[1] He "left his biggest mark as the author of three books exploring the culture and history of Jews in the American South", according to his August 2, 2022, New York Times obituary.

in English literature from the University of North Carolina in 1958,[1] where he joined the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity,[6] and served as "the first Jewish president of the student body."

In the fall of 1958, he completed the Navy Supply Corps School as an ensign and was assigned to the USS Saint Paul (CA-73).

[1] In 1971, he published The Provincials: A Personal History of the Jews of the South, which "set off a wave of interest in a culture that many people outside the region never knew existed".

[3][8] In 1981, Evans married Judith London of Montgomery, Alabama, who he met in New York City, and with whom he remained until her death in 2008.