On Books and Shakespeare

Let's just call him William White. He is a Shakespearean scholar, a retired English Teacher, a director of plays, a lover of books, a much beloved member of the church I serve, where he has probably held every office, and is the archivist who has written the history of the church, to name just a few of his accomplishments.

Mr. White gave a presentation tonight, and it was really quite fascinating, primarily because of the details that were revealed about his favorite author, Helen Bevington. His English professor in college read one of her poems, and he was enchanted, slowly acquiring books she had written over many years. Mr. White is in his late seventies, so that first poem would have probably been discovered in the early 1950's.

Over the course of his teaching career, Mr. White taught Shakespeare and directed many Shakespearean plays in his school district. He often used textbooks and articles and other scholarly material written by a David Bevington, who unbelievably turned out to be Helen's son, a connection he did not make for many years. But eventually he wrote a letter to David Bevington, and in that letter Mr. White inquired if his mother Helen was still living. Mr. White and Helen Bevington began a correspondence which lasted for several years until she passed away. He was her biggest fan!

Although they had never actually met, her son David asked Mr. White to speak at her memorial service in North Carolina in 2000. From an initial meeting through a poem read by a professor as a young man, to a connection through her Shakespearean scholar son, and to a correspondence between lovers of literature, this was a most unusual and unique relationship, a kind of "love affair" between an author and her fan.

It was a love affair that developed and lasted for over fifty years between two people who only met through words on a page. How fascinating!