potical science professor nicholas buccola of linfield college in oregothwas so taken he skirmish that he wrote a book about it: "the fire is upon us. >> it just seemed to me just such a dramatic moment and such. an important o so these two movements that did so much to define 20th century political history-- to have these two figures clashing was just-- just irresistible. >> reporter: though baldwin and buckley were about the same age, their lives could not have begun more differently. baldwin grew up in poverty in harlem, and went from waiting tables in new york's greenwich village to become a literary critic and, eventually, a renowned novelist and essayist. buckley, a scion of wealth, graduated from yale and became influential magazine editor and columnist. both wrote extensively about race in 1950s and 60s america--though from drastically different points of view. buckley made his position clear in a 1957 national review piece called "why the south must neevail," in which he contended that white south are entitled to "take such measures as are necessary to pr politically and cultu