Marshall Fritz, founder of the Advocates for Self-Government and of the Alliance for the Separation of School and State, and creator of the world-famous World’s Smallest Political Quiz, passed away on election day, Tuesday, November 4, 2008. He died at the age of 65, after a months-long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Marshall founded the Advocates in 1985 to help libertarians become successful communicators of the ideas of liberty.
In 1987, Marshall invented the now world-famous World’s Smallest Political Quiz. The Quiz expanded on a chart created by Libertarian Party co-founder David Nolan. Marshall refined Nolan’s chart and added ten simple questions on political issues. In doing so, he created a Quiz that almost instantly tells takers which political group they are most aligned with, while also introducing them to a far more diverse, and accurate, multi-spectrum portrait of American politics.
The Quiz was an overnight sensation.
“Marshall’s remarkable little Quiz won so many millions of readers over the years that I used to tell him that he really was one of America’s most widely-read writers,†said Advocates for Self-Government President Sharon Harris. “Twenty million plus readers – that’s up there with Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Tom Clancy!â€
Marshall remained active with the Advocates until his death, serving on its Board of Directors.
In 1994 Marshall founded the Alliance for the Separation of School & State, and was chairman of its Board at the time of his death. For 12 years, he was a leading spokesman for the idea that ending state, federal, and local government involvement in schooling can strengthen the family and improve education for all children.
He was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the phrase “separation of school and state†into the vernacular.
More information is available at the website of The Advocates for Self-Government.