The 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. Bob's

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 to

make one - a storybook! Bob had created an animal 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
2010