Michael Novak was an American Roman Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. He authored and edited more than 50 books, including The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982), which was translated and distributed by underground presses in the USSR in the 1980s. Novak’s books, columns, lectures, and articles addressed topics from the battle between capitalism and socialism, human rights, faith, labour history, ethnicity, peace, justice, welfare reform, and the social and political roles of churches. In later years, he a significant figure in the neoconservative movement. His column “Illusions and Realities” appeared in the Washington Star from 1976 to 1980 and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Novak was US ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1981 and 1982, and led the US delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1986. In 1978, he became a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, DC, where he was director of social and political studies. He also taught at Harvard, Stanford, SUNY Old Westbury, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. He was granted 27 honorary degrees, the Friend of Freedom Award from the Coalition for a Democratic Majority, the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedom Foundation and the 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. He died in 2017.