Merry Christmas, everyone. Here is my gift for you. Click on the title of this post to read MY MOST MISERABLE MERRY CHRISTMAS, a favorite story from my childhood. Then, I loved it because like the young boy in the story, all I ever wanted was a pony for Christmas (or any other day of the year). But as time passed its theme has become my personal philosophy: I want the pony or nothing. To me it is all about not settling. Being determined and focused and honest about what you need from the universe.
Written by one of America's greatest journalists, LINCOLN STEFFENS, it is actually a chapter from his autobiography. Steffens was one of the original muckrakers, back when that word had a more noble connotation. He wrote sensational articles exposing municipal corruption; they were later collected in The Shame of the Cities (1904), The Struggle for Self-Government (1906), Upbuilders (1909), and other volumes. His autobiography (1931) contains not only personal reminiscences but also some keen insights on the leftist movements of his era. It is a wonderful read if you ever come across it. I found this copy in Haslams, a great local bookstore in St Pete.
Even if you are not shopping for a new way of life, this is a magical story to read during the holidays. Let me know what you think, and post a title or two of your favorite holiday stories. Or at least tell me what cha got!
4 comments:
I always wanted a pony for Christmas and never got one either..Well done on doing a year of this awful stuff...Going in for the fourth month and no, I am not here to drag you down, but rather, just hang in there with you...talking about leather shops and stuff...(for horses and ponies you understand...)
Minerva
I just learned about your blog from a response you wrote on my friend's livejournal. Just wanted to say that I absolutely loved your Bruce story and the story about that beautiful old dog of yours. They were simultaneously inspiring and heartwrenching. I fired up Thunder Road just now with your story in mind. Please keep blogging!!!
Jason
www.livejournal.com/~asu_law34
Jill, I tried emailing from your site, no luck, the link is broken ... I hope this reaches you ..
Thanks TONS for that report on Henray Gale, way cool!
And kudos for knowing the term "jiffy feet" ... best all time sighting of JF? Oh, easy, the movie Caddyshack, the Irish girlfriend lays back ("come upstairs and I'll show you my holy cards") .. and, whoa! did she just complete the entire first act of RiverDance on an ink pad??
Chase
Minerva, my first thought when I read the title, Did You Get A Pony For Christmas, was to offer to send you a copy of the story, A Miserable Merry Christmas. Edward C. Smith, the illustrator,his lovely wife Virginia and their two children became frequent Sunday afternoon visitors at our farm in Fredrick, Pa. Ed, a talented artist, had my husband not moved me and the children to another farm a hundred and sixty miles north, would have become my art teacher as well as my friend. I have a signed copy of the book ... he most kindly signed it, To Mary Kaufman, artist. I was good at one of a kind terra cotta sculpture but I was no "artist".
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