Kathryn Lindskoog
Kathryn Ann "Kay" Lindskoog was a C. S. Lewis scholar known partly for her theory that some works attributed to Lewis are forgeries, including The Dark Tower.
Work on C. S. Lewis
The main target of Lindskoog's writing was Walter Hooper, Lewis' literary co-executor who edited most of Lewis' posthumous work. Lindskoog points out that Hooper's relationship with Lewis was overstated in some of the publications that he edited, and she argues that several works published under Lewis's name were in fact by Hooper.C. S. Lewis' stepson, Douglas Gresham, denies the forgery claims, saying that "The whole controversy thing was engineered for very personal reasons ... Her fanciful theories have been pretty thoroughly discredited.". It is clear from the diaries of Warren Lewis that Lewis' brother distrusted Hooper, whom he viewed as a dishonest interloper in the 1960s. Lewis scholars are divided about the merits of Lindskoog's charges, but some of them have since been disproved by discovery of Lewis' own typescripts. Much of her perceived animosity towards Hooper may have been derived from disappointment that she was not given any role in dealing with his literary legacy, though Lewis acknowledged her as knowledgeable about his bibliography. The controversy was analysed by Nicolas Barker in "Essays in Criticism", where he calls Lindskoog's work "a poisoned book".
Selected works
Related to C. S. Lewis
Lion of Judah in Never-never Land: The theology of C. S. Lewis expressed in his fantasies for children, preface by Walter Hooper – 1957 M.A. thesis, Cal State–Long Beach, as Kathryn StillwellC.S. Lewis, Mere Christian Around the Year with C. S. Lewis and His Friends – by date, with blank lines for diary or journal entriesThe C. S. Lewis Hoax Light in the Shadowlands: Protecting the Real C.S. Lewis or illustrated by Patrick Wynne Finding the Landlord: A Guidebook to C.S. Lewis' Pilgrim's Regress, Journey Into Narnia, illus. Tim Kirk and Patrick Wynne – comprising The Lion of Judah and Exploring the Narnian ChroniclesSurprised by C.S. Lewis George Macdonald and Dante: A Batch of New Discoveries, Sleuthing C.S. Lewis: More Light in the Shadowlands,Retellings, etc
A Child's Garden of Christian Verses, adapted from Robert Louis StevensonDante's Divine Comedy, retold, with notesFaerie Gold: treasures from the lands of enchantment, edited by Lindskoog and Ranelda Mack HunsickerLindskoog also edited and abridged classic children's novels for the Multnomah Press "Young Readers Library". Seven volumes were published from 1991 to 1993 and reissued by P&R Publishing from 2001 to 2003: Alcott's Little Women, Burnett's The Little Princess, Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Dodge's Hans Brinker, or, the Silver Skates, MacDonald's Sir Gibbie, and Sewell's Black Beauty. Lindskoog explained such "literary liposuction" in 1993. Among other things, she claimed to have answered a friendly telephone critic, "I'm as much of a purist as you. I absolutely love these authors. That's why I'm hand-polishing them for today's readers and performing what I call literary liposuction – removing flab and fat. I keep every bit of the original story, the style, and the values – even restoring parts cut out in other versions. I know my work would make the author happy; otherwise, I wouldn't do it."
Other
Up from Eden ; reissued 1977 as On My Way Up From Eden: a Christian Woman takes a whimsical but practical look at what she wants to be How to Grow a Young Reader, as by John and Kay Lindskoog; The Gift of Dreams Creative Writing: for people who can't not write Over the Counter: A pharmacist tells how to keep your family healthy – and what to do when it isn't, as ghostwriter- ''Fakes, Frauds and Other Malarkey: 301 Amazing Stories and How Not To Be Fooled: Spoofs, bunkum, ballyhoo, and criminal poppycock''