The meeting has not been a traditional one. Mr. Derek Shorthouse, you see, died in November 2012, in England.A glory of life is its moments of unexpected synchronicity.
I have, I think I have mentioned in these pages, a fondness for Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, that extraordinary thinker and convert to Catholicism from Anglicanism back in the 19th century. I have read several biographies and lately have been collecting some of editions of his letters and diaries. The latest one I received via an Amazon third party, a book store in the U.K., is of his Oxford Movement days when he hoped with his friends and colleagues to reform Anglicanism. This volume was in perfect shape, a pristine cover, and with not even the slightest marking in its printed body. It almost looked unread. But there was one clear indication of a prior owner, a colorful
"Ex Libris" with the name of one Derek Shorthouse. The name bespoke a literary time past. For a moment, it seemed impossible this book belonged to a real person.
And then I did what modern technology commands. I googled Mr. Shorthouse. There he was! He did not have a large presence on the net, but enough of one for me to get a sense of the man. His interest in Newman was not mere intellectual curiosity. At one time, Mr. Shorthouse had been the bursar at Oriel College Oxford, Newman's alma mater. I don't know how he came to it, the internet does not give that much information, but Mr. Shorthouse was scheduled to be received officially into the Catholic Church on December 8, but died on November 27. He had made the decision but God took him to His Heart before the formality.
He was, as well, a chronicler of his family. I have printed out and saved photographs of Derek and his family which he gathered together.
He had four children, two girls and two boys; one boy appears to have grown up to be a successful financial expert.
Something touches me deeply about having this man's book in my little apartment in West Hollywood. There is an earthly immortality about it. I don't know if Mr. Shorthouse ever travelled to the States in his lifetime, but a part of him is now here, in the form of the book in my library, his memory now firmly in mine.
am one of Derek Shorthouse's daughters. I happened to come across the 6th March entry in your blog yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing such a thoughtful and moving piece. My father would have been delighted that his Ex Libris bookplate had prompted you to google him and then to write about him in this way.
After he died, we had to dispose of much of his very extensive library and we sometimes wondered where the books ended up, without any expectation of discovering. It sounds as if this one has found a most suitable and appreciative home with you.
Antonia
PS He actually had four children, two boys and two girls.
I noticed some additional views of this entry and was hoping that it was someone who knew Mr. Shorthouse. I am delighted one of his children found it. And that his book dwells with many others in a tiny library in a small condominium in West Hollywood.
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