Walter Hooper
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Walter McGehee Hooper (March 27, 1931December 7, 2020) was an American writer. He is best known as the editor of many posthumous books by
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
, as the joint author of a biography of Lewis and as the literary advisor of Lewis's estate. He was also a literary trustee for Lewis's friend
Owen Barfield Arthur Owen Barfield (9 November 1898 – 14 December 1997) was an English philosopher, author, poet, critic, and member of the Inklings. Life Barfield was born in London, to Elizabeth (née Shoults; 1860–1940) and Arthur Edward Barfield (186 ...
from December 1997 until October 2006.


Life

Hooper was born on March 27, 1931, in Reidsville, North Carolina, United States, the third of the five children of Archie Hooper, a plumber, and Madge Hooper, who managed a school canteen. He studied education at the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
, graduating as an MA in 1958. He taught English literature at the
University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...
for a short period in the early 1960s. Hooper was introduced to C. S. Lewis by a preface to a translation of the New Testament epistles that he came across while a student. Reading Lewis's '' Miracles'' during a subsequent spell of military service prompted him to write a fan letter, which led to their becoming pen friends. In the summer of 1963, Hooper visited Oxford and met Lewis for tea at his cottage,
The Kilns The Kilns, also known as C. S. Lewis House, is the house in Risinghurst, Oxford, England, where the author C. S. Lewis wrote all of his The Chronicles of Narnia, Narnia books and other classics. The house itself was featured in the Narnia books. ...
. Severely debilitated by osteoporosis and kidney failure, Lewis offered Hooper a job as his correspondence secretary, and Hooper spent the next few months typing out the letters that Lewis dictated in reply to the enormous volume of mail that he received from readers around the world.Wilson, A. N. (1990): ''C. S. Lewis: A Biography''; Collins. After Lewis's death on November 22 of that year, Hooper made his home in Oxford and devoted himself to caring for Lewis's alcoholic brother,
Warren Lewis Warren Hamilton Lewis (16 June 1895 – 9 April 1973) was an Irish historian and officer in the British Army, best known as the elder brother of writer and professor C. S. Lewis. Warren Lewis was a supply officer with the Royal Army Service Corp ...
, and to doing everything that he could to honour Lewis's memory. After writing a biography of Lewis with Lewis's friend and former pupil Roger Lancelyn Green, he spent some five decades collecting and editing Lewis's juvenilia, poems, short stories, academic papers, journalism, diaries and letters. He also took up the burden of answering letters sent to Lewis by child readers of ''
The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...
'' who were unaware that Lewis had died. In addition to his literary work, Hooper also had a religious vocation: he studied for the
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
ministry at St Stephen's House, Oxford''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 1973–74, 85th Edition, p 457. and was ordained as a deacon in 1964 and as a priest in 1965. He was the Chaplain of
Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...
from 1965 to 1967 and the Assistant Chaplain of
Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...
from 1967 to 1970. He converted to the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
in 1988, and was a daily communicant at the Oxford Oratory. Remembering meeting Pope
John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
in 1984, while he was still an Anglican, he said: "When the pope walked into the room it was as if
Aslan Aslan () is a major character in C. S. Lewis's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' series. Unlike any other character in the Narnian series, Aslan appears in all seven chronicles. Aslan is depicted as a Talking animals in fiction, talking lion and is ...
himself had arrived." At age 89, Hooper died from complications of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
on December 7, 2020, amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...
. He is buried in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford.


Literary work

Hooper's works include: * ''C.S. Lewis: A Biography'' co-authored with Roger Lancelyn Green (1974) * Study guide to ''The Screwtape Letters'' with
Owen Barfield Arthur Owen Barfield (9 November 1898 – 14 December 1997) was an English philosopher, author, poet, critic, and member of the Inklings. Life Barfield was born in London, to Elizabeth (née Shoults; 1860–1940) and Arthur Edward Barfield (186 ...
(1976) * ''Past Watchful Dragons: The Narnian Chronicles of C.S. Lewis'' (1979) * With Anthony Marchington ''Through Joy and Beyond: The Life of C.S. Lewis'' (1979) * ''The Chronicles of Narnia Soundbook (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair)'' (abridged) with program booklet by Walter Hooper (1980) * ''Through Joy and Beyond: A Pictorial Biography of C.S. Lewis'' (1982) * ''C.S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide'' (1996) * ''C.S. Lewis: A Complete Guide to His Life and Works'' (1998) In addition, Hooper edited or wrote introductions for some thirty collections of Lewis's writings. Several of these books contain works by Lewis previously unpublished. The following works were edited by Hooper: * ''All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C.S. Lewis, 1922–27.'' San Diego: Harcourt, 1991. * ''Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C.S. Lewis.'' New York: Harcourt, 1985. * ''Christian Reflections.'' Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967. * ''C.S. Lewis: Collected Letters, Volume 1: Family Letters (1905–1931).'' London:
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
, 2000. * ''C.S. Lewis: Collected Letters, Volume 2: Books, Broadcasts and War (1931–1949).'' London: HarperCollins, 2004. * ''C.S. Lewis: Collected Letters, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge and Joy (1950–1963).'' London: HarperCollins, 2006. * ''C.S. Lewis: Readings for Meditation and Reflection.'' San Francisco: Harper, 1992. * ''God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics.'' Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970. * ''Image and Imagination.'' Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, 2013. * ''Narrative Poems.'' Edited with preface by Walter Hooper. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1969. * ''Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories.'' Edited with preface by Walter Hooper. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966. * ''Of This & Other Worlds.'' Edited with preface by Walter Hooper. London: Collins, 1982. * ''On Stories, and Other Essays on Literature.'' Edited with preface by Walter Hooper. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982. * ''Poems.'' New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1964. * ''Present Concerns.'' San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986. * ''Selected Literary Essays.'' London: Cambridge University Press, 1969. * ''Spirits in Bondage: A Cycle of Lyrics.'' Edited with a preface by Walter Hooper. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984. * ''Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature.'' Collected by Walter Hooper. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966. * ''The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings from C.S. Lewis.'' San Diego: Harcourt, 1984. * ''The Collected Poems of C.S. Lewis.'' London: Fount, 1994. * ''The Dark Tower & Other Stories.'' New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977. * ''The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses'' (revised and expanded). Edited with introduction by Walter Hooper. New York: Macmillan, 1980. * ''They Stand Together: The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (1914–1963).'' New York: Macmillan, 1979. * ''Letters of C.S. Lewis.'' Edited with a memoir by W.H. Lewis. Revised and enlarged by Walter Hooper. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1988.


Honours

In 1972 Hooper was awarded the Mythopoeic Society's second annual Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies, for scholarly contribution to the criticism and appreciation of the
epic fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...
literature generated by the
Inklings The Inklings were an informal literature, literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusia ...
School.


Controversy

In 1977, Hooper published C. S. Lewis's unfinished science fiction novel '' The Dark Tower'', an abandoned sequel to his interplanetary trilogy. Kathryn Lindskoog, the American author of a study of Lewis, wrote a book alleging that the novel was either partly or entirely forged by Hooper and also questioning the authenticity of other Lewis works that Hooper had edited. Hooper rejected Lindskoog's accusations, and her assault on his integrity is now generally acknowledged to be baseless. In particular, Professor Alastair Fowler of the University of Edinburgh, whose doctoral research Lewis supervised in 1952, recalled ''The Dark Tower'' as a story that Lewis had discussed with him. Lewis's stepson Douglas Gresham has also rejected Lindskoog's claims: "The whole controversy thing was engineered for very personal reasons…. Her fanciful theories have been pretty thoroughly discredited."


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.


References


External links


"Walter Hooper Papers, circa 1940–1980", finding aid
at the University of North Carolina
"Walter Hooper", citation
at the Wade Center, Wheaton College (Clyde S. Kilby Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Walter 1931 births 2020 deaths American male biographers American expatriates in the United Kingdom Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism People from Reidsville, North Carolina University of Kentucky alumni 20th-century American biographers Writers from Oxford Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford Catholics from North Carolina Writers from North Carolina Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery C. S. Lewis