Why is this Catholic Author Being Hailed By Hollywood Stars & Marvel Comics?
The busyness of my life was halted by the most heart-wrenching news tonight, and I nearly ignored the story because it boasts the names of Hollywood stars, including Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey, Jr., Jeremy Renner, and others.
Normally, I pay no attention to Hollywood chatter, but I am so moved by the astonishing display of humanity that I am bubbling at my cyber megaphone this very moment. It has been two years since I last wrote publicly, but here is an unprecedented story:
A faculty member at my alma mater's Oxford campus and Catholic author Stratford Caldecott is in his last days battling prostate cancer. Caldecott's daughter Sophie writes the bleak outlook on her blog—
The doctors now say that dad is into the final stages of the disease, the part where your bones fracture under the slightest impact, and swelling around vital organs starts to happen for no apparent reason. They say that we only have around 12 weeks left. We have to make these 12 weeks count, and I have an idea about how we can do that.
Knowing well her bedridden father's affinity for superhero comics, Sophie found a way to screen Marvel's latest film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, at the Caldecott home in England. With 12 weeks left to live, the August DVD release won't arrive in time, but Sophie managed to reach out to Marvel Comics and the multiple actors featured in Avengers.
The following day Sophie received this message on her blog:
...and then the actors responded with their own Twitter hashtag #CapForStrat (Captain America for Stratford):
(Photo courtesy of Michael J. Lichens)
You can read the full story by Michael Lichens over at Novel Thoughts.








