Lovers of freedom lost alongtimeally this week with the passing of author, journalist and intellectual M. Stanton Evans at age 80. Stephen Hayward penned a remembrance of Evans at Powerline:

If you’ve never heard Stan’s deadpan midwestern baritone in person, you’ve missed a great treat, as it e across anywhere near as well in pixels. But all is not lost: there are supposedly some recordings of his greatest hits available on the Philadelphia Society website. [There are also several great YouTube videos of Stan in action: just plug his name in to a YouTube search engine, and be prepared to grin.] Stan’s specialty is using mordant irony against liberals. He loves to throw liberal clichés over his shoulder. Back in the 1960s he wrote, “Any country that can land a man on the moon, can abolish the e tax.” Or he would shock liberals by saying, “I didn’t agree with what Joe McCarthy was trying to do, but I sure admired his methods.”

Back in 1995, the Acton Institute hosted Evans in Grand Rapids, Michigan and he delivered a lecture entitled “The Theme is Freedom,” which would also be the title of the book he was writing at the time. We’re pleased to provide you with the audio of his remarks from that September night as we too remember a friend rade in the fight for liberty.

Update: We’ve added the audio of M. Stanton Evans’ 1995 Acton Lecture Series address, including an introduction by Annette Kirk and the full Q and A session, to our digital download store. It’s available for purchase here.