Walter Hooper
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.
As an Englishman, Hooper studied for the ministry and was ordained as an Episcopal priest. Hooper converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1988.
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.
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, have 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]
- ^ Kathryn Lindskoog, The C.S. Lewis Hoax (Multnomah, 1988)
- ^ http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i45/45a01201.htm Scott McLemee, "Holy War in the Shadowlands", Chronicle of Higher Education, July 20, 2001.