'Lord of the Rings' protector Christopher Tolkien dies at 95

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

LONDON (AP) — Christopher Tolkien, who played a major role protecting the legacy of his father’s “The Lord of the Rings” series, has died. He was 95.

The Tolkien Society and HarperCollins UK confirmed his death but no details were provided.

Tolkien’s life work was closely identified with that of his father, J.R.R. Tolkien. He helped edit and publish much of his father’s writings after the science fiction and fantasy master died in 1973.

Among the books he worked on were “The Silmarillion,” “The Children Of Hurin,” and other texts that flesh out the complex world his father created.

He also drew the original maps that adorned the trilogy of books released in the 1950s.

Read more: https://apnews.com/c2af968ffba867d283cde9fa6c396671

[LiberalLovinLug]

1. ...

[Dem2theMax]

2. Colbert is probably doing exactly that right about now.

[SCVDem]

6. My first thought!

[SergeStorms]

3. There's a Tolkien movie on HBO this month...

about J.R.R's early life, (up until his Oxford Professorship). I don't suppose it could have been made without the permission of the Tolkien family, so I imagine it's pretty true to life. It was released in 2019 but didn't play well in the U.K. or the U.S., although I enjoyed it. I might have thought differently had I spent $12 to see it at a theater though. I wasn't aware of the horrors he experienced during WWI and how they affected his writing. Very informative and entertaining in my opinion.

Very sorry to hear about his son's death. Another page of history turned.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Actually, they weren't happy with it

Lord of the Rings author’s estate declares it did not ‘approve of, authorise or participate in the making of’ new biopic

On Tuesday morning, the estate and family of Tolkien issued a terse statement in which they announced their “wish to make clear that they did not approve of, authorise or participate in the making of this film”, and that “they do not endorse it or its content in any way”.

A spokesperson for the estate told the Guardian that the statement was intended to make its position clear, rather than heralding future legal action.

John Garth, author of the biography Tolkien and the Great War, said he felt the estate’s response to the film was “sensible”.

“Biopics typically take considerable licence with the facts, and this one is no exception. Endorsement by the Tolkien family would lend credibility to any divergences and distortions. That would be a disservice to history,” he said. “As a biographer, I expect I’ll be busy correcting new misconceptions arising from the movie. I hope that anyone who enjoys the film and is interested in Tolkien’s formative years will pick up a reliable biography.”

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/23/tolkien-estate-disavows-forthcoming-film-starring-nicholas-hoult

[SergeStorms]

7. Wow.

I didn't think they could make a movie like that without the family's approval, but I'm certainly wrong on that account, aren't I? The Tolkien name has been famously protected over the years, and I would have thought they'd need authorization to go ahead with a project such as that. The Tolkien family should have sued the movie company to prevent it's release, in my opinion.

[Withywindle]

8. Hmm, I don't know

I feel like filmmakers take liberties in movies about real people all the time, it's not that unusual. If it had anything defamatory or libelous in any way I could see a case, but I saw the Tolkien movie (guess I was one of like 20 people who did, lol) and it doesn't, it's a very loving potrayal.

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. May you join your father in Valinor, the Undying Lands, and

rest there together a while, before moving on.