[Ohio-talk] The True Story of Rudolph

[COLLEEN ROTH]

Hi Eric,
This is an awesome story. I have heard it before but think of what a wonderful lesson this is for all of us. What a wonderful story to share with those who are having difficulties with blindness and with their families as well.
Christmas Blessings to you Jonathon and Lucas.
Colleen Roth



----- Original Message -----
From: Eric Duffy <eduffy at deltav.org>
To: "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Date: Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 07:57:10 PM
Subject: [Ohio-talk] The True Story of Rudolph

>
>
> 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 Chicagoslums. 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 DinahShore , 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.
> 
> 
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