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'''Helen Joy Gresham''' née Davidman ([[18 April]] [[1915]] - [[13 July]] [[1960]]) was a [[poet]], a politically radical [[Jew]]ish convert to orthodox [[Christianity]], mother of [[David Gresham]] and [[Douglas Gresham]], and wife of [[C. S. Lewis]]. |
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⚫ | She moved from her native [[New York]] to England in [[1953]], where she met and married Lewis, her second husband, having been inspired by his books on [[Christianity]]. (Her first husband [[William Gresham]] drank heavily and eventually left her for another woman.) A former communist and atheistic Jew, Gresham was brought to examine and subsequently convert to the Christian faith, largely through Lewis' writings. His intellectual equal, she captivated Lewis. When she moved to the UK, he married her so that she would not have to return to America. In time, and especially after she fell ill with [[cancer]], he realized how much he loved her and proposed to marry her properly, "before God." She recovered briefly, but eventually succumbed to cancer at the age of forty-five. |
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⚫ | ''[[Shadowlands]]'', a romanticized version of her life with Lewis starring Anthony Hopkins as Jack ([[C.S. Lewis]]) and [[Debra Winger]] as Joy, was released for HBO in 1993 and is now available on DVD. It was preceded by a BBC production and a stage play; all were or more less loosely based on Douglas Gresham's book ''[[Lenten Lands]]''. |
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⚫ | ''[[Shadowlands]]'', a romanticized version of her life with Lewis starring Anthony Hopkins as Jack ([[C.S. Lewis]]) and [[Debra Winger]] as Joy, was released for HBO in 1993 and is now available on DVD. It was preceded by a BBC production and a stage play; all were or more less loosely based on Douglas Gresham's book ''[[Lenten Lands]]''. |
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'''Pre-marriage name:''' Joy Davidman |
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== Headstone Epitaph == |
== Headstone Epitaph == |
Revision as of 16:19, 13 January 2006
Helen Joy Gresham née Davidman (18 April 1915 - 13 July 1960) was a poet, a politically radical Jewish convert to orthodox Christianity, mother of David Gresham and Douglas Gresham, and wife of C. S. Lewis.
She moved from her native New York to England in 1953, where she met and married Lewis, her second husband, having been inspired by his books on Christianity. (Her first husband William Gresham drank heavily and eventually left her for another woman.) A former communist and atheistic Jew, Gresham was brought to examine and subsequently convert to the Christian faith, largely through Lewis' writings. His intellectual equal, she captivated Lewis. When she moved to the UK, he married her so that she would not have to return to America. In time, and especially after she fell ill with cancer, he realized how much he loved her and proposed to marry her properly, "before God." She recovered briefly, but eventually succumbed to cancer at the age of forty-five.
Shadowlands, a romanticized version of her life with Lewis starring Anthony Hopkins as Jack (C.S. Lewis) and Debra Winger as Joy, was released for HBO in 1993 and is now available on DVD. It was preceded by a BBC production and a stage play; all were or more less loosely based on Douglas Gresham's book Lenten Lands.
Headstone Epitaph
- Here the whole world
- (stars, water, air,
- And field, and forest, as they were
- Reflected in a single mind)
- Like cast off clothes was left behind
- In ashes, yet with hopes that she,
- Re-born from holy poverty,
- In lenten lands, hereafter may
- Resume them on her Easter Day.