At only eighteen years old, an aspiring pianist by the name of Lawrence Perelman wrote a letter to the then sixty-eight-year-old classical music-loving conservative icon Willian F. Buckley, Jr., sparking a remarkable thirteen-year friendship during which Perelman learned of the timeless elements of Buckley’s character which he believes can play a role in reweaving the fabric of our nation.

Lawrence Perelman, the son of Soviet Jewish immigrants, was an aspiring pianist and only eighteen years old when he moved to New York and wrote a letter to the classical music-loving conservative icon William F. Buckley, Jr. in 1994. That letter spawned a close friendship that changed both of their lives.

In 2025, the 100th anniversary of Buckley’s birth, this book delves into some of Buckley’s virtues which Perelman witnessed firsthand and argues that those virtues can transform the fabric of America’s character. Their friendship spanned from 1995 to February 27, 2008, the day Buckley passed away in his Connecticut home while Perelman practiced piano in a nearby room for a private recital that evening for Buckley and friends that would never happen.

American Impresario is a portrait of Buckley, the impresario of the conservative movement, man of faith, Cold Warrior, bulwark against Anti-Semitism, Renaissance man, musician, and mentor to countless people who continue their work today. This book will inspire readers, both young and old, to emulate Buckley’s virtues, including a return to civil discourse, anonymous philanthropy, faith, patriotism and fostering relationships between mentor and protégé, as part of a goal to reweave the fabric of our nation’s character.