Walter Hooper

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Walter McGehee Hooper (born 1931) is a trustee and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis. Born in Reidsville, North Carolina, he earned an M.A. in education and was an instructor in English at the University of Kentucky in the early 1960s. As a visitor to England, he served briefly (1963) as Lewis's private secretary when Lewis was in declining health. After Lewis's death in November 1963, Hooper devoted himself to Lewis's memory, eventually taking up residence in Oxford, England.

Hooper studied for the Anglican ministry and was ordained, serving as a chaplain and assistant priest in Oxford. He converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1988.

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[edit] Controversy

In 1977, Hooper published an unfinished science-fiction novel, The Dark Tower, as a previously unknown work by C.S. Lewis. The Dark Tower resembles Lewis's known works in some ways and departs from them in others. A school of critics, headed by Kathryn Lindskoog, has accused Hooper of either forging the work in toto, or taking small fragments of an unknown work by Lewis, adding a lot of padding, and turning the result into the 1977 published work. Lindskoog has also questioned the authenticity of other posthumously published works edited by Hooper. [1]

Hooper has completely rejected these accusations. Some independent research exists to confirm the authenticity of the posthumous Lewis works edited by Hooper. [2] A man named Alastair Fowler has recently come forward and said that he saw portions of The Dark Tower and discussed them with Lewis in 1952, becoming the first person to give a firsthand account of seeing the manuscript during Lewis' lifetime. [3]

[edit] Literary work

Hooper's work has been that of a literary executor and advocate rather than independent scholar. His works include:

  • C.S. Lewis: A Biography (co-authored with Roger Lancelyn Green) (1974)
  • Past Watchful Dragons: The Narnian Chronicles of C.S. Lewis (1979)
  • Through Joy and Beyond (1982)
  • War in Deep Heaven: The Space Trilogy of C.S. Lewis (1987)
  • C.S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide (1996)
  • C.S. Lewis: A Complete Guide to His Life and Works (1998)

In addition, Hooper has edited or written introductions for approximately 30 books of Lewisian manuscripts and scholarship. Several of these books contain previously unknown or little-known works by Lewis.

[edit] Related Works

  • Diana Pavlac Glyer The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community. Kent State University Press. Kent Ohio. 2007. ISBN 978-0-87338-890-0

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kathryn Lindskoog, The C.S. Lewis Hoax (Multnomah, 1988)
  2. ^ http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i45/45a01201.htm Scott McLemee, "Holy War in the Shadowlands", Chronicle of Higher Education, July 20, 2001.
  3. ^ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/february/28.44.html Harry Lee Poe, "Shedding Light on the Dark Tower," Christianity Today, February 2, 2007.
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