The late Oxford don C.S. Lewis, popularly known as the 20th century's "Apostle to the Skeptics" and author of 38 books which have sold over 100 million copies worldwide, was a humble man who never thought very highly of his skills, said his stepson at the American Premiere of a docudrama based on his stepfather's life.

Douglas Gresham, whose divorced mother married bachelor Lewis in 1956, shared insights about his stepfather during a Nov. 14 panel discussion following a Hollywood church screening of "C.S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia," a one-hour television program airing on the Hallmark Channel Dec. 9 at 8 p.m.

Executive-produced by Faith & Values Media, the docudrama's television premiere will coincide with the highly anticipated theatrical release of Walt Disney Pictures' "The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" originally penned by Lewis. "Beyond Narnia" explores Lewis' personal life and spiritual struggles, including his journey from atheism to Christianity and his crisis of faith following the death of his wife, Joy, from cancer in 1960.

Gresham disputed the "myth" that Lewis was an introverted professor type uncomfortable around children. "He was a fascinating conversationalist and very witty man," said Gresham, who traveled to England from America as a boy of eight to meet Lewis with his mother and older brother, David, in 1952. He said he never resented his stepfather's relationship with his mother, a poet who converted from Judaism to Christianity after being influenced by Lewis' writings.

In Lewis' personal life, according to Gresham, he exhibited qualities of chivalry, duty, honor and responsibility. After being the only one of four friends who survived serving in World War I, Lewis took responsibility for looking after the teenage sister and mother of his deceased roommate, "Paddy" Moore. Lewis, his historian brother, Major Warren Lewis, and Mrs. Moore and her daughter, Maureen, lived together for years in a two-story, six-bedroom brick cottage called "The Kilns" beside an extensive wood in Oxford.

Gresham witnessed an example of Lewis' chivalry first-hand when, in 1956, Lewis proposed a "paper" marriage to his mother in order to prevent the family from being deported because the British immigration service refused to renew their visas. Lewis soon realized how much he loved his "wife" when she was diagnosed with cancer just a few months later, and the two were married by an Anglican priest in 1957.

The couple enjoyed three years of wedded bliss before Joy succumbed to her illness in 1960. Lewis died only three years later on the day President John F. Kennedy was shot: Nov. 22, 1963.

Asked to recount his favorite memory of Lewis, Gresham told a story illustrating his stepfather's "immense physical courage" as well as his mother's plucky personality. Plagued with trespassers on their estate, the couple was confronted one day with an interloper who rose out of the bushes aiming a bow and arrow right at them. Lewis immediately stepped in front of his wife, who, with some consternation retorted: "Get out of my line of fire." The trespasser turned and ran when he saw Joy's raised shotgun.

Eighteen years old when Lewis died, Gresham said he was "moved to tears" while reading Lewis' letters expressing fondness for his stepchildren. "It was enormously emotional when I realized he loved me as much as I loved him," said Gresham, who considers his stepfather to be the best Christian he has ever known.

Gresham, who appears in "Beyond Narnia" commenting on his stepfather's life, has recently written a book about C.S. Lewis entitled: "Jack's Life: The Life Story of C.S. Lewis" published by Broadman & Holman. He is also a co-producer on "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" opening Dec. 9 in theatres nationwide.

Having viewed the final cut of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in Los Angeles just three days prior to the "Beyond Narnia" screening, Gresham said the computer special effects-laden live action movie filmed in New Zealand and Los Angeles is the realization of a life-long dream. "It came to life in a staggeringly beautiful way," said Gresham. "It's just amazing and, for me, a great thrill."