A Letter from the Spirit of Charles Dickens*

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Dear reader:

Please do me a great big favour. For the last year or so I have been giving you details of my personal life along with a synopsis of each of my novels in the order that I wrote them. I hope that you thoroughly enjoyed every one. I enjoyed writing them for you. If you missed any they are all in the ARCHIVES of this forum.

- The favour? - oh yes. But first I must tell you how I come to ask this favour. You see I do believe in spirits. I guess you may call them ghosts if you wish but ghosts have gotten a bad name - all except for the Holy Ghost. My spirit is like the one in A Christmas Carol, like the ghost/spirit of things yet to come. While my body has died and is very rotten (even though it is in a cathedral), my spirit lives on and tells me that people all over the world celebrate my birthday each February 7. And the spirit says that you are doing just that! I will 198.

- Now the favour. I would be honoured if you would attend there in Chatham-Kent. I will be there in spirit. Please get a few friends or family together and buy the tickets for a grand Sunday afternoon and evening. My friends, the Gilberts, are the keynote speakers and I know they will be trying their best to give you all a glimpse of life from 1812 to 1870 if you lived in either my Chatham-Kent or yours.

I remember as a boy with my sister, singing and dancing along the Thames and Medway rivers for the sailors that came home from wars like those in Europe or the War of 1812. I even remember an old soldier that lost his right leg at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada. I wonder if that is close to you. We had to move from Chatham back to London in 1824 because my father lost his job at the navy shipyard in Chatham. But I vowed to come back some day and I did. In fact in 1856 I bought the biggest house around and called it Gads Hill Place. I wrote Tale of Two Cities there and Great Expectations also while living there. Oh my, that is where my body stopped being (in 1870 while writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and I have been a spirit ever since. Oh well!

- Back to the banquet. Everyone is invited. I understand it is in the huge remodelled Armoury in Tecumseh Park. I would love to see that. The tickets are $35 each and the meal will be delicious. I will send a couple of pieces of my work to the CK Dickens Fellowship to be read at the banquet. I think that you will enjoy them.

I love huge banquets and indeed did attend quite a few while I toured England, America and the continent. I especially loved the banquets they gave in my honour in New York City and Montreal Canada.. I hated Cleveland but that is any other story.

Will I see you there? You can get tickets from Dickens Fellowship board members or by calling 519 354 9786. There is more information at www.dickensfellowship.ca

See YOU there on February 7th. I will be there if only in spirit!
Very faithfully yours,


Charles Dickens

*RAYMOND BERNREUTER, a Dickens scholar since 1995, is one of the original founders of the Chatham Kent Dickens Fellowship. CK Dickens is a chapter of the international organization that promotes the works of Charles Dickens - both his literary works and his social aims as well.



In 2003, a small group of C-K citizens developed a new initiative whose mission is, "To promote artistic and economic development in Chatham-Kent through the writings of Charles Dickens". The group went on to establish a vision in which, "Chatham-Kent IS the Canadian Centre for the celebration of Charles Dickens, his works and his times." The group has been very active in pursuing its vision through sponsoring special events, working with students, collaborating with other arts organizations and securing membership in the International Dickens Fellowship headquartered in London, England. The Goal of CKDF is to establish a professional theatre company in Chatham-Kent, focused on the presentation of theatrical adaptations of Dickensí works. This series of articles seeks to explore some interesting comparisons between the birthplace of this great writer and our own community. The articles will also help readers to have a clearer view of the author, his life and his times. Questions can be addressed by e-mail to: ckdickens@cogeco.ca