Update from Douglas Gresham Family
The family of Douglas Gresham (stepson of C.S. Lewis) has asked us to share some information with the Narnia community.
Mr. Gresham has been experiencing a prolonged illness:
Dad is at home in Malta, being cared for by family. We are unsure how the illness will progress from here, but he is not expected to make a recovery. The family is asking for prayer and privacy at this time.
The C.S. Lewis business with all its commitments will continue as per normal.
Please join us in offering up prayers for the Gresham family during this time.
Doug Gresham and I had several international phone calls during my work on the book “Women and C.S. Lewis: What his life and literature reveal for today’s culture.” I recall a particular chat we had during what he described as a heavy rain while he was driving. On that day, he reversed direction and drove back to his home on Malta to retrieve a photo of his mother and step-father to send to me. It was a delightful picture of the happy couple which our publisher then used on the cover, thanks to Doug and his spirit of help and enthusiasm for adding this personal touch to the book. He surprised me twice after that with international calls to encourage me in the book effort and to check on its status, offering help or direction if needed. Not once did Doug insist on or even ask to read the manuscript before it went to press. His trust was heart-warming, professional, and refreshing. Doug Gresham: “The real deal.” By Carolyn Curtis, Fort Worth, Texas
I will never forget meeting Douglas Gresham. I was in the Fall of 1997, and I rode with him and his son from the Dublin, Ireland airport back to his house in County Carlow in Ireland – Rathvinden House. During that visit I got to know him well. As we got to know each other better he relaxed and became such a wonderful guy to hang around with. I have some really funny stories about some of what we talked about. I met his wife, Merrie, but she had to leave and fly off to see one of their grown kids. I asked him what we were doing for dinner, and he replied “I don’t know, but it is my birthday”. I laughed and asked him how old he was, he said “52”. I told him we had to do something special, so we walked down to the Lord Bagenal Inn in Leighlandbridge and he spent his 52nd birthday with me having steak and Guinness. What a fun night. And it all started when I emailed him with a few questions after seeing Shadowlands, the movie, back around 1993 or 1994. I was interested in information regarding C. S. Lewis. He responded to me, we became friends, and all these years later I am hearing he is having some serious health problems. I am sad to hear about that, but I will never forget some of the great conversations we had, and I feel like he really did become so much closer to God as he aged. I went back to Ireland more times after that, and he and Merrie were always welcoming hosts, and they had a real impact on my life, along with many others that this relationship led to. Blessings to him and his family and friends, and I have no doubt we will speak again.