REASON Profile: Robert Meier

Special Issue Editor Robert Meier can be described as a man of many interests. After attending college for several years he enlisted in the Army, serving from 1966 through 1969. He saw duty in Vietnam near the Cambodian border, and later, as an escort sergeant in the Army Funeral Service.

After the military, Meier attended the Gemological Institute of America and then worked for a time as an apprentice appraiser/salesman for the prestigious jewelry firm of Arbogast & Associates. He studied finance at Northern Illinois University and last year was the first recipient of a newly created Money and Banking Award.

Having a long standing commitment to the free market, he was formally introduced to the libertarian movement by the activist Paul Varnell. Meier is now serving as Fund Raising Chairman, as well as being on the Executive Committee, for the National Libertarian Party. "I've been excited about the party since its inception. On a per-capita basis, I'm convinced that it is one of the finest collections of multifaceted talent ever assembled for a political purpose. Now all that really remains is for the bulk of them to quit massaging each other's ideology and get down to work."

Meier enjoys a diverse set of part-time activities. A balletomane of long standing, he has a ballet studio in his basement and has studied classical dance off and on for 10 years. "The Captain even got used to seeing my ballet slippers and tights at Saturday inspection!" He has very specific tastes in music with some of his current favorites being Satie, Scriabine, and Faure. He enjoys fine dining and important wines and collects fine art. An avid shooter, he especially enjoys handgunning.

Meier is not regularly employed and spends his time managing a diverse set of special projects and working closely with his banker father on various business matters, "We evidently missed the generation gap that was the rage several years past." Meier also lectures and moderates at financial seminars.

A voluminous reader, he is obsessed with finding timely and definitive sources of financial information. On a regular basis he particularly enjoys reading Robert Bleiberg of BARRON'S. Some of his recreational reading favorites include Ian Fleming (The James Bond Series), Forsythe (THE DAY OF THE JACKAL), and Huysmans (AGAINST NATURE).

At 28, Meier is a supremely happy man and takes a child-like delight in his sybaritic pursuits. One expects his future will never be dull.