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Did Ayn Rand draw inspiration from the serial-killer William Hickman?

My question comes from reading the article on Alternet: http://www.alternet.org/books/145819/ayn_rand,_hugely_popular_author_and_inspiration_to_right-wing_leaders,_was_a_big_admirer_of_serial_killers?page=1

To summarize the article, Rand supposedly idolized the serial killer and used him as inspiration for the leads male characters in her books, notably Howard Roark. Further, Rand is claimed to represent a bastardization of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and that through her work she seeks to develop a environment in which sociopaths like Hickman can thrive.

I realize that even if Rand used Hickman as a model, it does not necessarily change the validity of Objectivism as a philosophy. But I am curious as to the extent to which the claims regarding Hickman as an inspiration for Rand are true, outright false, and/or a distortion/misrepresentation of the facts.

Joe , 15.04.2011, 09:35
Idea status: completed

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SelfMadeSoul, 14.07.2011, 08:07
It looks as if this Alternet.org article was entirely based a 2-paragraph mention in Rand's unauthorized biography "Goddess of the Market" by Burns. I just pulled it off the shelf and in using the index I can trace exactly what the article's author did: took every sentence and embellished its meaning, adding in detail where the author's intended outcome warranted it. Burns' account says that Rand admired Hickman's individuality when she was young and his case was all over the tabloids. But Rand seems to have glossed over his actual crime. The article claims that Rand is a sociopath without backing up that statement, and implies the assumption that Rand endorsed the crime itself.

Is this really all that they have on her?
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FJF, 11.09.2011, 07:22
If you take the barest shed of truth and embellish it with innuendo, you can create the gaudiest of garments out of whole cloth.
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RandFan, 07.10.2011, 00:27
If Mark Ames, the creator of "Alternet," is identified as a one-time United States Moscow based expatriate with a vicous attitude toward women, than it makes sense that he would attack a brilliant female philosopher and novelist. If one bothers to go to the trouble of reading Ayn Rand's actual statements on Hickman, than Mark Ames motives and lack of truthfulness become clear.

RandFan
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