The Life of Don Lipsett

The Life of Don Lipsett

Don Lipsett was born August 9, 1930, in Woodburn,
Indiana. He received a B.S. in Business and an M.B.A. from Indiana
University. He joined the U.S. Coast Guard where he was a search
and rescue officer in the 9th District, with the rank of Lieutenant
JG.

Don’s interest in politics started with his duties
as an advance man for Bill Jenner’s campaign for the United States
Senate. A recent organization which Don founded was the Bill Jenner
Society, which meets annually in Indianapolis to commemorate the
achievements of the late Senator.

Moving east to further the conservative cause, Don
settled in New York where he worked for the Foundation for Economic
Education and The Freeman in the early 1950s. He then worked
closely with the newly founded National Review and its
dynamic young editor, Bill Buckley. After several years, Don returned
to Indianapolis and worked for the Indiana Manufacturer’s Association.

Of special significance for the conservative movement,
Don was appointed the Midwestern Director (Indianapolis) and subsequently
the National Field Director (Philadelphia) of the Intercollegiate
Society of Individualists (ISI) or, as it subsequently became
named, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. He nurtured dozens
of clubs, student leaders, and faculty members to wage conservative
battles on the nation’s liberal campuses.

In the fall of 1962 he married Norma Huron in Indianapolis.
Norma was his helpmate both in the Philadelphia Society and the
Decatur Shop.

In 1964 through the contacts that he had made with
such conservative leaders as Milton Friedman, Russell Kirk, Frank
Meyer, and Wilmoore Kendall, Don founded The Philadelphia Society,
which was the crowning achievement of his career. He was to serve
as the Permanent Secretary of the Philadelphia Society from its
founding in 1964 until his death in 1995.

Don also served as senior staff member of the American
Security Council and as the Executive Secretary of the American
Conservative Union. He later became a stockbroker with Paine,
Webber, Jackson, and Curtis in Indianapolis . He moved to North
Adams, Michigan, and served as the Director of Foundation Relations
and Director of the Center for Constructive Alternatives at Hillsdale
College. He was elected to membership in the Mont Pelerin Society
in 1971. From his base in North Adams, he edited its newsletter
for four years.

Wherever Don and Norma moved, The Philadelphia Society
moved with them. Meanwhile, the Decatur Shop became world famous
for the couple’s design, promotion, and popularization of the
Adam Smith Necktie. During the Reagan Era, it became a universally
recognized symbol of free men and free markets.

From 1977 to 1995, Don served as Counselor to the
President of The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Don Lipsett died on October 30, 1995, in North Adams,
Michigan.