religion birth_place birth_date image article_title birth_name alma_mater
cosmotheism -lrb- formerly presbyterianism , atheism -rrb- atlanta , georgia , u.s. 11 september 1933 wlp 01.jpg william luther pierce
 william luther pierce iii rice university -lrb- b.a. -rrb-
william luther pierce

william luther pierce iii -lrb- september 11 , 1933 -- july 23 , 2002 -rrb- was a prominent american white nationalist and political activist .
he was one of the most influential ideologues of the white nationalist movement for some 30 years before his death .
a physicist by profession , he was also an author under the pseudonym andrew macdonald of the novels `` the turner diaries '' and `` hunter '' .
pierce founded the national alliance , a major white nationalist organization , which he led for almost thirty years .
born in atlanta , georgia , to a presbyterian family of scots-irish and english descent , pierce was descended from the aristocracy of the old south , descendant of thomas h. watts , the governor of alabama and attorney general of the confederate states of america during the american civil war .
as a child , pierce did well academically , graduating from high school in 1952 .
he received a baccalaureate in physics from rice university in 1955 , earned a doctorate from university of colorado at boulder in 1962 , and became an assistant professor of physics at the oregon state university in 1962 , where he joined the anti-communist john birch society .
in 1965 , in order to finance his political ambitions , he left his tenure at oregon state university and became a senior researcher for the aerospace manufacturer pratt & whitney in new haven , connecticut .
in 1966 pierce moved to the washington , d.c. area and became an associate of george lincoln rockwell , who was assassinated in 1967 , after which pierce became co-leader of the national youth alliance , which split in 1974 , with pierce founding the national alliance .
pierce intended the national alliance to be a political vanguard that would ultimately bring about a white nationalist revolution in the united states .
in 1978 , pierce wrote , under the pseudonym `` andrew macdonald '' , the novel `` the turner diaries '' , which depicts a violent revolution in the united states which leads to the overthrow of the united states federal government .
in 1984 , he wrote another novel , hunter which portrays the actions of a vietnam veteran f-4 phantom ii pilot and washington , d.c.-area defense department consultant who embarks on a plan to assassinate interracial couples and liberal journalists , politicians and bureaucrats in the d.c. area .
in 1985 , pierce relocated the headquarters of the national alliance to hillsboro , west virginia , where he founded the cosmotheist community church to receive tax exemption for his organization .
pierce spent the rest of his life in west virginia hosting a weekly radio show , `` american dissident voices '' , publishing the internal newsletter `` national alliance bulletin '' -lrb- formerly called action -rrb- , and overseeing his publications , `` national vanguard magazine '' -lrb- originally titled attack ! -rrb-
, `` free speech '' and `` resistance , '' as well as books published by his publishing firm national vanguard books , inc. and music produced by his record company , resistance records .
in 2002 , pierce suddenly died of cancer .
at the time , the national alliance was bringing in more than $ 1 million a year , with more than 1,500 members and a paid national staff of 17 full-time officials , and was better known than at any time in its history , after which it entered a period of internal conflict and decline .
his works however continue to enjoy a notable audience .
