RIP Barbara Branden

Author and speaker Barbara Branden died in Los Angeles yesterday at the age of 84. The Atlas Society will be publishing a detailed obituary shortly.

Branden was a writer, lecturer, and author of the best-selling biography The Passion of Ayn Rand (Doubleday, 1986) .The book formed the basis for the Emmy-award winning 1999 movie of the same name, starring Helen Mirren as Ayn Rand.

An M.A. in philosophy (New York University), Branden was for eighteen years a close associate of Ayn Rand , the managing editor of The Objectivist Newsletter and The Objectivist, and executive vice-president of the Nathaniel Branden Institute in New York, where she wrote and lectured on the philosophy of Objectivism . Her "Principles of Efficient Thinking" lecture series is still distributed today.

In these two videos filmed at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., Barbara Branden speaks with The Atlas Society's Edward Hudgins about the publishing of Atlas Shrugged. Ms. Branden's appearance was part of the Atlas Shrugged 50th anniversary celebration hosted by the Atlas Society on October 6th, 2007.

EXPLORE:

Rage and Objectivism by Barbara Branden
"One cannot avoid recognizing that we live in a very angry age. At one time, people spoke to “My worthy opponent” when addressing someone who disagreed with their views. That attitude of respecting differences has long disappeared." Read more >

Barbara Branden Remembered
In this video William R Thomas and Edward Hudgins discuss highlights of Barbara Branden's life as well as personal recollections about this fascinating woman.

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