Profound Loss: November 22, 1963

It is common knowledge that President John Kennedy died on this day. It is not well known that we lost three internationally famous and influential personalities within seventy minutes that day, the others being C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley. Although they could hardly come from three more distinct and disparate perspectives, all three of them shared deep concerns about the future of the planet and its inhabitants.

C(live) S(taples) Lewis was one of the last century's leading scholars, novelists, and Christian apologists. Most readers likely know his name, but many may not be familiar with the depth and breadth of his literary accomplishments. From this writer's perspective, if you cannot enjoy a Lewis book you simply haven't read enough of his work. I was introduced to the author through a gift. My best friend gave me a copy of The Four Loves (1960) as medication for some perplexing developments in a relationship with Marti, the girl of my dreams at the time. Eventually, Marti moved on with a professor of English at UNC Chapel Hill. I was left with a life-long literary relationship with Lewis. I trust Marti found similar satisfaction with the prof.

Although Lewis was far from reclusive, he appreciated his privacy. For that reason, we have few interviews and recordings of the man. Fortunately, we do have a portrayal that gives some insight into what made him a beloved writer:

Aldous Huxley shared the life of the mind with Lewis but little else outside of his English background and writing skills. A humanist and lifelong pacifist, Huxley was a prolific writer best known for his novels and essays. Among the novels is Brave New World, a dystopic world view written in 1931 as a parody of utopian novels popular earlier in the century. From a spiritual perspective, he was an agnostic who maintained a strong interest in mysticism, universalism, and Vedanta. Later in his life, Huxley would be remembered for his experiments with hallucinogenic drugs and his accounts thereof including, The Door of Perception (1954) and Heaven and Hell (1956). Here he is in a 1958 television interview discussing threats to freedom in the United States:

Both Lewis and Huxley cast long intellectual shadows across the globe and Kennedy left us with "a fleeting wisp of glory" that follows us to this day. I can enjoy what the three of them brought to us, but for me I'm most likely to follow this advice from Lewis:

Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.