John Templeton, R.I.P.

I first encountered John Templeton in 1986 or 1987. It was either in the pages of Forbes, or one of his appearances on Louis Rukeyser's "Wall St. Week" PBS show. I also saw him on the old "Adam Smith" PBS program, and read his profile (along with that of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett and others) in John Train's classic book, The Money Masters.

John Templeton died Tuesday at Doctors Hospital in Nassau from pneumonia at age 95. His son stated he died peacefully, and the passing was not a surprise.

If you live long enough, you witness a lot of stuff in life, including in the markets. My first experience dealing with anything of a "historic" nature in investing was the October 1987 crash. There was no Internet in those days, but what financial press there was was buzzing all week long. I have a friend who worked in a brokerage branch office that Black Monday, and he told me the phones literally rang all day. No, check that. The phones didn't need to ring because as soon as he finished with one panic caller, he just pushed down on the receiver for a second, lifted up and another caller was on the line.

Templeton appeared on Louis Rukeyser's show that Friday. Calm, optimistic, someone taking the long view because he'd seen a lot and had done a lot. He reeked of quiet integrity, patience and wisdom.

Among the many accolades reported in press accounts today is one from Peter Cundill:

“John Templeton was one of the finest men I ever met, both as a Christian and as an investment advisor. He mentored me, along with many others, and I am extraordinarily grateful for his help and the contribution he made to the world.”

In 1998 Templeton reportedly estimated that, apart from spiritual programs, he had watched fewer than 84 hours of television in his life.

There are no shortage of obituaries online to read. Among the best is from The Daily Telegraph.

Rest in Peace, Sir John.

Comments

[David]

I was a bit surprised to see this news of Templeton's passing when I checked in here last night. While I'm sad to hear of his death, it's good to know he led such an amazing, and long, life!

Thanks for posting the John Templeton Charlie Rose interview, John. Great to see it at this time.

[John]

David: I actually saw the 1997 Templeton interview and searched Charlie Rose's site for it. It's great that Rose has video archives going back that far. Great resource.