Pints with Jack, Season 4, Episode 26.

A tribute to Walter Hooper.

Hello and welcome to the virtual version of The Eagle and Child.

Back in July of 2019, I took a trip back to England, and my girlfriend came to meet my family

for the first time.

We did take a trip to Oxford during that time, but it wasn't for Lewis-related activities.

You see, my girlfriend was a huge fan of G.K. Chesterton, and I had heard that the Oxford

Oratory had a large collection of Chesterton's own books with his annotations, as well as a large

collection of his other possessions, such as his hats, his glasses, and various walking canes,

one of which even had a sword inside. So after I asked very

nicely over email, they agreed that we could come and see all of these artifacts. And after we had

spent several hours looking at all of the artifacts, we went next door to the Church of St. Aloysius,

since we knew that there was going to be Mass that

evening. And we got there a little bit early, so we had a little bit of a look around the church.

And as we were heading back to find a pew for the service, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Marie came over and said, what's the matter? And I replied, I'm pretty sure that guy over there, that's Walter Hooper.

So who was this man who stopped me dead in my tracks?

He's the man that we're honouring today.

Walter Hooper, who was the secretary of C.S. Lewis for the final few months of his life,

and following Lewis's death, was a real champion for Lewis and his works,

popularising them, and something that's particularly important, keeping them in print.

Mr. Hooper recently passed away, and when we heard the news of his death,

...