Remembering Manny Klausner

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18-03-2025

I first met Manny Klausner at a small gathering at Tibor Machan's house in Santa Barbara in 1970. Later that year, when Tibor and I worked on a proposal to acquire struggling Reason magazine from its editor Lanny Friedlander, we shared the proposal with Manny, and he was interested in helping out. We ended up creating a general partnership, Reason Enterprises, for which Manny did the legal work and became one of (initially six) partners. We flew Lanny out to California to finalize the deal, celebrating with a small dinner at a restaurant in Montecito.
Manny was far better connected in libertarian and free market circles than I was at that point. In his time at the University of Chicago, he met Milton Friedman and other Chicago school economists and helped produce the classical liberal journal New Individualist Review. Later on, at New York University Law School, he got to know Ludwig von Mises and other Austrian school economists. And he became friends with Murray Rothbard.
Reason Enterprises published Reason from January 1971 through June 1978, building the circulation from about 400 to around 10,000. We rotated titles among the partners, so at various times Manny served as publisher or editor, as did I. Manny was an early enthusiast for the Libertarian Party (L.P.), and he ran as a write-in candidate for Congress on the L.P. ticket. He was also enthusiastic about Rothbard's anarcho-capitalist book, For a New Liberty.
One of my favorite stories from the Reason Enterprises days was the aftermath of our 1973 Ayn Rand issue of Reason. Several months after it appeared, we got a letter from Rand's attorney demanding that we publish a retraction and cease selling any back issues. Manny engaged in correspondence, which made no progress until Manny suggested that he would welcome the opportunity to defend us in a legal case named Rand vs. Reason. That was the last we heard from that attorney.
By 1977, with Charles Koch funding the startup of the Cato Institute and two libertarian magazines, I realized that without a larger organizational home, the magazine could not survive. Tibor, Manny, and I agreed to create a nonprofit, tax-exempt foundation that could raise tax-deductible contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Manny did the legal research and drafted incorporation papers and filings for state and federal tax exemption. That was the beginning of Reason Foundation, which took over the magazine in mid-1978. I was the founding CEO, and Manny, Tibor, and I were three of the six initial board members.
Manny and his wife Willette were well-known foodies in Los Angeles, knowing many chefs (ultimately worldwide). For Reason magazine's 20th anniversary in 1988, we planned a gala banquet in Los Angeles. Manny and Willette knew the owner of a trendy medium-sized restaurant that we could take over for that evening, and they arranged for four noted L.A. chefs to prepare special courses. The event was sold out, and speakers included 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski and Dr. Demento. Dana Rohrabacher played some of his libertarian folk songs.
Over the years, when Reason Foundation had notable people in town, Manny would often arrange small dinners at excellent L.A. restaurants where he knew the chef. We did not order food from the menu; the chef came out and explained the special courses to be served for these special guests.
Manny was Reason Foundation's longest-serving board member (along with me). He was a good friend, an excellent board member, and clearly one of a kind. I will miss him tremendously.
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