Milton, Rose, and I, we took off on a wild and crazy journey.
In their memoirs, I think it was Rose who makes the statement,
which of course, Milton agreed with, that Free To Choose became
the most exciting venture of their entire lives.
It also proved to be, I think, a rather significant part of their
life in terms of the impact they had on the world.
And I want to emphasize the fact that it was Rose’s, to a great
degree, as much as Milton.
Milton brought the degree of scholarship, but you shouldn't
forget the fact that Rose, as a master's degree student, wrote a
paper that, I believe, still is considered to be a significant
scholarly work among professional economists.
So they did the work together, and I was just pleased and lucky
to provide them with a platform in which they could expand their
ideas to millions and millions of people.
In 2003, I persuaded Milton to undertake, allow us to
undertake, a public television biography
on their lives together.
And he didn't want to do it because he said, Bob, I'm
interested in having people know about my ideas, not about me.
And I persuaded him that most people really like to know about
people, so by doing a biography of you, we're going to attract a
much more larger audience for your ideas, and he agreed.
At the conclusion of the biography, we brought Milton and
Rose here to Capitaf.
They had not been to Capitaf, let’s see, that would have been
about, that was about 20 years later.
They sold Capitaf in, I think it was ‘81, maybe ‘82, and we
returned in the early 2000’s.
In between, they had not been here at all.
It was a nostalgic visit for them.
They walked the grounds and repeatedly said,
"My, I wished we hadn't sold it."
But on the other hand, they knew it was the right decision
for them at that time.
And as a result of that visit, the end of the biography
concludes with a photo, a video photo of them.
And the camera was somewhere in the back.
Taking a photo of them and over their shoulders, you could see
the wonderful Vermont countryside, et cetera.
And voiceover Milton made the following
statement about his work.
He said, “The true test of any scholar's work is not what his
contemporaries say, but what happens to his work in
the next 25 or 50 years.
And the thing that I will really be proud of is that if some of
the work I've done is still being cited in textbooks long
after I've gone.” Well, Milton and Rose are gone, but I carried
on a sense of obligation, as well as a delight and joy to try
to do what I could to keep their ideas alive and perpetuate them,
including making it possible for Capitaf to be a place where you
can come and spend a few days deeply considering their ideas,
and, thanks to some benefactors, even enjoy them in
their, bronze state.
And, for me, I'd say to both Milton and Rose here, I'm doing
everything I can to convince the next generation to pick up the
torch of carrying your ideas forward.
And in doing so, I believe, help all human beings have a better
life, increase the wellbeing of humans all over the world.