his is my favorite Christmas article. What I like to refer to as The Other Greatest Story Ever Told. It may be my favorite article, period. It's definitely among the top 10. I can't tell you all other nine, but I want to give some wiggle room.
It was written by my pal Mark Evanier, who I often mention and post articles from. As Mark himself acknowledges, it's his most linked-to article from his website (which you can reach here) -- the 17th best blog in the United States, according to Time Magazine (really!), though the fourth best, according to me. It's also, he says, the most-stolen article he's written, which is impressive under any condition, but especially for a Christmas story. He says that people either copy it to their website without attribution or a link back to the original, or worse (and bizarrely) some people actually insert their own name in the article, in place of Mark's. So, just to keep being clear, this is written by Mark Evanier. I love the story for three reasons. One is that it's a wondrous, human tale and one that deals with a world-favorite Christmas song. And a tale that came about not by pure chance but because Mark Evanier is Mark Evanier, who sees things from a deeply-informed perspective and then goes about to do something about it. The second is that, whatever it's about, it's just gorgeously written, spun as only Mark Evanier can tell and write a tale. The third reason is personal -- it's about the singer and songwriter, Mel Tormé, who my mother went to high school with, at Hyde Park High School in Chicago. I don't believe they knew each other, but he's there in her yearbook. (Several years back, when I was working on the movie, Naked Gun 2-1/2, doing PR in my days of shame, Mel Tormé did a cameo in the film, and I finally had a chance to meet him and tell him about my mother and him. We had a very pleasant, albeit brief conversation, which most happily of all I got to pass along to my mother, which she liked hearing.) Anyway, this is just storytelling at the Evanier peak, which is saying a lot. You can read it here.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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