CLIVE STAPLES LEWIS
Clive Staples Lewis, born
Belfast, Ireland, 29 November 1898, died Oxford, England
22 November, 1963, at age
64, of renal failure. His father was Albert James Lewis whose
father Richard came to
Ireland from Wales. His mother was Florence Augusta Hamilton Lewis
daughter of a priest of the
Church of England, a great granddaughter of Bishop Huge
Hamilton and John Staples.
His elder brother was Warren Hamilton Lewis.
He was a British
novelist, lecturer and such in a literary sense and a lay
theologian, a Christian apologist, in a religiosity sense.
His Alma mater was
University College, Oxford.
His spouse was Joy
Davidman who he married in 1956 was an American writer who died
four years later of cancer,
at age 45
Lewis held academic
positions at Oxford and Cambridge University's , best known for his
fiction works and non
fiction Christian apologetics.
A Christian apologetic is
one who 'combats; one who doubts the existence of God and
promotes christian
truths.
Lewis and novelist Tolkien
were close, both on the faculty of Oxford. Lewis was baptized
to the Church of Ireland
but fell away from it's faith when in his adolescence, but Toikien
influenced his return to
Anglicanism at age 32. 1930, and became “ordinary layman
of the Church of
England'. His faith profoundly affected his works and the WW II
radio
broadcast on Christianity
brought him wide acclaim.
Fifty years after his
death, in 2013, Lewis was memorialized in the Westminster Abbey
Poets Corner. His works
became public domain in 2014.
CHILDHOOD
When age 4 his pet dog
Jacksie was killed by an auto and he announced that he was now
Jacksie,but later took
Jack and was known as Jack for the rest of his life.
At age 7, 1905, the family
moved to “ Little Lea”, a cottage of great size, in the East
Belfast area of Strandtown.
He was fascinated with anthropomorphic animals and
loved to read.
Lewis was schooled by
tutors up to age 9. After his mothers death in 1908 he went to
Wynyard School a Watford,
Hertfordshire, then to Cmpbell College but had to leave because
of a medical problem, hence
was sent to Malvern, Worchestershire, a health resort, to attend
Cherbourg School.
It was here he gave up his
Christian faith and became an atheist. He studied at Malvern
College and was tutored by
the headmaster of Lugan College, William Kirkpatrick.
Lewis took to legends of
Scandinavian literature, called it Northerness and grew to love
nature. In 1916 Lewis
received a scholarship to Oxford.
At Oxford he joined
Officers TrainingCorps, was drafted and commissioned to Third
Batttalion of Somerset Light Infantry British Army, as a Second
Lieutenant, and at age 19 was on the front line in Somme Valley
France, experienced trench warfare, and on April 15, 1917 was
wounded and after convalescence was assigned duty at Andover,
England. He was discharged December 1918 and resumed studies at
Oxford, won many awards and in 1924 became a
philosophy tutor at
University College , 1925 was elected a Fellow in English Literature
of
Magdalen College, serving
29 years until 1954.
JANE MOORE
Jane Moore was the mother
of the room mate of Lewis during the Army by name of Paddy
Moore, they became friends
and made a mutual pact that f either was killed the other would
look after the others
parents and families. Paddy was KIA 1818 and ewis kept the
promise.
Lewis was 19 and Jane was
45 but a friendship sprang up. She visited him while recovering
his wounds, something his
father did not do as he was distant, demanding and eccentric.
Lewis and Jane lived
together at “The Kilns” with his brother Warnie and her daughter
Maureen and he talked of
her as his mother until late 1940. Kilns was outside Oxford.
There was 'speculation,
“where they lovers' , and about all that is known, 'they did not
share
the same bedroom'. Love
for her as a second mother is a certainty.
CHRISTIANITY
Tolkien along with friend
Hugo Dyson influenced Lewis to return to Christianity in 1931
and he joined the Church of
England. Tolkien had wanted him to be Catholic. Lewis
considered himself
orthodox Anglican to his death.
WW II
Lewis tried to reenter
military but was turned down . He took child evacuees from London
in at Kilins. He
broadcast religious programs and it was said, “provided a key
to the
meaning of the universe”.
During the war Lewis declined several honors but did take a
hair at Cambridge.
JOY DAVIDMAN
Joy Davidman Gresham,
American, a writer of Jewish background, former communist,
atheist to christian
convert, came to England to separate from a alcoholic and abusive
husband, brought her two
sons, and Lewis agreed to a civil marriage so she could remain
the UK. This marriage was
23 April 1956 and was a 'match' intellectually and a seance of
fun. She died 1960 on 13
July. They had remarried into a Christian marriage 21 March
1957 while on her death bed
at Churchill Hospital.
ILLNESS AND DEATH
Clive Staples 'Jack' Lewis
became ill with kidney disease and blood poisoning in early
June 1961 but by early 1963
he was fully recovered of the kidney problem, however, on
the 15th of July
that year he was hospitalized , and early the next morning suffered a
heart
attack, went in to a coma,
waking the next afternoon , and later discharged to go back to
Kilna, too ill to work,
therefore, resigned his post at Cambridge. By November 22, so ill
that
he collapsed in his
bedrooom , one week before his 65 birthday, he died of kidney
failure.
Lewis died the same day
John F.. Kennedy, U. S. President, was killed
He is buried in the
churchyard of Holy Trinity Church at Headington, Oxford. His
brother, Warren, die ten year later and is buried in the same grave.
Much more can be found of
his career as a scholar, novelist, Christian apologist, his
legacy, so forth, at his
official web site on the internet at www.cslewis.com/us
which is the
source of this abstract by
Harrison, March 11, 2018.
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