Alfred Kenneth Hamilton
Jenkin (1900-80),
attended University College, Oxford, where in 1919 he became a friend of
C.S. Lewis. Both were members of The Martlets Literary Society. They often
met for tea then talked or went for walks or bicycle rides. Jack's diary
mentions Jenkin about 50 times during the school terms of 1922-24 (AMR).
Lewis wrote that Jenkin was
the "first lifelong friend" that he had met at Oxford. He showed
Lewis how to "enjoy everything; even ugliness," by making
"a total surrender to whatever atmosphere was offering itself at the
moment," rubbing one's nose in the "very quiddity of each
thing" (SBJ, XIII). This enjoyment of the essence of all
things possibly led to Lewis seeing the "patches of Godlight"
mentioned in Letters to Malcom (XVII) plus sharpened his critical
and imaginative talents.
Bibliography
Carpenter, Humphrey.
The Inklings: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Their
Friends. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979.
Glover, Donald E. C.S.
Lewis: The Art of Enchantment. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University
Press, 1981.
Green, Roger Lancelyn,
and Walter Hooper. C.S. Lewis: A Biography. New York: Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich, 1974.
Griffin, William. Clive
Staples Lewis: A Dramatic Life. San Francisco: Harper & Row,
1986.
Hooper, Walter. C.S.
Lewis: A Companion & Guide. San Francisco: HarperCollins,
1996.
Jenkin, A.K. Hamilton.
The Cornish miner: an account of his life above and underground from
early times, 1927. Pomfret, Vt.: David & Charles, 1972.
_________________. Cornwall
and its people : being a new impression of the composite work
including Cornish seafarers, 1932, Cornwall and the Cornish, 1933,
Cornish homes and customs, 1934; with an introduction by Sir
Arthur Quiller-Couch ; this impression introduced by David St. John
Thomas. North Pomfret, Vt. : David & Charles, 1988
Lewis, C.S. All My
Road Before Me: The Diary of C.S. Lewis, 1922-27. ed. Walter
Hooper. San Diego: Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich. 1991.
________. Letters of
C.S. Lewis. ed. with a memoir by W.H. Lewis. revised and enlarged
ed. Walter Hooper. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1988.
________. Letters to
Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World,
1964.
________. Surprised
by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life. London: Fontana, 1955.
Lindskoog, Kathryn. Creative
Writing: For People Who Can't Write. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
1989.
Richard James
Burkesville Christian Church
Burkesville, Ky
