In part, a review of Rob Freedman, Rush: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Excellence (Algora, 2014).

N.B. This post should be approached with caution.  It is at least PG-13, if not NC17.  Not for language, but for personal revelation and content.  Additionally, I’ve written about one or two of these things before, especially about Peart as a big brother.  Please don’t fear thinking—“hey, I’ve read this before.”  But, even the few things I’ve mentioned before are here rewritten.  Final note: for an exploration of Peart’s Stoicism, see Erik Heter’s excellent piece on the subject, here at progarchy.com.

Neil Peart, ca. 1987.

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As I’ve mentioned before in these pages and elsewhere, few persons, thinkers, or artists have shaped my own view of the world as strongly as has Neil Peart, Canadian drummer, lyricist, writer, and all-around Renaissance man.  I’ve never met him, but I’ve read all of his words…