The Hope Award
Listen to a RECORDING of the November meeting with Denise Vasiliu, recipient of 2025 the Hope Award
At the November 2025 monthly meeting of the New York C.S. Lewis Society, our guest speaker was Denise Vasiliu, founder of the C.S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits conference in Romania. She was interviewed by Kirstin Jeffrey-Johnson, a George MacDonald and Inklings scholar. At the conclusion of the interview, the chairman of the Society's Eldila committee, Daniel Richter, made the following remarks to award the HOPE AWARD to Denise:
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"Last month, Erin Seidel announced the establishment of the New York C.S. Lewis Society “Hope Award" which is an award to honor an individual or organization that has made a significant achievement in the area of C.S. Lewis. The award is both a physical award and a financial award in the amount of $2000. The Award is named after Hope Kirkpatrick, one of our Society’s original members, and long-serving treasurer and secretary, whose correspondence with members around the world often reflected C.S.
Lewis’s message of hope that is found in so many of his works. She worked tirelessly to produce and distribute our Bulletin to thousands of members a year, sometimes making last minute corrections by hand to each copy, as in the case of a contribution by Dr. Kranz on Dante and Lewis which she had translated from German, but noticed a typo when the bulletin was printed. Hope’s selfless dedication to promoting and preserving the works of C.S. Lewis honored the founding principles of our Society.
Hope enjoyed life by looking toward the hope of heaven. When you go to the history section of our website something that stands out is an excerpt from a letter that Hope had written about the death of her husband, John, writing that, “John’s end was peaceful. I hope to follow him soon.” This hope that she lived with was eternal, it was heavenly as Lewis wrote about in Mere Christianity. It is a hope that much of the world does not understand and is seen as foolish, thinking that Christians only live looking forward to a dream of heaven, but actually the mature hope that we have is reflected in Hope Award Presentation the lives that we live here, the relationships that we build, and the legacy that we leave.
1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
In hearing tonight’s interview and presentation, we were given a view into an organization that very much aligns with the founding principles of the New York C.S. Lewis Society and has certainly made a significant contribution to the study and promotion of Lewis. The C.S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits Society goals to develop a solid apologetic ministry based on the writings of C.S. Lewis and other “kindred spirits” and to train and equip young leaders in using all the Christian resources in the areas of liberal arts, especially as demonstrated through the amazing conferences that you host have given a warm light to a once dark and closed off part of the world. The legacy that your society is building through the celebration of Lewis’s writings promote the hope that flourishes like the blooming spring in Narnia in a nation and region where you have played a significant role in its thawing.
A quote from The Great Divorce, which was also in Bulletin #245 which included a celebration of Hope Kirkpatrick, reads, “In her they became themselves. And now the abundance of life she has in Christ flows into them.” I looked at my Teacher in amazement. “Yes,” he said. “It is like when you throw a stone into a pool, and the concentric waves spread out further and further. Who knows where it will end?”
Speaking on behalf of the New York C.S. Lewis Society, Denise, in celebration your work and the work of the C.S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits Society being a light that Hope Award Presentation can never be extinguished, we are thankful for this new bridge of relationship and it is
my honor to present you with the inaugural New York C.S. Lewis Society Hope Award.
Denise Vasiliu, pictured with James and Alejandra Como, being presented with the Hope award in Romania.
John and Hope Kirkpatrick
Tributes and Memories
to Hope Kirkpatrick
"More than a landlady": a Memory of Hope
by Michael Christianson
by Mary Gehringer
Hope Kirkpatrick: A Tribute
(by James Tetreault)
Hope Kirkpatrick​​ told me one evening that she had grown up just down the street from where we are now (West 12th Street, NYC). She was a young singer of German Lieder when she married the pianist John Kirkpatrick. John was the champion of new American music, especially that of Charles Ives. He joined the music faculty at Cornell University in 1946, and then in 1968 went to Yale University where he served as curator of the Charles Ives archive.
​ The Kirkpatricks were stalwarts of our Society from the very beginning in 1969. They would motor in from New Haven, CT. Hope almost always, John often. Bulletin #265 is a memorial to John Kirkpatrick, who died in November 1991. Hope wrote to me, "John's end was peaceful. I hope to follow him soon." She died fifteen months later in February 1993.
​For the first twenty years of the Society Hope served as secretary and treasurer, a service that receives its just recognition in the tribute to her that Gene McGovern published in Bulletin #245. She sent letters all over the world, always, as many of us know, sprinkled with friendly personal messages.
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After Hope retired as secretary/treasurer, Clara Sarrocco continued with these duties - now serving in that position for over 30 years!
She handles all correspondence, bookkeeping, recordkeeping and has arranged special events.