I was uncomfortable with Cooper’s spiritual perspective, and did not know how much of my discomfort to share with you, but the battle against evil was nonetheless gripping, and visual images of the archetypal landscape from the West Country and Wales were planted deep in your psyche.

It was satisfying to watch you identify closely with L’Engle’s Meg and Charles Wallace Murry, characters who had trouble fitting in because of their precocious, creative, and courageous understanding of realities that others did not see, and their blindness to commonplace things that others saw readily.

Alexander was easily the most fun of the big five, but important themes were being addressed without authorial talking down to the readers. Alexander could express childlike delight in simple jokes one moment and force us to face hard truths about life the next. It seemed to me that his worldview was more existentialist than Christian, but his moral perspective was generally healthy and thought provoking. He is a better writer than many critics allow. From his most serious books such as the Westmark trilogy, to his lightest such as the Vesper Holly series, I always found him worth reading with enjoyment and respect. The Chronicles of Prydain brought it all together.

Your attitude toward Lewis went through more phases than with any of the others. But his insights into spiritual matters would bring him to the top from time to time. He gave you a way to talk about faith with your peers.

No doubt, as a writer, Tolkien is best. How we slogged on with those hobbits on their perilous quest, only to return and do it again every few years! Our courage and faith grew with every trip.

By contrast, Rowling is clever and may know better how to connect to current culture, but her writing does not compare to the big five.