Chesterton was born on this day in 1874, in Campden Hill in Kensington, London.
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G. K. Chesterton: "Who is this guy and why haven’t I heard of him?"
A pithy bio of G.K. Chesterton by Dale Ahlquist, President, American Chesterton Society
I’ve heard the question more than once. It is asked by people who have just started to discover G.K. Chesterton. They have begun reading a Chesterton book, or perhaps have seen an issue of Gilbert! Magazine, or maybe they’ve only encountered a series of pithy quotations that marvelously articulate some forgotten bit of common sense. They ask the question with a mixture of wonder, gratitude and . . . resentment. They are amazed by what they have discovered. They are thankful to have discovered it. And they are almost angry that it has taken so long for them to make the discovery.
"Who is this guy. . .?"
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) cannot be summed up in one 
sentence. Nor in one paragraph. In fact, in spite of the fine biographies that have been written of him, (and his Autobiography) he has never been captured between the covers of one book. But rather than waiting to separate the goats from the sheep, let’s just come right out and say it: G.K. Chesterton was the best writer of the twentieth century. He said something about everything and he said it better than anybody else. But he was no mere wordsmith. He was very good at expressing himself, but more importantly, he had something very good to express. The reason he was the greatest writer of the twentieth century was because he was also the greatest thinker of the twentieth century.
Born in London, Chesterton was educated at St. Paul’s, but never went to college. He went to art school. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly. (To put it into perspective, four thousand essays is the equivalent of writing an essay a day, every day, for 11 years. If you’re not impressed, try it some time. But they have to be good essays, all of them, as funny as they are serious, and as readable and rewarding a century after you’ve written them.)
Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology. His style is unmistakable, always marked by humility, consistency, paradox, wit, and wonder. His writing remains as timely and as timeless today as when it first appeared, even though much of it was published in throw away paper.
Carl - Didn't realize until later that yesterday (still today, but for some reason according to this website it is tomorrow) was Walker Percy's birthday. I hope everyone had a shot of 80 proof Bourbon whiskey in his honor.
Happy Birthday GKC!
Posted by: Kevin C. | Saturday, May 28, 2011 at 10:15 PM
The most amazing thing about Chesterton's writings is that they remain timely. Whether the topic is economics, war, sex, or religion, his commentary is spot on for today. If you haven't read Chesterton's nonfiction, whatever have you been waiting for?! Go to ignatius.com and get anything by GKC. Now!
Posted by: Honor | Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 02:05 PM