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 dads 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. Being 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 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
ceated 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 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!
1 comments:
I had no idea ... what a lovely father. How strange that we associate the character and song with such joy, when it was borne out of pain, but more importantly, LOVE
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