Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966)

Today marks the death of British writer and convert Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966). London born and Oxford educated, he wrote books on biography, travel, studies of politics and social life, but he was most famous as a novelist. He converted to Catholicism in 1930 and was conservative to the point of being reactionary. Once during an audience with Pope Pius XII, Waugh launched into his own pontifications, only to be interrupted by the Pope, “But Mr. Waugh, I too, am Catholic!” When he died in 1966, a special dispensation was granted to have his Funeral Mass celebrated in Latin. His most famous book, Brideshead Revisited, deals with an old English Catholic family and the people they encounter. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it, along with any of Waugh’s books.