Quotation for Wednesday, February 23, 2011:

“Well, Sir, if things are real, they’re there all the time.”
“Are they?” said the Professor.”
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

C.S. Lewis is an amazingly prolific writer. During decades of creativity, he wrote everything from the deeply mythological The Chronicles of Narnia to A Grief Observed, a prolonged cry of pain written after the death of his wife of four years, Joy Gresham. His Narnia stories have spawned several movies which continue to be immensely popular.

Like many gifted writers with a rich mine of work to his credit, C. S. has attracted avid fans who continue to fan the flame of his creativity in a variety of ways. They’ve even coined a name for their community: the Wardrobians. This moniker was inspired by the Narnia novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. One of the places that the Wardrobians gather, at least virtually, is a Web site aptly and cleverly called Into the Wardrobe.

If you should visit this online cornucopia of C.S. Lewis lore and appreciation, you will find an amazing treasure trove: an elf-like caricature of the writer relaxing, a daily quote, a chronology of his life, at least half a dozen different collections of The Chronicles of Narnia, a detailed list of works by Lewis, scholarly papers about him, a photo gallery, news about Lewis-related happenings, multiple recipes for a Turkish Punch, and a cheerful description of how the site came to be created by a Web designer who’s also a Lewis fan.

All in all, it’s a fun place to visit — and so encouraging! It’s wonderful to see the length that faithful readers will go to preserve and perpetuate the work and wisdom of beloved authors. Ah readers, that rarest of treasures! Lewis himself said, “You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” How true!