“Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age,” wrote Francis P. Church, in an editorial to a worried little girl the autumn of 1897. At the time of Virginia’s letter asking to be told the truth of whether there is a Santa Claus, Francis Church, a former Civil War correspondent, was an aging, sardonic editorial writer for the New York Sun. Reportedly, Mr. Church bristled and “pooh-poohed” the idea when his boss suggested he pen a response to eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon. But then as the story goes, under a deadline, Church set off fo...
Reader Comments(0)