Boston Pilot: Gala supports new Chesterton Academy to open this fall
NEWTON -- On the night of Feb. 2, the Boston Marriott Newton was graced by an unusual visitor.
In the hallway outside of the main ballroom, surrounded by well-dressed guests, none other than G.K. Chesterton, the British Catholic author and philosopher who died in 1936, was holding court. He was the man of the evening, regaling guests with anecdotes from his life, such as the time he was approached by a "constable" who told him to stop writing poetry in the street while "traffic was whizzing about."
"That's what the middle of the street is for, good man!" Chesterton told the officer.
Chesterton rubbed elbows with the hundreds of benefactors who had come to celebrate the opening of a school named after him. Chesterton Academy of the Immaculata, a self-proclaimed "joyfully Catholic, classical high school," will open its doors in Boston's western suburbs this fall. It is one of over 60 Chesterton Academies active in the U.S. The emcee of the celebratory gala on Feb. 2 was none other than "Chesterton" himself, played by Franciscan University of Steubenville theater professor John H. Walker. Walker tours the nation as Chesterton in his one-man show "The Golden Key" and portrays him on the EWTN television series "Chesterton Station."
"No one likes anything better than a big fat guy with an accent," Walker said in his remarks at the gala, breaking character for the first time all night.