The world media is fixated on November 22 as the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. Let us not forget that two major writers of the 29th century, CS Lewis and Aldous Huxley, also died November 22, 1963. Their deaths were overlooked in the press fifty years ago.
If you were a fan of either Lewis and Huxley, you’re invited to post a tribute to them here.
Do you believe the official government story about CS Lewis’ death? IMO there’s a lot of unanswered questions
And what about the release of the Beatles’ second album and the death of the Birdman of Alcatraz the day before and the premiere of Doctor Who the day after? Coincidence? Explain all of that if you will.
Benjamin Britten, born 22 November 1913.
Probably shot CS Lewis for forgetting his 50th birthday.
He’s not dead at all. He just went further up and further in.
CS Lewis (Texas Book Depository) and Aldous Huxley (Grassy Knoll) were taken out by CIA operatives. I have proof.
I was nine on 11/22/63 and didn’t know who C. S. Lewis was yet. I was an avid reader but somehow didn’t encounter the Narnia books until I was an adult.
The first Lewis book I read was The Screwtape Letters, which I was required to read during the summer before I started high school. It was a Catholic prep school. By that time, I was an atheist, but I really enjoyed the book. Although I rejected the concept of sin at that time, I was impressed and beguiled by his view of moral failing consisting of small things rather than spectacular errors.
Then when I was in college someone encouraged me to read the science fiction trilogy, which I enjoyed.
In the mid-90s, still an atheist, I read the Narnia books to my step-daughter at the suggestion of my daughter. These books really impressed me, and I think they began a spiritual yearning in me that stayed submerged for a few more years.
I really became interested in Lewis when my wife died in 1999. The day she died, a friend handed me two books and said “Here’s a book by C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed, that I think will help you. Here’s another one called Mere Christianity that you might want to read as well.” The first words of A Grief Observed hit me like a hammer. “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” That eleven words written almost 40 years earlier could capture the truth of my life at that moment seemed almost supernatural to me.
I read Mere Christianity immediately after finishing A Grief Observed, and that continued a process begun years earlier that resulted in my return to Christian faith.
I have read all of his writing except the scholarly stuff, some of it multiple times. I have read all of the biographies. No writer has had a more profound impact on my life.
Huxley OD’d on soma.
Thanks for that post, Crotalus. Lewis’ Perelandra, the second of the Space trilogy, has always been one of my favorite books. I’ve ready the Chronicles many times over the years but I really need to pick up the Space books again.
I’ve never had the courage to read A Grief Observed. I’ve never really experienced profound grief in my life (thanks be to God), so I always felt like I wouldn’t be able to appreciate it properly. I’ve heard that it’s an interesting study of Lewis’ growth to read The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed back-to-back – the former being a scholarly theological examination of human suffering and the latter being closer to a personal testimony of pain and hope.
There is a novel called Between Heaven and Hell which describes Lewis, Kennedy and Huxley all arriving in Purgatory at the same time and having a conversation about the nature of Jesus. I’ve always thought that was a fascinating premise, although I don’t know if the book is any good or not.
He’s gone to be with Aslan.
I look forward to have enjoyed their books.
Dear Crotalus,
Thank you for your post, which I found very moving. Like you, I questioned my faith and reading CSL helped to put my feet back on the path. I owe a great deal to the books that you mention. It’s nice to know that there are other people out there who share a debt to Lewis.
In the early 70’s I rather compulsively read all* of Aldous Huxley’s books, and also learned of his having died on JFK-in-Dallas day. I’m reminded of that fact once a year.
Although anyone who’s reading this thread probably knows already, I’ll mention that the first-hand accounts of Huxley’s death make interesting reading.
I didn’t know Huxley and Lewis died on the same day. I don’t have much to say other than that they were both excellent writers and my life is a little bit richer for having read their works.
I will observe the day by grokking my flannel trousers and the dharma of the hedge. Maybe do some time in the universal mind.
So I guess it’s now established that time travel will happen, and you can die some 9 centuries before you live.
Perhaps the OP means that Huxley and C. S. Lewis will be highly respected writers in the 29th century, their works having a huge cultural impact in that period.
He got on the bus.
Tante Dillie and Skammer - You’re welcome. For a while, I thought I had killed the thread by posting a serious response.
Actually, I’m pretty sure 'twas the syph that did for 'im – if not weakened by it, he would’ve survived that beating from the rent-boy’s pimp. That said, I concede there are some compelling arguments for the heroin theory.