My uncle was a radio journalist in the 1960s, typically packing a little Uher reel-to-reel tape recorder in a satchel to political and academic events. At the end of an address by Russell at a university in Los Angeles, the crowd dissipated and Jim moved in, mic upwards, hoping for a few words from the great man. Russell engaged with him for over an hour in enthusiastic discussion on the topic (Russell's choice) of the Detroit riots. Jim found Russell's voice reedy but his affect warm and encouraging. Sadly, the little tape recorder had run out long before they parted. That little machine had also recorded people like Upton Sinclair, Ronald Reagan, and some Hollywood glitterati.
IMO (and I am a professional philosopher), Russell was one of the most important philosophers ever, in a good way. And also extremely important in politics (as everyone knows) and in mathematics (as maybe not so many people know).
I don't say that just because I agree with him. I could list a lot of disagreements, and even places in which I think he totally lost the plot and had a bad influence. But mostly, even when he was wrong, he had an excellent influence on other people, because of the clarity of his thought and his writing.
