HAVE A DICKENS OF A CHRISTMAS!

     MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023

     HAVE A  DICKENS OF A CGRISTMAS!

    Christmas is a time for traditions. One

of mine involves watching various versions

of the movie "A Christmas Carol" based on

the Charles Dickens novel. My tradition

began over 70 years ago at my home in

Hazleton where, each Christmas Eve, my

Mom, Dad, brother, and I would gather

around a record player and listen to actor

Lionel Barrymore narrate the classic story

of Scrooge and the four ghosts he encountered

on his way to personal redemption as a decent

human being. These days it's the movie versions

I watch and there's no shortage of those. Some 

135 movie/tv versions of the story have been

made over the years the first beng produced

in 1901. Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol

in 1843. It was ready by December 19th and

sold more than 6,000 copies by Christmas!

Unfortunately Dickens agreed to pay to have

his novel published so he really didn't make

much money from those successful sales.

Seems he was a great writer but no so good

a businessman. In fact generations of his

surviving family get virtually nothing from

all the versions of A Christmas Carol that

have been made since 1843! Hope you have

some great Christmas traditions and are

enjoying them with family and friends

this year. God bless us, everyone! And

may all your NEWS be good!