F William Schmidt was a Renaissance Man, the most profound polymath I've been privileged to know. Born in 1933 and raised in Jackson, MI he led his high school debating team and ever since had a razor-sharp analytical brain worthy of what Richard Dawkins said of his friend Christopher Hitchens; "If you're invited to debate him, decline."

Bill won a full scholarship to Princeton, where for a while he lodged across the road from the home of Albert Einstein, and met the great man. Then he followed his father into medicine, earning an M.D. at the University of Michigan; but he never practiced, although he could talk medi-speak all the rest of his life and when he got ill could describe in those terms what was amiss and how exactly the drugs worked. His interest in commodities trading took precedence, and that too lasted a lifetime. He died, aged 92, on November 30.

He was a perfectionist, and never married. His ideal girl was usually Italian - as was his favorite music; he was a competent pianist and loved Puccini. As a young man he was entranced by Gina Lollobrigida; but instead of just admiring her movies he sat in the lobby of the Waldorf in NYC until she appeared, then walked over, introduced himself and engaged her in conversation.

Bill studied under Nathaniel Branden to learn the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and wrestled with it until he and a couple of fellow students improved it! - by correcting a couple of flaws, realizing that the market was able to meet a demand even for protective services such as police and military. One outcome was his participation with the Tannehills in writing the seminal book The Market for Liberty - using the pseudonym Anthony I.S. Alexander (check those initials!) He met and compared notes with Murray Rothbard, in his NYC apartment.

Knowing then that all government was utterly reprobate he resolved to have as little to do with it as possible, and took effective steps to go clean off its radar.

In the late 1960s it was announced that the 25¢ coin, the quarter, would no longer be made of silver but of base metal; for its intrinsic worth then exceeded the face value! So Bill found a way to amass a store of pre-1965 quarters under the living-room floor, until the silver-dollar exchange rate rose, as he knew it surely would. That happened in 1980, so he sold the trove and realized a $250,000 profit; or over a million dollars in today's "money." With some of it he bought a gold-colored Corvette, with the license plate "AISA."

I met him in the early 1990s and learned from him that anarcho-libertarianism is not just the only philosophy that works - the utilitarian argument - nor just that it's right - the moral argument - but also that there is no alternative to it that one can adopt while retaining intellectual integrity. He showed me the inexorable logic, from primitive premises, which provides that imperative. So he was my mentor as well as a good friend.

Bill was also a curmudgeon's curmudgeon, which may be why we got along pretty well. One result of that is that he persisted in using Basic to program his commodity trading system, which in simulation regularly delivered returns of 20% per month. He despised all forms of Windows and called down curses on its creator. As well as being a perfectionist he was also a bit of a pessimist, and so predicted that before any of us can prevent it society will melt down in a major collapse of the State, out of which a phoenix of some kind of free society will arise built around large corporations, albeit private and operating only under contract. I disappointed him by declining to agree with that prophecy.

One highlight of his life was a presentation he made in 1997 to an audience of investors eager to protect their gains offshore. The subject was the intellectual foundation of radical libertarianism, and I mean to use the transcript in future ZGBlogs. I've never heard a more powerful speech, nor a more devastating critique of all government. When he finished, there were a few seconds of stunned silence. Then the whole audience rose as one, and gave him a standing ovation for several minutes.

The theme he gave them was developed into much greater depth in his book, entitled just "Liberty." He sent it to me for appraisal but to help keep his low profile he said not to publish it during his lifetime. Sadly that has now ended, so now it can appear, and I encourage you to wrap your mind around it at once; fetch it from here and after reading, send a copy to each on your email address list. It's a game-changer.

Bill loved dogs, especially Shepherds; and in the last few months he was visited by Scout, a black one who bonded with him immediately and brought him great pleasure.

This year he complained of failing eyesight and even brain power, but there was trace of neither in his final few emails to me - or in this ZGBlog which he guest-wrote on Nov. 4th. Each was as lucid and precisely composed as ever. Farewell, Bill; you were one of a kind.