C.S. Lewis was renowned during his lifetime as a scholar, literary critic and perhaps the most influential Christian apologist of the 20th century, and he still is. He wrote a volume of “The Oxford History of English Literature” and was also the author of a science-fiction series (“Space Trilogy”) and “Till We Have Faces,” a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche.
Now, more than 40 years after his death, Lewis seems destined for even greater fame, as Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media prepare for the Dec. 9 release of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the first installment of the author’s beloved “The Chronicles of Narnia” series of children’s books.
Douglas Gresham, a co-producer of the film, says that Lewis was most important to him as his stepfather.
“To me, he was Jack. Simple as that,” says Mr. Gresham, referring to Lewis by his nickname. “He was my stepfather, a man who was a reliable, humorous and compassionate companion to a small boy, grieving and alone very often.”