History is often measured and analyzed by weighing the views of the most famous players, be they good or evil. But what happens to those who made great contributions to the order of things, yet are rarely mentioned or even worse, wholly forgotten? In his book, M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom, scholar and author Steven F. Hayward offers a deep look into one of foundational figures in the modern American conservative movement, Stan Evans. Hayward’s portrait reveals a deep thinker, an excellent journalist, a funny man, and most of all, a good man in every aspect of his life, who never took an easy way out. Instead, he knew the importance of real and difficult work of defending and protecting the culture of life.
Born on July 20, 1934 in Kingsville, Texas, Evans grew up surrounded by books and the life of the mind. His father, Medford, held a doctorate in literature from Yale, and had joined the masthead of William F. Buckley, Jr.’s National Review. It was not a surprise that Stan chose a similar path as his father, whom he respected. Evans also went to Yale and drew similar conclusions about the state of higher education as Buckley, who explored those in his 1951 book, God and Man at Yale. As Hayward writes, “Stan followed in Buckley’s footsteps and built out a self-conscious conservative presence on campus. Buckley was a frequent visitor to the Yale campus in the aftermath of his book and met frequently with Evans and the handful of other conservative Yale students.”
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