Walter McGehee Hooper (born 1931) is a trustee and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis. Born in Reidsville, North Carolina, he earned an M.A. in education and was an instructor in English at the University of Kentucky in the early 1960s. As a visitor to England, he served briefly (1963) as Lewis's private secretary when Lewis was in declining health. After Lewis's death in November 1963, Hooper devoted himself to Lewis's memory, eventually taking up residence in Oxford, England. Clive Staples Lewis (November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an author and scholar. ... Reidsville is a city located in Rockingham County, North Carolina. ... The University of Kentucky (also as UK or simply Kentucky) is a public, co-educational university located in Lexington, Kentucky. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ...

As an Englishman, Hooper studied for the ministry and was ordained as an Episcopal priest. Hooper converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1988. The word episcopal is derived from the Greek επίσκοπος, transliterated epískopos, which literally means overseer; the word, however, is used in religious contexts to refer to a bishop. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

Literary work

Hooper's work has been that of a literary executor and advocate rather than independent scholar. His works include:

• C.S. Lewis: A Biography (co-authored with Roger Lancelyn Green) (1974)
• Past Watchful Dragons: The Narnian Chronicles of C.S. Lewis (1979)
• Through Joy and Beyond (1982)
• War in Deep Heaven: The Space Trilogy of C.S. Lewis (1987)
• C.S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide (1996)
• C.S. Lewis: A Complete Guide to His Life and Works (1998)

In addition, Hooper has edited or written introductions for approximately 30 books of Lewisian manuscripts and scholarship. Several of these books contain previously unknown or little-known works by Lewis. Roger (Gilbert) Lancelyn Green (2 November 1918 – 8 October 1987) was a British biographer and childrens writer. ...

Controversy

In 1977, Hooper published an unfinished science-fiction novel, The Dark Tower, as a previously unknown work by C.S. Lewis. The Dark Tower resembles Lewis's known works in some ways and departs from them in others. A school of critics, headed by Kathryn Lindskoog, have accused Hooper of either forging the work in toto, or taking small fragments of an unknown work by Lewis, adding a lot of padding, and turning the result into the 1977 published work. Lindskoog has also questioned the authenticity of other posthumously published works edited by Hooper. ^[1] The Dark Tower can refer to one of several things: The Dark Tower (series) — a series of novels by Stephen King. ... Kathryn Lindskoog (December 26, 1934 to October 21, 2003) was a C.S. Lewis scholar known largely for her theory that some works attributed to Lewis are forgeries, including The Dark Tower. ...

Hooper has completely rejected these accusations. Some independent research exists to confirm the authenticity of the posthumous Lewis works edited by Hooper. ^[2]