C. S. Lewis as Godfather: Laurence Harwood Speaks

Laurence Harwood, OBE, is the son of Cecil Harwood. a friend of Lewis and co-trustee of his estate. Lewis disapproved of Cecil’s Anthropomorphism, but that did not diminish their friendship. When Laurence was a pupil of Lewis’s, Lewis joshed Cecil about his faith in Anthropologist Rudolph Steiner’s dramatic theory of evolution: “It gives me a queer feeling when I suddenly look up and see your old phiz looking out at me through Laurence’s handsome features. It almost makes a chap believe in evolution.”

The younger Harwood is English but likes to speak in America, as he did in June 1999 at the Los Angeles Ivy League Society (“Salon Series”). He more recently sent out the news that in March 2000 he would be available to give his lecture “C. S. Lewis: Memories of a Godfather,” with slides and readings, to interested groups and Lewis societies. He has letters of recommendation from the Wordsworth Trust, Centre for British Romanticism and the Oxford C. S. Lewis Society.

Michael Ward’s letter of recommendation (addressed from the Kilns) thanked Harwood for his excellent address: “Every member I have spoken to about it appreciated it hugely, and that goes just as much for those who heard it ten years ago. It was informative, amusing, touching and refreshingly personal (far too many of our talks, I fear, are dry and desiccated), and the slides made the presentation all the more especially admirable. Thank you very much for coming all this way and for your time and care. The enclosed cheque is a rather forlorn attempt to express our gratitude…”

“P. S. I have mentioned to the Lewis Foundation that you might be interested in advising on the plans for the Kilns. I expect its President, Dr Stanley Mattson, will be in touch with you in due course.”