"The Santa Problem" John Fitch IV Column
As with many of his Christmas columns, Cormier addresses the idea of Santa, Christmas magic, and the innocence of childhood. He admits never telling a child that Santa is not real but cannot defend his existence, just as faith or a joke cannot be explained without polluting its existence. Believing in Santa Claus keeps the child alive, so he laments the time that his children no longer believe.
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<em>Fitchburg Sentinel</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
24 December 1976
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
<a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/113" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>"Advent and the Family" Visitor</span></a><br /><a href="https://robertcormiertwistedintimacy.omeka.net/items/show/80" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">"The Last Party" John Fitch IV Column</a>
JPG, 8.5x14
English
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"As The Hour Nears" John Fitch IV Column
In this column, Cormier discusses the magic of Santa and the innocence of childhood. His daughter, seven going on eight, isn't sure if she believes in Santa any longer. But she writes to him just in case, and she tries her best to stay up late to see him come down the chimney with the gifts. Cormier dodges answering her questions on his existence but knows that the time is coming when she will know the answers herself.
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<em>Fitchburg Sentinel</em>
Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
24 December 1974
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x14
English
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"Holding To What Is Magic" John Fitch IV Column
This John Fitch IV article is one of a few in which Cormier talks about magic and dad jokes. Here, as in other pieces, he links magic and the belief in magic to the innocence of childhood. When he teaches his daughter a trick, he is sad for the lost magic and thinks forward to all the other things that will lose their magic as she grows.
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Robert E. Cormier Collection at Fitchburg State University's Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library
1 March 1973
AnnaMary L. Consalvo
Katharine Covino
Elise Takehana
JPG, 8.5x14
English
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