FORGIVING THE SCARS OF YOUTH
I have just read George Sayer’s biography, Jack: C. S. Lewis and His Times (Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1988). It is the most illuminating and helpful of the Lewis biographies I have read – – much more candid than some. Sayer shares about the terrible experiences Lewis had as a boy at Wynyard (boarding school): The headmaster was the Reverend Robert Capron, a clergyman of the Church of England. Aged about sixty, he was still a physically powerful man. Warren [Lewis’s brother] continues: “I have seen him lift a boy of twelve or so from the floor by the back of his collar, and holding him at arm’s length, as one might a dog . . . apply his cane to his calves.” There is some evidence that Capron suffered from mental illness. His rage could not be contained. “He was the most complete domestic tyrant I have ever met with or even read of.” [quoting from The…
To view this resource, log in or sign up for a subscription plan
