Staff
J. Stanley Mattson
Dr. Mattson is the Founder and President, Director of the C.S. Lewis Study Centre at The Kilns in Oxford, England and Director of the triennial C.S. Lewis Summer Institute in Oxbridge.
Education
He has a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the State University of New York, Oswego; Master’s degree in history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Ph.D. in American Social and Intellectual History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Background
A past member of the faculty of Gordon College and of the faculty and administration of the University of Redlands, Dr. Mattson has also served as Headmaster of The Master’s School of West Simsbury, CT. He founded the C.S. Lewis Foundation in 1986.
Family / Interests
He and his wife, Jean, have two adult children, Todd and Elizabeth, and five grandchildren. Dr. Mattson’s interests include sailing, singing, and playing traditional folk music.
Gayne Anacker
Dr. Anacker is Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Assistant Director of the triennial C.S. Lewis Summer Institute in the Cities and Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, England.
Education
He holds the B.A. in Philosophy from Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California; the Master of Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts; the M.A. in Philosophy from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington; the Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine.
Background
Gayne has been Vice President of the C.S. Lewis Foundation, on a volunteer basis, for over 15 years. He began his career as Prof. of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California. He was also Founding President of Community Christian College, Redlands, California. Immediately prior to joining the Foundation full-time, he was on the staff of California Baptist University, Riverside, California as both Prof. of Philosophy and as an administrator, first, Associate Provost, then Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Family / Interests
He and Karen, his wife of 32 years, have one child, Rachael, a home-schooled high school junior. As a family, they enjoy music, reading, and politics. In addition to serious addictions to Narnia and Middle-earth, they are also Harry Potter fans
Steven Elmore
Steve Elmore is the Foundation’s Vice President of Events and Communications.
Education
He has a B.A. in English from Pepperdine University and an M.A. in Literature and Film from Claremont Graduate University.
Background
Prior to joining the Foundation in June 2006, Steve had experience working as a community college instructor (English composition), software instructor (basic to advanced MS Office), GED instructor (science, history), and as technical and clerical support staff in the nonprofit, education, and small business sectors.
Family / Interests
He and his wife Becky have a five year old daughter, Rowan. His interests include literature, film, video games, and playing with Rowan.
Dick Durant
Dick serves as Treasurer and Director of Administration for the C.S. Lewis Foundation.
Education
Dick earned his Bachelor of Science in Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, his Master of Arts in Theological Studies from the International School of Theology, and his Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Background
Dick has been involved in leadership, management, and development work for Christian ministries, other non-profits, and businesses for more than thirty years. He served for 14 years with Campus Crusade for Christ in campus ministry and various administrative roles. Since 1988, Dick has served as a leadership and organizational consultant, seeking to help the leaders of Christian ministries, non-profit organizations, and businesses clarify and achieve the vision God has placed in their hearts and the hearts of their team members.
Family / Interests
Married since 1981 to Brenda, the Durants have three children, two sons and one daughter. They live in Redlands, California, and are very active in their local church. Following their children’s activities in youth sports, music, and theatre has been the focus of much of their interests.
Kate Simcoe
Kate is the Kilns Coordinator and Director of Summer Seminars in Residence at The Kilns, Oxford, England.
Education
Kate received her Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design, California State Univ. Long Beach. She also took independent studies courses in dance, theatre and art at Rancho Santiago College, California.
Background
She has served with the C.S. Lewis Foundation since 2001. In addition, Kate is an Interior Designer, residential and commercial design, a private residential design consultant, and an independent film set designer. Her previous experience includes being an Administrative Assistant in the educational and institutional fields, a costume designer and a dance instructor.
Family / Interests
She has been married 28 years to the love of her life, Duncan, an artist, musician and arts educator. She enjoys time with her family and cats, traveling, gardening, reading, movies, having musical evenings with her friends, flower arranging and decorating her home again and again and again.
Debbie Higgens
Dr. Debbie Higgens is Resident Director at The Kilns.
Education
Debbie received her B.A. in English Education from Columbia Union College, Maryland; her M.A. in English from Andrews University, Michigan; and her Ph.D. in Medieval and Renaissance Literature from Middle Tennessee State University,Tennessee. Her dissertation title is “Anglo-Saxon Community in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” and she wrote her dissertation while living at the Kilns as a Scholar-in-Residence.
Background
Debbie has taught in the English Department of Southern Adventist University for the past 17 years. She has also served as a full-time missionary in Costa Rica, lived in Japan as a child, and spent five of her teen-age years living in Turkey and Germany. Debbie has been involved with the C.S. Lewis Foundation since 2002 and first visited the Kilns in its early renovation stages in 1994.
Family / Interests
She has two children, Christina and Nathan, who are also avid readers and have travelled extensively. Debbie has been an equestrian since her childhood and enjoys falconry whenever she gets a chance; her favorite bird to fly is the owl. She enjoys reading and researching Anglo-Saxon literature and artifacts as well as the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Mary Key
Dr. Key serves as Director of Special Programs for the C.S. Lewis Foundation.
Education
Mary earned both her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology degrees from California Baptist University. She earned a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology with a specialty in College Student Development through the School of Education at the University of Southern California.
Background
She has served California Baptist University as faculty teaching in the Psychology, Education and Literature departments and in the Counseling Graduate Program. She has held positions as Counseling Center Director, Director of Women’s Housing, and Career Services Director. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, was in private practice for several years, and conducted seminars in organizational consulting. Her calling for the past several years has been to Home Education (particularly focused on their three children), and the development and networking of community resources in that context.
Family / Interests
Mary, her husband, Scott, and their two sons and daughter are avid Lewis and Tolkien fans. As a family, they enjoy every aspect of theater – acting, singing, dancing, dramaturgy, “propping,” and cheering on those who do it all. Their home is held up by bookcases, and their refrigerator is barely visible through the magnets collected from travels to over 40 states and 6 countries.
Chris Howell
Chris works as Communications Associate.
Education
He finished his B.A. in History at the University of California, Riverside.
Background
Chris has worked for the Foundation for over 2 years, first as an intern, then Communications Assistant, and now Communications Associate. In between promotions, he spent a year teaching English as a Second Language in Prague, Czech Republic.
Family / Interests
Chris enjoys reading about various things, including theology, philosophy, early American history, and science fiction, as well as listening to music, playing piano, and complaining about the weather.
Laura Hill
Laura is the Foundation’s Bookkeeper.
Education
She has a B.S. in Accounting from the UABC and a Master’s in Finance from CETYS University, both in Baja California, Mexico.
Background
Laura has mainly worked in accounting and finance areas in the manufacturing industry. Laura worked with the C.S. Lewis Foundation from 2007 to 2009, and again starting in 2013.
Family / Interests
She enjoys spending time with family and friends, camping, hiking, playing basketball, playing card and board games, traveling, and going to Mexico on short term mission trips.
Nancy Rinella
Nan currently serves as Volunteer Coordinator of the C.S. Lewis Summer and Fall Conferences.
Education
Attended the University of Colorado, UCLA, and studied journalism at West Texas A&M. She was a National Journalism Center senior fellow with Human Events in Washington D.C. and is a graduate of Bible Study Fellowship and Christian Leaders, Authors & Speakers Services Seminar and Personality Training Workshop.
Background
Nan is a former flight attendant and inflight coordinator, winning a system wide award for the best domicile newsletter. She’s been a writer, speaker, and freelance journalist for the last 20 years, publishing over 200 articles in Amarillo, Texas, publications, and in Daily Devotions for Writers, Focus on the Family Magazine, and Consumer Research. Over the last 20 years Nan has served as program and publicity chair, and president with Panhandle Professional Writers and directed their annual writers’ conference, Frontiers in Writing. She has written a book on travel.
Family / Interests
She and Joe have been married 40 years. Their son Ryan is married but no grandchildren yet, but they do have a grand dog and five cats. Nan is an avid student of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and is currently writing a Narnia inspired novel. Nan considers herself a “Hobbit in Narnia.”
Andrew Lazo
Andrew currently serves as the C.S. Lewis 101 Track Coordinator and Bag End Cafe Coordinator for the C.S. Lewis Summer and Fall Conferences.
Education
Andrew completed his B.A. from the University of California, Davis, majoring in English and double-minoring in Latin and Medieval Studies. He went on to take a Post-Baccalaureate in Classics from U.C. Davis. The recipient of the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship in the Humanities, Andrew studied Modernist British Literature at Rice University, finishing ABD and taking his M.A. there.
Background
Andrew teaches. For the past half dozen years or more he’s done so both in high school and college classrooms in Houston, TX, and also in seminar rooms churches, and lecture halls around the country and even across the ocean. C.S. Lewis long ago opened doors into the wide rooms of reason and of imagination, and Andrew explores this introduction in his writing, teaching, and relationships. Good talk with great friends around well-laid tables delight him most. Such conversations led him to co-edit and publish Mere Christians in 2009 and inspire him in his current research on Till We Have Faces. You can find out more at andrewlazo.com.
Family / Interests
A lifelong interest in cooking continues to flourish in Andrew. He also has a deep and growing interest in sports ranging from cricket to rugby to NASCAR and curling, but most especially focusing on basketball. He loves to travel, having visited nearly every state and several foreign countries, and speaks Spanish fluently. And, seriously, don’t even get him *started* on music, art, or technology!
Kirk Manton
Kirk currently serves as the Production & Scheduling Manager for the C.S. Lewis Summer and Fall Conferences, the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute, and other events.
Education
Kirk earned his Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies at The Union Institutes.
Background
Kirk served the local church as a youth pastor for over 10 years. Since that time he has worked in the film and video production and the event production industry. He trained and worked for years on all kinds of film and video projects as a freelance lighting technician and he help found and manage a film lighting rental company in Orange County California. Kirk then transitioned into event production managing for companies such as The Disney Hotel and The Amarillo Civic Center. He is now the Director of Production Services at a mega church, Trinity Fellowship, in Amarillo, Texas.
Family / Interests
Married since 1994 to Rachelle, he has 5 children: one birth daughter, one step daughter, one adopted son, and one goddaughter. They live in Amarillo, Texas, and are very active in their local church. Following and supporting his children’s activities is the greatest joy of his life. With all four in college at one time or another now, that is about all he can do.
Nick Haddad
Nick Haddad serves as the Event and Communications Intern for the C.S. Lewis Foundation.
Education
He received his B.A. in Mass Communications from Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee.
Background
Growing up in a small Indiana town Nick always had a passion for bigger things. He quickly finished school and began working for multiple companies and venues. While finding a home at a popular Nashville radio station, Nick also worked for Howard Books out of Brentwood Tennessee. He began working for the non-profit organization, The Briner Institute, in which he still has a solid connection with although via email these days.
Nick also has been thoroughly involved with Landis Entertainment which owned and operated by Barry Landis who continues to strive for making a more positive, “salt filled” world through Christianity and media.
Family / Interests
Nick is a nerd to almost every definition of the word. He loves to talk movies, books, television, comics, and anything in between, but books in particular have started to take over his life. “You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me” (Lewis of course) has become more or less a corner stone for his life these days. Nick has been involved with every church he calls home heavily throughout the years and looks forward to wherever God calls him to venture to next, and can’t begin to thank his family and friends enough for the love they’ve given him.