Few would argue with the statement that Elder Richard L. Evans had one of the most pleasant and soothing voices ever in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What speaking talents Moses believed he lacked in Old Testament times, Elder Evans must have received an extra share of.
Indeed, Elder Evans was the voice of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's "Music and the Spoken Word" on KSL and the CBS Radio Network for more than four decades. He died on Nov. 1, 1971, at the age of 65, but today his eloquent voice has risen from the dust and is again being regularly heard on the radio - not only Utah, but in Missouri and New Mexico, too.His family preserved some 2,000 recordings of the apostle, and in 1997 - 26 years after his death - they've been airing on four different radio stations in three states.
In Salt Lake City, KDYL (AM-1280) is broadcasting three-minute, non-denominational messages from Elder Evans each weekday morning at 7:30 on Mark Van Wagoner's show. The same message repeats again at 5:30 p.m. during Danny Kramer's afternoon program.
The timeless messages started airing earlier this year and are also being broadcast on two sister stations of KDYL - KDXU-AM in St. George and in Albuquerque on KIVA-AM - at those same morning and afternoon times.
Elder Evans was good friends with the manager of St. Louis radio station KMOX decades ago, and that station started airing his sermonettes about six years before his death. His voice has been entertaining listeners there ever since.
A Feb. 12, 1997, story in the Wall Street Journal noted that the St. Louis station was still carrying Elder Evans' messages. The story prompted Simmons Family Radio in Salt Lake City to obtain copies from the Evans family.
The story referred to Evans' "eternal presence on KMOX radio."
"It's a legacy of his ministry," said G. Craig Hanson, president of the Simmons Radio Group that owns and operates KDYL and 16 other radio stations. "He had a great gift for conversation."
Van Wagoner said the sermonettes have already become one of KDYL's most popular features.
"We get a ton of calls," he said.
Hanson said no public copies or transcripts of the messages are available. If they ever appear, he said, it will be with a future agreement from Evans' family.
Van Wagoner also said that because the three-minute messages are so nondenominational, they work well today on mainstream radio stations.
Elder Evans had a long history in Utah radio. He was a member of a state championship debate team in high school. After a three-year LDS Church mission to Great Britain and Europe, he began his career at KSL Radio in 1929. He also returned to the University of Utah as an English and economics major and would do announcing work at KSL in the evenings.
As a young KSL announcer, he covered many events, including the world land record speed runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
He went on at KSL to become production manager and supervisor for announcers. Later, he was the director of public events and special features for the station.
The Radio Engineering magazine of New York honored him for his announcing work as early as 1935. His "Music and the Spoken Word" writing and announcing began in 1930 and continued until his death.
Elder Evans was also an accomplished writer and editor, writing all of his own messages. In 1936, he gave up some of his KSL Radio duties to become the managing editor of the LDS Church's Improvement Era magazine. He was a writer for Kings Features Syndicate, too, and had many books published. He wrote for the Millennial Star on his mission.
During his lifetime, he constantly received mail and correspondence from radio listeners and even radio columnists who appreciated the quality of his voice, with its conversational friendliness and calm sincerity.
Elder Evans especially loved live announcing, such as the "Spoken Word."
Notwithstanding, he apparently painstakingly re-recorded 2,000 of his "Spoken Word" broadcasts to perfection - and those are the ones the radio stations are using today.
Elder Evans was sustained as a member of the LDS Church's First Council of Seventy in 1938 and ordained an apostle in 1953.
He was president-elect of Rotary International in 1966 and was still one of the directors for KSL Radio until his death.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Impairing our own powers
"And if we acquire habits, or do those things, or take unto ourselves that which would impair our own output, that which would impair our own capacity, we are somehow robbing the world of what we owe. And while we may have the freedom to ruin our own lives, we do not have the moral right to ruin them."