Russell Kirk Web Site

Russell Kirk (1918-1994) was the premier architect of the post World War II conservative intellectual revival. This web site will be devoted to his life, works and continuing influence on the shape and direction of cultural conservative thought. I welcome your suggestions for additions and improvements of this web page. Please send to: mcdonaldw@etown.edu

Subscribe now to "The Permanent Things," a listserver about the life and thought of Russell Kirk.

List members should be interested in promoting the Permanent Things as advocated by the great writer and thinker, Russell Kirk. It is specially created as a meeting place for those who served as assistants of Dr. Kirk, and those who have studied with him. This list is open to all who have an interest in the Permanent Things, however. Appropriate topics of discussion would include Dr. Kirk's writings, announcements of lectures and seminars and of course, amusing Dr. Kirk stories. Certainly other topics would be acceptable--use your own Right Reason

Life and Thought

• Hall of Fame - Russell Kirk Images of Kirk provided by The National Review magazine.
• The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal  The primary mission of the Center, founded by Mrs. Kirk, is to identify, educate, and mentor thoughtful young men and women interested in Kirk's ideas and principles.
• Old Family Photos of Mecosta, John Kirk (Kirk's grandfather), etc.

Excerpts in Books about Kirk

• An impressive collection of Kirk materials provided by Prof. William Campbell of Louisiana State University. The text is taken from George Nash's, The Conservative Intellectual Movement and reprinted here with Dr. Nash's permission. The photographs at this site were originally published in Kirk's The Sword of Imagination: Memoirs of a Half Century of Literary Conflict and are used with the kind permission of Mrs. Annette Kirk and Eermands Publishing Company. For information on how to order a copy of Kirk's memoirs, click here.

Dr. Nash and Dr. Campbell are currently working on creating a CD-ROM version of The Conservative Intellectual Movement For more information on this work email Prof. Campbell at: campbellw1@prodigy.net

Other Web Sites of Interest

• Hall of Fame - Russell Kirk

Created and maintained by The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., this is the best all around source of information on Kirk available on the Web. Site includes a biography, his Heritage Foundation lectures, a list of his works, numerous photographs taken throughout his life, and brief audio clips of the great man himself! A good introduction to his life and works.

• The Henry Regnery Legacy Project. A web site devoted to Henry Regery, the publisher of many of Kirk's works.
  
  
• The Intercollegiate Studies Institute

Publishes The Intercollegiate Review a quarterly journal of conservative scholarship and opinion, and several other publications including The University Bookman formerly edited by Russell Kirk. Other ISI services include a speakers bureau, and special offers on classic conservative works. Check out this site and become an ISI student or faculty member. No charge to students or faculty.


• The National Humanities Institute

A Washington based think-tank dedicated to promoting the humanites. The first and only site where an explication and discussion of the ideas of the founders of the American Humanist Movement, Irving Babbitt (1865-1933), Paul Elmer More (1864-1937) and the Swedish philospher (Folke Leander (1910-1981) can be found. More and Babbitt profoundly influenced the thought of Kirk. Also, check out the "Internet Links for Humanities Research." NHI is preparing to start an "Electonic Bulletin Board" site which will include brief items and announcements.

• Michigan’s Russell Kirk and the Roots of Liberty By Joseph G. Lehman
  
  
• Transaction Publishers

Several of Kirk's books are currently available through Transaction Publishers. Check out this Web Site for more information. Kirk was also the founding editor of The Library of Conservative Thought, also published by Transaction Publishers. "The Library of Conservative Thought offers you a good sampling of conservative theory, analysis, criticism, and imagery," wrote Kirk, "We mean to resurrect the works of some able men and women of letters and public affairs who, when the choice had to be made, preferred the devil they knew to the devil they did not know." For a list of available volumes in this series and ordering information click on the Transaction Publishers link.


• The Conservative Town Hall.

Lots of good stuff here for conservatives of all stripes and anyone interested in the American conservative movement. A nice graphical interface which makes this an easy site to navigate around.


• Lord Acton Book Shoppe

The following items are available for sale through the Acton Book Shoppe.

All prices are in U.S. Dollars. A printable copy of the Order Form is available for your convenience. Offers include several Russell Kirk books that are out-of-print and not available elsewhere. http://www.acton.org/books.html (30K)

• Richard M. Weaver, 1910-1963: A Life of the Mind by Fred Douglas Young

Richard M. Weaver was a complex individual who lived chiefly to think and to write. Interest in his work remains high, even though he died in his early fifties. http://www.system.missouri.edu/upress/fall1995/young.htm (2K)

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Texts of Speeches by Russell Kirk
1. Heritage Foundation Speeches

1. Malcolm Muggeridge's Scourging of Liberalism. Lecture given September 21st, 1989.
2. Political Errors at the End of the Twentieth Century, Part I: Republican Errors. Lecture given 2/27/91.
3. Political Errors at the End of the Twentieth Century, Part II: Democratic Errors. Lecture given 5/6/91.
4. May the Rising Generation Redeem the Time? Lecture given 12/11/91.
5. Renewing a Shaken Culture Lecture given 12/11/92.
6. The Meaning of Justice. Lecture given 3/4/93
7. The Case for and Against Natural Law Lecture given 7/15/93.

 

2. Other Misc. Works


• Freud and the Educationists from the National Review, August 29, 1959, p. 304
• Lord Acton on Revolution
• "Ten Conservative Books" reprinted from Kirk's The Politics of Prudence (This link seems to be broken. Anyone know the new address?)
  

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Speeches and Articles about Russell Kirk

• "An Economist's Tribute to Russell Kirk" William F. Campbell Originally appeared in The Intercollegiate Review, Fall 1994
• "Life with Russell Kirk." Annette Kirk (Mrs. Russell Kirk) recalls 30 years of marriage to Russell Kirk. Lecture given at the Heritage Foundation, November 17, 1995.
  
• First Principles in the Public Arena. The First Russell Kirk Memorial Lecture given by Governor John Engler of Michigan at the Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., on 9/26/95.
  
• Review of The Sword of Imagination by Russell Kirk written by John Attarian of the The Detroit Free Press. This is Kirk's memoirs and his last published work. Find out how to order The Sword here.
• Wilfred McClay "The Mystic Chords of Memory: Reclaiming American History" Russell Kirk Memorial Lecture at the Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., on 12/13/95.
• Russell Kirk's Economics of the Permanent Things By the late John Attarian in The Freeman, a publication of The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., April 1996, Vol. 46, No. 4.
  

Russell Kirk Obituaries


• William F. Buckley's obituary of Russell Kirk written for National Review
  
• T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Director of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
  
• Edwin Feulner Jr., president of the Heritage Foundation
  
  
  

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Updated Sunday, May 22, 2005 7:35 PM