Tag Archives: Death

The Last Letter of J.R.R. Tolkien, on the 45th Anniversary of His Death

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I have just finished reading The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1982), which is fitting given that this is the 45th anniversary of his death (2 Sep 1973). With help from Christopher Tolkien, noted writer, broadcaster, and biographer Humphrey Carpenter collected the letters … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Letters | Tagged Christopher Tolkien, Death, diary, Dorothy L. Sayers, Guy Gavriel Kay, Humphrey Carpenter, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, letters, The Fall of Gondolin, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Walter Hooper | 21 Comments

A Grief Observed: A Lecture on the Anniversary of My Parents’ Deaths

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

It was a little eerie returning home on Saturday evening. My wife and I went to see the Oscar-nominated SF Fairy Tale, The Shape of Water. It was cold, terribly cold. With the wind chill it was approaching -30 Celsius (below -20 … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged A Grief Observed, academics, C.S. Lewis, Death, fatherhood, Frederick Buechner, grief, love, mourning, orpan tales, parenting, Teaching, The Problem of Pain, The Shape of Water | 11 Comments

11/22/63: The Day that C.S. Lewis Died

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

This is a rewriting of a post from the 50th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ death in 2013. Lewis died on the same day as American president John F. Kennedy and English public intellectual and dystopian writer, Aldous Huxley. Though Lewis … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Reflections | Tagged 11/22/63, 9/11, Brave New World, C.S. Lewis, Canada, Death, Doctor Who, Independence Day, John F. Kennedy, John Lennon, jubilee, Lady Diana, Mother Teresa, Narnia, The Beatles, Tiananmen Square | 9 Comments

For My Mother

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

You may have noticed that my posting has hardly been personal over the past couple of weeks. It is a week of difficult anniversaries. February 4th is the day my father and little brother perished in a fire, and last … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Death, feminism, memorial, obituary | 10 Comments

See My Guest Blog at Theological Miscellany

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I am pleased to be recently included in the “Theo-musings of Westminster Theological Centre faculty and friends” at the blog, Theological Miscellany. With the publication of my article, “‘Die Before You Die’: St. Paul’s Cruciformity in C.S. Lewis’s Narrative Spirituality” in … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, Original Research | Tagged Both Sides of the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis, cruciformity, Death, Michael J. Gorman, Narnia, self-death, spiritual theology, spirituality, The Great Divorce, Till We Have Faces | 4 Comments

From Golgatha to the Gallows: On the Crucifixion of Elie Wiesel (1928-2016)

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Jewish people have a deeply difficult relationship with the cross. Once a Roman instrument of torture and oppression, the Christian transformation of that symbol brought Jewish people no relief. Racial antisemitism begins in Europe beneath the symbol of that cross. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged American Gods, Anna Fisk, Chagall, Chaim Potok, crucifixion, Death, Elie Wiesel, feminism, François Mauriac, holocaust, Judaism, Moltmann, My Name is Asher Lev, Neil Gaiman, Nietzsche, Night, Shoah | 36 Comments

Simone de Beauvoir and the Keyspring of the Lord of the Rings

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

If I were to pick a public intellectual least likely to have influenced J.R.R. Tolkien, Simone de Beauvoir may not be the first person I would think of. There’s a good chance, though, that she would make the shortlist. French … Continue reading →