Terry Teachout has died. America's most accomplished critic, he aspired to enjoy, judge, and share with others his taste in music, theater, cinema, and literature. He was confident of his superior knowledge and his exquisite sensitivity, so he rarely showed off, and he knew that friendliness is much more overpowering than quarrel. It was his life's mission to elevate American taste by elevating his own; and to defend to the extent possible what is called highbrow art. This included 20th-century painting, which is, of course, indefensible; Teachout was an idealist. He wanted to comprehend all American art and some of the European art that was alive in America, to be always among his fellow Americans in spirit and in sharing the pleasures of ordinary life.

Politically, he was a conservative liberal. I find more decent political opinion on the right than the left, of course, but concern for justice is much more evenly distributed, and Teachout aspired to be just while being gentle; he almost never had a harsh thing to say about anyone. He was the living embodiment of the ideals of mid-century America, a reminder that liberalism was once generous and learned, while being patriotic. He was a child of small-town, heartland America, born in 1962, which shaped his character--he was both playful and mindful of good manners. To make use of his unusual talents as critic and playwright, though, he had to go to New York City, where he lived until his death on January 13.

Professionally, he was the theater critic of the Wall Street Journal, and a critic-at-large for Commentary. He also wrote for National Review, The New Criterion, the since-closed Weekly Standard. Is there any famous conservative publication with which he was not connected at some point or another in the last four decades? He seemed to have lived to write! He was not unwelcome in liberal papers, either, starting with the New York Times, but of course political differences run deep and although he was respected, celebrity eluded him because his character and his choice of profession straddled the great American divide that has led to the destruction of the culture he so loved.

Teachout's accomplishments are his writings.