The son of Joy Davidman, Douglas watched his mother and “Jack” fall in love and marry. [2] His mother was of Jewish descent. And field, and forest, as they were Sylvia "Rose" WengerBRIMFIELD – Sylvia "Rose" Wenger, 90, of Brimfield, passed away on November 4, 2020. While Douglas is still a devout Christian, his brother David returned to Judaism after the death of their mother. They had two sons, David Lindsay Gresham (born 27 March 1944) and Douglas Howard Gresham (born 10 November 1945). Re-born from holy poverty, 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. Douglas Gresham acknowledged in a 15 November 2005 interview on NPR that he and his brother are estranged,[3] although in a 4 December 2005 interview he did say that they are in email contact. Douglas Gresham. She died from metastatic carcinoma involving the bones in 1960. When Douglas Gresham was eight years old, his mother, Joy Davidman, introduced him and his brother David to the man who would eventually become their stepfather: C. S. Lewis, known to his friends and family as “Jack.” Gresham chronicled this remarkable relationship in Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman & C. S. Lewis(Macmillan, 1988). Perhaps more. My mistress; but at the same time all that any man friend (and I have good ones) has ever been to me. "[4], She was my daughter and my mother, my pupil and my teacher, my subject and my sovereign; and always, holding all these in solution, my trusty comrade, friend, shipmate, fellow-soldier. He fired rifles into the ceiling to relieve his tension and once broke a bottle on their son Douglas' head. Lewis made an effort to find kosher food for David. [5][16] Afterwards, she suffered from a defeated emotional state. The news from Dallas had stunned pupils during dinner at his boarding school in Surrey. Young Douglas was just eight years old—and already an enormous Narnia fan —when his mother, Joy Davidman, Christian convert who moved to England from the United States, married C.S. By Jonathon Van Maren Douglas Gresham remembers the day he first met C.S. She spent Christmas and a fortnight at The Kilns with the brothers. Warren Lewis wrote: "For Jack the attraction was at first undoubtedly intellectual. Lewis vividly. In 1985, a television version was made by the BBC One, starring Joss Ackland as Lewis and Claire Bloom as Davidman. [30][31], The couple continued to live separately after the civil marriage. [2], Davidman was a child prodigy, who scored above 150 on IQ testing,[3] with exceptional critical, analytical and musical skills. He wept with his stepfather when Joy died of cancer, and led the mourners behind the casket when husband followed wife to the graveyard. [27] Other works that she influenced or helped with include Reflections on the Psalms (1958) and The Four Loves (1960). Gresham came on as executive producer of recording artist Meg Sutherland's debut album in 2014, successfully signing her to Sprig Music in March with producer Christopher Hopper. The Major in turn passed the estate to Douglas and David ten years later. He wept with his stepfather when Joy died of cancer, and led the mourners behind the casket when husband followed wife to the graveyard. Gresham is Davidmans son, he meets as a child C. S. Lewis and his brother Warnie at the Kilns. [13], She married her first husband, author William Lindsay Gresham, on 24 August 1942 after becoming acquainted with him through their mutual interest in communism. We are in the middle of a chapter-by-chapter commentary on The Horse and His Boy, which is dedicated to C.S. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University in English literature at age twenty in 1935. They have five children: three sons, James, Timothy, and Dominick, and two daughters, Lucinda, and Melodie. (Lewis had adopted the boys when he married, and The Horse and His Boy is dedicated to them both.) Davidman grew up in the Bronx with her younger brother, Howard, and with both parents employed, even during the Great Depression. It had very little to do with my relationship with Jack in some ways and huge amounts in other ways.