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George Sayer

In 1997 my wife and I led a C. S. Lewis Tour to England. George Sayer, C. S. Lewis's former student, friend and biographer, helped us plan what we would do for our visit to Great Malvern, the English country town where Lewis attended preparatory school between the ages of 12 and 15. Sayer told us just what we should see and even where we could go on one of Lewis's favorite walks. To top it all off, Mr. Sayer met with our group and gave us a delightful lecture on Lewis and his work, followed by a tour of Malvern College, where Lewis had been a student and Sayer himself taught English, in more recent years.

To my great joy I discovered today that Dick Staub posted an interview with George Sayer on The Kindlings web site. I listened to the first part of the interview earlier today and felt like I just had a visit again with Mr. Sayer. My one regret about that visit to Great Malvern was that we had so little time together. I told Mr. Sayer that I wished we could spend a lot more time together so I could pick his brain. He said, "Whatever is left of my puny brain you are welcome to it!" There was indeed a lot left to the brain of this erudite man who subsequently, and sadly, developed Alzheimer's and died a couple of years ago.

To listen to the interview with George Sayer click here:

George Sayer Interview

To read George Sayer's obituary click here:

George Sayer Obituary

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Comments

John U said…
Hey Pastor Will,

Thank you so much for this post. I'm in Great Malvern right now and would love to know which of the walks, for there are many, was a favourite of C. S. Lewis?

Many thanks,
John.
4:42 AM
Will Vaus said…
Hi John,

You are in one of my favorite places.

The walk to the British Camp was one of Lewis’s favorites. It is just outside of Malvern up the hill. A cabby should be able to drive you to the entrance to the walk. There is a nice pub opposite the entrance. Or ask your hotel concierge for directions to the British Camp.

Enjoy!

Will
6:57 AM
John U said…
Dear Will,

That's great thank you! I have been up to British Camp with my family, it is a most remarkable place. We actually live in Great Malvern, so do get in touch if you are passing through again.

Blessings,
John.
4:13 PM
Will Vaus said…
Wow! What a lovely place to live! Of course Lewis walked all over that area, both as a young person, and when he returned on vacation as an adult. George Sayer has written most about this in his biography "Jack". And Sayer was of course an expert on this part of Lewis' life because Lewis was his teacher and friend. As you know, Sayer lived in Malvern and Lewis visited him often there, staying in his home, Hamewith, on Alexandra Road, if I remember correctly. So just about any place you walk around Malvern was traversed by the Lewis brothers. The walk to the British Camp was the one identified to me by Sayer himself. There is a lovely photo of Lewis and Barfield sitting atop one of the ridges of the Malvern Hills, perhaps at the British Camp.
5:25 PM
John U said…
Extraordinary, thanks for the info. Pastor Will.
6:08 PM
Will Vaus said…
You are welcome!
7:02 PM
John U said…
Hey Pastor Will,

Any chance we could email directly? I have a few more questions I'd like to ask. My email is usher.john at, I'll call it, "geemail" to trick any spam bots.

Many thanks!
John.
4:23 PM
Will Vaus said…
Yes. You can email me at will@willvaus.com
5:21 PM
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