Brian Wright
| Brian Richard Wright | |
 | |
| Personal Details | |
| Birth: | 1949 Kalamazoo, MI |
| Death: | February 1, 2023 (aged 73) Michigan |
| Education: | Wayne State University |
| Party: | Libertarian Party |
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Brian Richard Wright (July 11, 1949 – February 1, 2023) was a Libertarian activist in Michigan. He was a writer, philosopher, and leader. Wright was a creative writer who authored dozens of books on philosophy and alternative political thought. He spent several years as a Webmaster and Newsletter Editor of the Libertarian Party of Michigan.
Early Life
Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1949, he grew up near Kansas City, and later his family moved to Oklahoma City. He discovered seminal libertarian writings in a bookmobile, which inspired him to join Barry Goldwater’s 1964 Presidential campaign. Around 1968, he moved to Detroit and earned his BSME from Wayne State University around 1971, at which point he became a passionate voice for Ayn Rand’s artistic vision of heroic individualism.
Libertarian Party of Michigan
- Founding Member
Wright was a founding member of the Libertarian Party of Michigan. As part of "The Libertarian Party of Michigan Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Project," he wrote about his involvement in 1971 when the Libertarian Party was formed. There were a couple of different gatherings that year. The most frequently referenced event was a party that summer in Taylor, Michigan, at the home of Katherine Augustine and Pete McAlpine. Wright was in attendance, and he was also present at Oak Park, the home of Sam Harris.
- Newsletter Editor
Wright was the editor of the Michigan Libertarian from 1979 through 1981. Then he became state Chair from 1982 to 1984. Brian stepped up to be the editor of the newsletter again in 2009, where he and outgoing editor Greg Stempfle oversaw and facilitated the transition from a hard-copy to a virtual newsletter format. This work also ended the need for the separate publication of LPMOnline, which was created by the late Greg Dirasian. Wright continued producing and often writing for the virtual version of the Michigan Libertarian through 2013 when he stepped down from that role.
- Webmaster
Since 2004, Wright explored other options for achieving liberty in our time, including participation in the Free State Project. In 2008, he returned to Michigan and took on the task of further developing a new website.
Wright served as Webmaster before and during his service as Newsletter Editor. After the departure of Greg Dirasian, who had designed the earlier lpmich.org website, the Party needed to develop an all-new website in 2007. Wright served as Webmaster for the SharePoint-based website, and then in 2013, he and Scotty Boman transferred all of the legacy content into a WordPress site. This was the last time such a large migration of content was initiated; the site created in 2013 now serves as the platform of the Libertarian Party of Michigan Historical Archives.
Political Campaigns
Wright ran for office at least eight times under the Libertarian banner. In 1982 and 1986, he ran for Secretary of State. In 1980 and 1982, he was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives. He ran to serve in the Michigan House in 1984.
In 1994 and 2014, he was a candidate for the Board of Governors at his alma mater, Wayne State University. Then he ran again to represent District 38 in the State House in 2018.