When I switched my search to Olin Taverner, I picked up a slew of hits. I chose the National Public Radio report, which had the advantage of being something I could absorb with my eyes shut. I logged onto a real-time player and leaned back to listen to the report.

Taverner had died in Anodyne Park-but he had grown up in New Solway. So not only were he and Calvin Bayard old enemies, they must have been old playmates; they were roughly the same age, after all. They used to gallop around New Solway on their ponies together or knout the servants, or whatever it is that very rich children do to amuse themselves.

Perhaps Marcus Whitby had been on his way to see Taverner when death stopped for him. I was getting up to find my detail map of the area, to see if there was a way for a man going on foot to Anodyne Park to end up in Larchmont’s pool, when the Bayard name arrested my attention again.

In recent years, publications like the Washington Times and the Wall Street journal have tried to change public perception of Taverner, Bushnell and other leading McCarthy era figures. Many on today’s right say that the left damaged the reputations of true patriots, and they have sought to revisit that history. One of the greatest oddities of this attempt at rehabilitation is provided by Edwards Bayard, son of Renee and Calvin Bayard, who jousted with Taverner in front of the House committee. Some years ago, Edwards Genier Bayard joined the ranks of liberal-turned-conservative pundits. He now works for the inf uential Spadona Foundation, the rightwing think tank that has set the agenda for much contemporary political discourse. Our political affairs correspondent Jolynn Parker spoke with Mr. Bayard in his Washington office.

Jolynn’s throaty voice came on, explaining the highlights of Bayard’s career: Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago, a stint at the International Monetary Fund running the program to sell Bolivia’s water supply to U.S. and French engineering firms, and now heading the Spadona Foundation’s economic policy division.

“Your father is a legend in liberal political circles. How did he feel about your taking a position with Spadona, which has opposed so many of his policies and politics?”

“We had a number of interesting Christmas dinners,” Bayard said, “but both my parents are great respecters of free speech, as I am, and we all believe there is room in America for many different public opinions.”

“How did your views come to differ so greatly from your father’s?” Jolynn asked.

“It was my work at the University of Chicago, which coincided with the end of the Allende government in Chile; I became convinced that supporting a Communist like Allende-as my parents did-was damaging for U.S. interests there, and not fair to the Chilean people, either.”

“Some people would say that the United States intervening to overturn another country’s election was unfair, especially in light of the many

thousands of people the Pinochet government imprisoned and killed during the eighties.”