<VV> Christmas times

[Tony Underwood]

     Forwarded from Atwood Huff






         **True Story of Rudolph**


  A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his 
drafty apartment window into the chilling December night.

His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing.

Bobs wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer.

Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come 
home. Barbara looked up
into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody 
else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears.

Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been 
the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob.

Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was 
too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called 
names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and 
never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving 
wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter 
at  Montgomery  Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed 
with his little  girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with 
cancer stripped  them of all their savings and now Bob and his 
daughter were forced  to live in a two-room apartment in 
the  Chicago  slums. Evelyn died  just days before Christmas in 1938.


  Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even 
afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was 
determined a make one - a storybook! Bob had created a character in 
his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give 
her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob
told the story, embellishing it more with each telling.

Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob 
May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he 
created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A
little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose.

Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on 
Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there.

  The general manager of  Montgomery  Ward caught wind of the  little 
storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the  rights 
to print the book. Wards went on to print,_ Rudolph the  Red-Nosed 
Reindeer_ and distribute it to children visiting Santa  Claus in 
their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed  more than 
six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher 
wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an  updated version 
of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of  kindness, the CEO of Wards returned 
all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy 
and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a 
growing family, became wealthy from  the story he created to comfort 
his grieving daughter. But the story  doesn't end there either.

  Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to 
Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular 
vocalists  as Bing Crosby and  Dinah   Shore  , it was recorded by 
the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was 
released  in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more 
records than  any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White 
Christmas.."

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago 
kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May
learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being 
different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.



   *_MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009 _*