Tag Archives: Death

A Grief Observed: A Talk on the Anniversary of My Parents’ Deaths, with C.S. Lewis

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

Here is a little piece on a special day: the anniversary of the death of my father and brother on a villainously cold night when I was fourteen, and on the eve of the anniversary of my mother’s passing in … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reflections | Tagged A Grief Observed, academics, C.S. Lewis, Death, Douglas Gresham, fatherhood, grief, love, Madeleine L'Engle, mourning, orpan tales, parenting, Teaching, The Problem of Pain, The Shape of Water | 6 Comments

Avoiding The Road, 31 Years

Posted on February 4, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

For fifteen years I have avoided The Road. Perhaps longer. I did not need the book description to know that I would avoid reading it. I picked it up, held it in my hand, and I knew. It was Cormac … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged Blood Diamonds, books, Cormac McCarthy, Death, father, fire, Post, The Kite Runner, The Pursuit of Happiness, The Road, The Walking Dead | 6 Comments

The Living Lie, But Dead Men Tell the Truth: The Screwtape Letters and Ivan Ilych

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

In Leo Tolstoy’s brilliant novella, The Death of Ivan Ilych (1886), there is a curious pun in the English translation I use (Aylmer Maude): “The dead man lay, as dead men always lie” (96). As the title suggests, The Death of Ivan … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Ars moriendi, C.S. Lewis, cruciformity, Death, Leo Tolstoy, Memento Mori, Nicholas Lezard, The Art of Dying Well, The Death of Ivan Ilych, The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters | 17 Comments

Celebrations of Life: 30 Years, 4 Years, Today

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of my father and baby brother. I saw them perish in a fire when I was a boy–an event that has shaped not just my family life, but my entire understanding of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Death, heaven, Remembering Heaven, theology, Theology of Culture | 21 Comments

A Grief Observed: A Talk on the Anniversary of My Parents’ Deaths, with C.S. Lewis

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Here is a little piece I did this time last year. This past week had that frightful cold snap once again–experienced throughout our entire continent–and the cold has finally broken. But on this day, February 4th, it is hard not … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, 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 | 25 Comments

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

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

This year I introduced an occasional feature I call “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own vault or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This might be … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Reflections, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged 11/22/63, 9/11, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, C.S. Lewis, Canada, Death, Doctor Who, Independence Day, John F. Kennedy, John Lennon, Lady Diana, Mother Teresa, Narnia, The Beatles, Tiananmen Square | 10 Comments

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 | 33 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 | 14 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 →