"There is a Santa Claus!" performed by Corinne DeVries

I read a letter yesterday a girl wrote long ago

With hope that someone at The Sun would more than likely know

Dear Editor… I’m eight years old… Virginia is my name

While I believe in Santa Claus my friends don’t feel the same

I asked my Papa who is right… my little friends or I

He said I should ask you because The New York Sun won’t lie

So tell me please what is the truth… does Santa Claus exist

Or is he just a fairy tale… a legend or a myth

There is a Santa Claus

You may be sure because

His presence though your eyes conceal

Your faithful heart will still reveal

And that’s why I can say to you

Yes Virginia it is true

There is a Santa Claus

That editor was Francis Church who tenderly opined

My dear your little friends are wrong... I fear they've closed their minds

These days so many people won't believe what they can't see

And what their brains don't comprehend they'll say no way can be

How dreary must existence be for those who don’t believe

Whose faith is lost with all the wonders that they can't perceive

The things most real in all the world... like love... no one can see

And yet they fill our wistful lives despite their mystery

There is a Santa Claus

You may be sure because

His presence though your eyes conceal

Your faithful heart will still reveal

And that’s why I can say to you

Yes Virginia it is true

There is a Santa Claus

PAu 4-104-672

This song was inspired by...


*Virginia O'Hanlon tells her own story.*	*Paul Harvey tells the Francis P. Church story.*

To date, more than a century and a quarter after it was written,
this remains the most reprinted newspaper editorial in history!

PS - Francis P. Church, who cherished his reputation as a hard-nosed skeptic,

declined to have his name attached to this decidedly non-skeptical opinion piece.

Sorry Mr. Church... the truth is out! You really were quite tender-hearted after all.

Contact Damon Leigh

DigitalDiscus@Gmail.com