I learned a lot from him--but then I learned a lot about him--his habit of betraying and belittling anyone who questioned his wisdom and the direction in which he was steering the conservative movement. It's too bad, as some have already said, he created and then destroyed the conservative movement. National Review was really a good read in the 70's and early 80's, and I'm told it was even better in the 60's (it opposed the civil rights movement and openly spoke of the superiority of white culture over black culture).
After NR fired Brimelow and O'Sullivan...I pretty much stopped reading it, and it very predictably became a poor man's imitation of the neo-con rag weekly standard.
Still, the man had his moments...and some memorable quotes, and he was a brilliant editor at least until around 1984. He cut something of a dashing figure--novelist, Yachtsman, skier, debater. Another plus is that he openly talked about God and Religion in our secularist milieu. I hope he repented of his betrayals, acts of arrogance, rudeness, and other sins. R.I.P.