Joy Gresham & C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham
1955 - 1960
C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham  
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Joy Gresham and C.S. Lewis were married for 4 years before Joy Gresham died aged 45.

About

American Poet Joy Gresham was born Helen Joy Davidman on 18th April, 1915 in New York City, New York USA and passed away on 13th Jul 1960 Oxford, England UK aged 45. She is most remembered for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Her zodiac sign is Aries.

British Writer C.S. Lewis was born Clive Staples Lewis on 29th November, 1898 in Belfast, Ireland [now in Northern Ireland], UK and passed away on 22nd Nov 1963 Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK aged 64. He is most remembered for The Narnia books. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius.

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References

Relationship Statistics

StatusDurationLength
Married23rd Apr 1956 - 13th Jul 1960 4 years, 2 months
Total 1955 - 13th Jul 1960 5 years, 6 months


(April 23, 1956 - July 13, 1960) (her death)
In later life, Lewis corresponded with Joy Davidman Gresham, an American writer of Jewish background, a former Communist, and a convert from atheism to Christianity. She was separated from her alcoholic and abusive husband, novelist William L. Gresham, and came to England with her two sons, David and Douglas. Lewis at first regarded her as an agreeable intellectual companion and personal friend, and it was on this level that he agreed to enter into a civil marriage contract with her so that she could continue to live in the UK. The civil marriage took place at the register office, 42 St Giles', Oxford, on 23 April 1956. Lewis's brother Warren wrote: "For Jack the attraction was at first undoubtedly intellectual. Joy was the only woman whom he had met ... who had a brain which matched his own in suppleness, in width of interest, and in analytical grasp, and above all in humour and a sense of fun." After complaining of a painful hip, she was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, and the relationship developed to the point that they sought a Christian marriage. Since she was divorced, this was not straightforward in the Church of England at the time, but a friend, the Rev. Peter Bide, performed the ceremony at her bed in the Churchill Hospital on 21 March 1957.
Gresham's cancer soon went into remission, and the couple lived together as a family with Warren Lewis until 1960, when recurrence of the cancer caused her death on 13 July. Earlier that year, the couple took a brief holiday in Greece and the Aegean; Lewis was fond of walking but not of travel, and this marked his only crossing of the English Channel after 1918. Lewis's book A Grief Observed describes his experience of bereavement in such a raw and personal fashion that he originally released it under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk to keep readers from associating the book with him. Ironically, many friends recommended the book to Lewis as a method for dealing with his own grief. After Lewis's death, his authorship was made public by Faber's, with the permission of the executors.
Lewis continued to raise Gresham's two sons after her death. Douglas Gresham is a Christian like Lewis and his mother, while David Gresham turned to his mother's ancestral faith, becoming Orthodox Jewish in his beliefs. His mother's writings had featured the Jews in an unsympathetic manner, particularly one "shohet" (ritual slaughterer). David informed Lewis that he was going to become a ritual slaughterer to present this type of Jewish religious functionary to the world in a more favourable light. In a 2005 interview, Douglas Gresham acknowledged that he and his brother were not close, but he did say that they are in email contact. Douglas remains involved in the affairs of the Lewis estate.

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Relationship Timeline

23rd April, 1956 - Marriage

(April 23, 1956 - July 13, 1960) (her death)

1955 - Hookup

Couple Comparison

Name
Joy Gresham
C.S. Lewis
Joy Gresham
C.S. Lewis
Age (at start of relationship)
39
56
Zodiac
Aries
Sagittarius
Occupation
Poet
Writer
Hair Color
Black
Salt and Pepper
Eye Color
Brown - Dark
Brown - Dark
Nationality
American
British
Religion
Jewish
Anglican / Episcopalian

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