and casual readers.

"This has been consuming my life for over a year now," said Gardner, the father of three grown sons and seven grandchildren. "It's not really about politics but about culture."

Though battling what doctors tell him is likely a terminal cancer, the 71-year-old Gardner is light-hearted as he talks of his blog, "Radarsite," and Americans' understanding of the war and Muslim religion. And while he says his critics call him "bitter" and "cynical," it is untrue, he says — he is just an American speaking out for America.

"September 11 had an effect on me that was huge," Gardner said. "Within a few weeks of listening to the reports and opinions and hearing about Islam, the Koran and the Middle East, I realized I was willfully ignorant. I decided to study the Muslim religion, read the Koran and the great deal of supportive literature and not just believe, like everyone else, what was being told about Islam."

In the weeks and months that followed, Gardner, a veteran of the Cold War, was moved by the anti-American sentiments that spread throughout the United States. The belief in conspiracy theories and that the terrorist attacks were the fault of the country moved him to comment on various articles and come up with ideas for his own writings.

"The entries mainly come in anger and in response to other people's comments on stories, especially negative to the U.S.," Gardner said. "The Western culture is threatened, and people don't know it because the mainstream media doesn't talk about it."

The road to creator and publisher of Radarsite was unexpected at best, said Gardner, as he chronicled his early years living a "bohemian" lifestyle in Greenwich Village, N.Y.

"I was a knee-jerk liberal," Gardner said. "I couldn't get any more anti-establishment, but that was the pond I swam in."

The Philadelphia-area native dropped out of high school before graduation and opted to go to art school rather than college. Instead, he read. And read.

After doing odd jobs most of his life, some of which included taxi driver and real estate agent and being married and divorced twice, Gardner came to Newburyport. He was the manager of Ten Center Street in Newburyport until his retirement in 2001.


"For 35 years I studied history really obsessively," Gardner said. "I tested myself, made a program, charts and graphs and read over 600 books on the Roman Empire and corresponded with well-known historians."

Radarsite will turn one year old this week and mark a change from 10 readers to more than 10,000 readers a day.

In addition, blog entries Gardner has penned have ended up in major publications and on other blogs throughout the world, catching the attention of universities in the Middle East as well as the Pakistan Spectator.

"It's really encouraging. The blog isn't about me but about America," Gardner said. "I've studied the country long enough to know we are the finest in the world and more generous and thoughtful than any else. There are countries which don't treat their allies like we treat our enemies."

His passion for the country he served he said was the exact reason he contacted the State Department recently after receiving an offer to be the North American correspondent for the Pakistani Spectator newspaper.

"I contacted the State Department and told them I didn't want to get in over my head or say something conflicting with American policy," Gardner said, noting his lack of credentials and that he is just exercising his First Amendment rights.

"Turns out they had been following the site almost every week for a year and were watching my back. It made me proud that they are watching and are on the ball."

But Gardner now has a new battle to fight, as he was diagnosed with leukemia last month and was originally given two weeks to live. His prognosis was recently extended to three to nine months, but Gardner's energy has suffered, and he is finding he is unable to post as he had been. His diagnosis caught the attention of President Bush, who wrote a letter encouraging him during this difficult time.

"The letter signed by President Bush and Laura Bush said their thoughts and prayers were with me and that my strength and determination demonstrate the American spirit," Gardner said. "I just feel fortunate I have been able to experience all this, for somebody living on Social Security with no car but a red scooter, I feel very fortunate. At 71, I'm having the time of my life. I'm glad I lived long enough for this."

Gardner has also heard anecdotes about his articles hanging on office walls of the Pentagon, colleges and universities, and the House of Representatives.

"The average American has a voice and a place in the world," Gardner said. "Democrats and Republicans come and go, but America is what I love."

Source: Newburyport Daily News
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"As was posted here earlier today, we are mourning the passing of Roger Gardner, one of the most incredible bloggers and writers that America has produced. I challenge anyone to come up with another man or woman who can rival the patriotism, spirit and genius that was Roger Gardner.

In memory of Roger, I wanted to show you folks some of his work. This is a blogpost piece put up by Roger back in January of 2008 - a full year prior to Barack Hussein Obama taking the helm as President of the United States of America. Read this piece by Roger Gardner and tell me that he had not seen Obama, at that stage of the Presidential campaign, for what he was and what he would bring to our Country. Read this piece by Roger Gardner and tell me he wasn't a year and a half ahead of everyone in the blogosphere in detailing what we Americans needed to do. Not only did Roger predict the future, he told us how to handle it. Amazing."

- Holger at Holger Awakens
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A note from Radarsite: This short essay on America garnered more controversy than any other article on Radarsite either before or after. It had begun by my asking myself how "Old Blood and Guts" Patton would address our current generation if he were still around. Thus this Brief Message to America was written with the sound of General Patton's inimitable voice in my ears. I received so much hate mail from this small article that it spawned a whole new article just to deal with the spiteful comments, which was subsequently published by the Chicago Sun Times. I hope you will find the time to also read this follow-up piece. We live in interesting times, don't we? - Roger Gardner
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America -- it's time to stop what you're doing for a minute and take a good long look in the mirror.



You have allowed other people to delineate your image for too long now. You have uncritically accepted their skewed portraiture as truth and bought into their self-serving lies. You have been bullied by cold-hearted cynics and wrong-headed critics into believing that you are something that you are not, and never could have been.

It's time to stop all that now, America. It's time to remember who the hell you are. In the words of our late great Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, "Americans need to face up to the truth about themselves, no matter how pleasant it is."

You seem to have forgotten that the world is weak and envious of your strength. They want what you have and deride you because they need you. But your detractors are small and petty and vicious; and you are great and beautiful.

You are nothing less than the light of the world, and the hope of all its people. Without your stalwart protection and the selfless sacrifice of your courageous fathers and sons who have fought and died on foreign soil to protect other people's liberties, the glorious achievements of this whole wondrous Western Civilization would have long ago crumbled into dust and been trampled under the feet of the barbarians.

So listen up now, America. The world needs you once again. Take a good hard look at yourself. And stand tall and be proud. You are quite simply the bravest, most noble, most generous, most high-minded and judicious nation the world has ever known.

And we love you.


-Roger Gardner
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In these times, with so much going on in America and the world and the evil and the merely petty people in the public arena that we seem surrounded by, it is uplifting to remember that America produced a person like Roger Gradner. Roger not only loved his country, but he was proud of his country and not afraid to speak out in defense of her. That we will miss Roger goes without saying because our country desperately needs so many more like him.