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The Sobran Forum
Otto Scott,1919–2006
by Phillipa Scott-Girardi(Originally published in
SOBRAN’S,
April-May 2006, page 12)
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  Otto
Joseph Scott, born Otto Scott-Estrella Jr., age
87, passed away peacefully on May 5, 2006, in Issaquah, Washington. Mr.
Otto Scott was a journalist, editor, columnist, book reviewer, corporate
executive, and author of ten books: The Exception: The Story of
Ashland Oil and Refining Company; James I: The Fool As
King; The Creative Ordeal: The Story of Raytheon;
Robespierre: The Fool As Revolutionary; The Secret
Six: John Brown and the Abolitionists; The Professional: A
Biography of JB Saunders; The Other End of the
Lifeboat; The Great Christian Revolution: How Christianity
Transformed the World; Buried Treasure: The Story of Arch
Mineral Corporation; and The Powered Hand: The History of
Black & Decker. His articles and essays have appeared in numerous
publications, including the Los Angeles Times, San
Diego Union, San Diego Tribune,
Chronicles, Salisbury Review (London),
Conservative Digest, Human Events,
Tabletalk, Chalcedon Report, Southern
Partisan, and Imprimis.
Mr.
Scott was an Associate Scholar for the American
Council on Economics and Society, and a member of the Council on National
Policy, Philadelphia Society, Committee for Monetary Research and
Education, the Author’s Guild, and the Overseas Press Club. He is the
recipient of the George Washington Medal from the Freedom Foundation
(1976) and the John Newman Edwards Media Award (1994).
From
1998 to 2004, Mr. Scott was a “scholar in
residence" at the Tri-City Covenant Church in Somersworth, New Hampshire,
where he provided historical insight to the school and church staff and
assisted in Sunday School instruction, high-school history, and Bible and
economics courses.
John
Chamberlain, writing in The Freeman
stated, “From a libertarian point of view, Otto Scott is
America’s most exciting contemporary historian and
biographer.” The Wall Street Journal said, “Otto
Scott is the thinking man’s author for the Bicentennial.” And Dr.
Hans Sennholz, past president of the Foundation for Economic Education
says, “Without Otto Scott’s Compass, this
Foundation would be devoid of an important philosophical guide.”
Mr.
Scott is one of a great many Americans who are
well-known to a special audience, but unknown to the nation at large. His
ideas and concepts have had a way of filtering through society, very often
detached from their origin. The phrase the Silent Majority is one
such example. But not many know that this phrase was coined by Otto Scott.
While
Mr. Scott made a living from his corporate
biographies, his fame was achieved from his thorough knowledge of history
and poetic use of language. Mr. Scott was also the author of Otto
Scott’s Compass, a monthly journal of contemporary culture
which ran for 15 years and was widely read by well-known conservatives.
Though
his work has proceeded without fanfare, it had
not gone unnoticed. Of the past, he has commented, “I do not regard
the past as dead. On the contrary, I regard the past and the present and
even the future as part of an eternal reality. Ours are the same tests and
crises that our fathers and forefathers encountered: all I do is remind my
contemporaries that Eternity watches us forever.”
Otto
is survived by his daughters, Katherine Anne
Scott-Estrella, residing in Tucson, Arizona; Mary Nazelle Crispo, residing in
Brooklyn, New York, grandson Alexander Widen; Phillipa Scott-Girardi
(Stephen Girardi), residing in South Orange, New Jersey, grandsons Gabriel
Molina and Matthew Girardi; and Ann Elizabeth Scott-Hugli (Hans A. Hugli),
residing in Sammamish, Washington, grandchildren, Roxane Sri Hugli and
Alexander Philip Hugli. Otto Scott was preceded in death by his wife of 34
years, Anna Barney Scott, in August 1997.
Otto
Scott is buried at Gethsemane Catholic Cemetery,
Federal Way, Washington.
| Phillipa Scott-Girardi is an international management
consultant based in South Orange, New Jersey.
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