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It’s hard to think of Christmas without thinking of the jolly old man in red that represents the giving spirit of the holidays. Santa Claus has been a prominent image of Christmas since the legend’s origins hundreds of years ago. Local author Fawn Young used her gift of writing and creativity to bring new life to the story of Santa with her book, The Legend of the Old Man.
Young’s story of persistence through adversity is reflected in her depiction of Santa’s life. Despite the holiday season reaching its conclusion, Young’s personal story, as well as the story depicted in her book, share life lessons that apply throughout the year.
“Live your life the best that you can because it’s yours,” Young said on the lessons she has learned throughout her life as an author, “Our lives are a gift from God ... If you’ve got a heart for it, just do it.”
The Legend of the Old Man shows a new angle on the origins of Santa, beginning his story as an ordinary man that experiences a tragedy that changes his perspective. Christopher Kringle, a master wood craftsman and family man from Michigan dedicated to his wife Emily, lost everything that he held dear when his beloved passed away to complications with bearing the couple’s child.
The light in Kringle’s life left along with his dearly departed, leaving a broken shell of himself behind.
With the burden of her memory, Kringle left his home and traveled to the North Pole to live in isolation from the rest of the world. While in his desolation, Kringle encounters a group of unlikely friends that helped him develop his new passion. With his dedication and his newfound vigor from his beliefs, Kringle and his magical helpers worked hard to provide toys for children around the world in honor of his unborn daughter and his deceased wife.
Through loss, Kringle found himself anew with his religion and his friends that helped him reopen his heart and become the legendary Santa Claus.
Young’s tale was nearly lost for good after some early adversity in her writing career. A difficult, interpersonal situation forced Young to pack up and leave her home during a time of uncertainty and frustration. Unfortunately, her haste to depart caused her to leave without the computer that housed the first copy The Legend of the Old Man. Without the modern convenience of flash drives or cloudbased storage, the original copy could well have been lost forever. However, the story she had written saved itself inside of her heart, and she never truly relinquished her desire to eventually publish her passion project.
“It’s funny because I have a really bad memory, but when it came to that story, I remembered almost everything,” Young said, “It was like it was bringing something back to life.”
After nearly 20 years, Young received inspiration from her husband Mark to achieve her dream of becoming a self-published author after leaving her career at the time. After successfully reaching that goal, she once again received inspiration from her spouse to reach out to the local Santa Museum to donate a copy of her story. The museum accepted, allowing the story of Chris Kringle to live on amongst a collection of Santa depictions. The Nesbitt Memorial Library also accepted a copy of the novel to include in their catalogue.
“It’s hard to describe, I just felt so honored,” Young said on the museum accepting her story, “I still get emotional when I think about it.”
Just like the Santa in her book, Young battled through early adversity to rededicate her life to something that brought her true joy. The museum even hosted a book signing for Young in which one family became a core memory for her as they came and purchased her story and took pictures with her.
Since becoming a self-published author with her first book Donkey Rodeo, Young has successfully published a total of nine books, secured her “dream job” organizing retired senior volunteers and showing others the avenues to become self-published authors themselves for free at her YouTube channel https://youtu.be/q5QuTk-475DE?si=UN16_JBNHeT6Ky4B.
With the new year approaching, Young’s story is an inspiring account of someone who reinvented themselves with a new passion. Both Chris Kringle and Young herself found a new mission for their lives despite setbacks and negative influences. As Young continues her writing career, she continues to display the lessons she has learned throughout her life that are parallel to the themes she depicts in the legendary story of the old man from the North Pole.
