Free Republic

Born 100 years ago in Holy Mother Russia and educated under the Soviets, Ayn Rand became the quintessential American writer and philosopher, upholding the supreme value of the individual's life on Earth. She herself led a rags-to-riches life, wrote best-selling novels that championed individualism and developed a philosophy of reason that validates the American spirit of achievement and independence. The story of Ayn Rand's life is, in the words of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life," a life more compelling than fiction. Born Feb. 2, 1905, she wrote her first fiction at age 8 when she also...