You know how CS Lewis made ends meet during the war?
People from the US sent him care packages.
Seriously.
There was one man, last name Frior, that Lewis dubbed, "Frior of the Hams" b/c he sent Lewis HUGE hams on a regular basis, that KEPT HIM & HIS FAMILY FED.

I think we

...need to figure out how to do something like this for people who need to quarantine, but can't afford to. I know GoFundMe & micro-banking apps exist for this reason, but we need a HUGE, coordinated, global, effort to make this work.

(Oh, & find/read Lewis's Complete Letters. You can look up any last name from the index.)

My apologies, it's Firor!
Firor of the Hams. :)

#FirorOfTheHams, & his relationship w/ #CSLewis, is an incredible story that's all-too-relevant to our current COVID Crisis.
Sit back, grab your cigar & brandy snifter, & get ready to travel back to England during WWII rationing.

Dr. Warfield Monroe Firor was from #Baltimore! He received his MD in 1921 from Johns Hopkins, & did residencies in neurosurgery & general surgery. He did research on the effects of tetanus on the spinal cord (!!!) & treating diseased adrenal glands w/hormone implants. He also

...introduced an intestinal anti-sepsis treatment to prepare for colon surgery. (& remember, this is before the widespread use of antibiotics!)
So, imagine being a surgeon in the US, & hearing that your favorite author in England is subjected to food rationing bc of the War.

The 1st recorded correspondence between Lewis & Dr. Firor is a quick note in 1945:

(Those "family reasons" include, "I still have to care for the woman that I fell in love with at age 20," and, "My brother is falling-down drunk."
But we all know Lewis wouldn't say that.)

But then, Dr. Frior sends him some *stationary,* & Lewis very nearly has the 1940's British Equivalent of....

Again, imagine your FAVORITE AUTHOR writing to you about how *thrilled* he was to receive THIS:

At this point, Dr. Firor was starting to catch on: "The writer of Perelandra is *not* living in a world of beautiful floating islands right now. This sounds BAD."

He gets a little more creative.

Finally, the good doctor realized he has a role to play in stoking the fires of English literature, & #FirorOfTheHams is born:

It's hilarious....Lewis is spellbound.
The way the anthologies of letters are structured makes it feel almost whimsical!
He's corresponding in Latin w/a priest about some obscure theological nitpicking one minute, then practically yelling, "OMG, A HAM!" in the next!

No, SERIOUSLY.

These grocery parcels started in 1947. They continued w/joy and gusto until *1952*, & became almost mythical to Lewis's friends & community.
Actually, they became mythopoeic, because they fed the #Inklings, including Tolkien & his son:

Dr. Firor asked, at least once, what else he should put in the parcels. Lewis replied as only Lewis can:

"A HAM A MONTH??"
Yaaaaaassss, says the good doctor.

Apparently 1948 was Lewis's version of 2020:

Nah, 1949 came along & smacked em in the face:

This was Lewis's most poetic expression of his desire to visit Dr. Firor, & where he dubs him #FirorOfTheHams:

#FirorOfTheHams did manage to visit Lewis only once, & Lewis was never able to visit Dr. Firor's summer home in the Rockies, as he longed to do.
However, not only did he supply Lewis & his family food & goods for 3 MORE YEARS, he donated the money to compile Lewis's letters into

(sorry I lost the tweet mid-draft, lol)

...into an Anthology, & donated his own received letters to the work. One of my personal favorite moments of Lewis's letters is this touching admission to Dr. Firor in the early 1950's:

I'm convinced that #FirorOfTheHams is one reason why that prediction proved untrue. It's hard enough to create when you have EITHER an emotionally abusive partner, an alcoholic sibling, & a massive war-induced famine. Lewis had all 3! Yet, Dr. Firor kept his belly full, & maybe

...that alone gave Lewis the resilience to carry his drunk brother to bed *one more time,* & as he had his evening cigar, write about the image that popped into his head, as he sat by the fire. An image of a faun, walking through snow, carrying packages, & an umbrella.

In post-war life, Dr. Firor & Lewis had busy lives, & little in common. Their later letters reflected this. But it's so late tonight that I'll add some of my favorites as I can. Musings abt the wars, the crises, how they & everyone around them responded, etc. So like today.

Meanwhile, fellow travelers, sleep well, & if you have the chance to fill someone's belly, do it. The future Lewis & Tolkien may arise from that full table, & drink to your very good health. /fin for now.