Christmas Eve certainly is a fitting moment to recall Francis P. Church, one of the few editorial writers whose name is to known to generations of Americans.
Church wrote the most-reprinted editorial in American journalism, â??Is There A Santa Claus?â? The editorial appeared in the New York Sun in 1897, and over time became recognized as an unrivaled classic, a timeless and lyrical tribute to childhood, faith, and the Christmas spirit.
Church, ironically, was a reticent, retiring man, little known outside a tight circle of friends and colleagues.
He was no self-promoter.
As I wrote in my 2006 book, The Year That Defined American Journalism: 1897 and the Clash of Paradigms, Church shunned the spotlight and venerated the anonymity of the editorial page. He probably wouldnâ??t have appreciated being identified as the man who wrote â??Is There A Santa Claus?â?
His authorship was revealed soon after his death in April 1906, in what, for the Sun, was eloquent and extraordinary tribute. In an editorial note, the newspaper said:
â??At this time, with the sense of personal loss strong upon us, we know of no better or briefer way to make the friends of the Sun feel that they too have lost a friend than to violate custom by indicating him as the author of the beautiful and often republished editorial article affirming the existence of Santa Claus, in reply to the question of a little girl.â?
The little girl was Virginia Oâ??Hanlon, who wrote to the Sun shortly after her eighth birthday in July 1897, imploring: â??Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?â?
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