50 years later, a journalist reunites with ‘Santa Claus’ Jewish newspaper boy : NPR

In 1967, a journalist wrote about a boy buying presents on Christmas Eve. The story got an overwhelming response from readers. Fifty years later, the young boy and the journalist reconnected.

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About 50 years ago this December, a journalist met a boy who was out buying presents for his family. When the journalist asked the boy what he wanted for Christmas, the boy explained that he was Jewish, and then he walked into the snowy night with a sack full of presents. Lenny Fisher’s story headlined, “Jewish Boy Becomes 10-year-old Santa Claus,” resonated with readers across the country. And 50 years later, Fisher and the boy reconnected. Robin Washington of Wisconsin Public Radio shares this story of two Jewish Americans bonding over Christmas.

ROBIN WASHINGTON, BYLINE: On a snowy December night in 1967, a 10-year-old newspaper boy was buying presents at a gift shop in Chicago when he was spotted by a reporter. Looks like you’re playing Santa Claus, said the reporter, Lenny Fisher. The boy told Fisher that he was Jewish, and the presents for his interfaith family were for both Christmas and Hanukkah. Asked what present he would want, the boy said it would be for people to stop fighting wars.

I know that story well because I was that boy. Fisher worked for United Press International, a wire service syndicated across the country. The story he wrote about me got an overwhelming response from readers. This was during the Vietnam War, and something about a young, Jewish boy asking for peace and buying presents for his interfaith family resonated with readers. It also made an impression on its author, who called the story one of the most memorable of his career. Though we saw each other a few times after that, we eventually lost touch until we reconnected 50 years later in 2017.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LEONARD FISHER: Hello.

WASHINGTON: Hello. I’m looking for Leonard Fisher.

L FISHER: This is he.

WASHINGTON: This is Robin Washington.

L FISHER: Oh, you’re kidding.

WASHINGTON: In our call, Fisher recalled our first meeting.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

L FISHER: I watched you walk down the street that day, Michigan Avenue, and, you know, it was like, as it is in Chicago in deep winter, it was, like, 20 below. The wind was howling. And I said to myself, you know, if ever – and I’m Jewish – I said, if ever there was a Santa Claus, man, there he goes right there.

WASHINGTON: Fisher’s story ran across the country on Christmas Eve, and then the mail started coming in.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

L FISHER: I’ve never seen such a response. For people to send money in on a story – you know, a lot of people were moved by it.

WASHINGTON: One reason was my answer to his question about what I wanted for the holidays, which I said was for people to stop fighting wars.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

L FISHER: As a newspaper man for 40 years, I’ve written thousands of stories, and there are a handful that just stick in your mind. There are times when the story writes itself. It’s really what we shoot for as journalists and, you know, you can’t always get it.

RACHEL FISHER: He would always tell it in the way that it almost seemed like a movie.

WASHINGTON: His daughter, Rachel Fisher, grew up with the story as part of their family repertoire. He framed a copy, which she now has on her apartment wall.

R FISHER: Let me just take it down.

(SOUNDBITE OF PICTURE FRAME TAPPING)

R FISHER: OK. Oh, this is actually from the East Hampton Star, December 29, 2016.

WASHINGTON: After he retired, Fisher rewrote the story for Christmas 2016 in the East Hampton Star near his Long Island home. By then, I, too, had become a journalist, and Fisher has seen my byline in The Boston Globe.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

L FISHER: I wonder if I had any influence on you becoming a journalist.

WASHINGTON: Actually, as I think about it, I would have to say it was you. You know, we, of course, always felt we were in the newspaper business delivering newspapers. And I…

L FISHER: (Laughter).

WASHINGTON: You didn’t disabuse me of that notion.

We swapped journalism tales, including stories we both covered and people we both knew in the business. Most important, we planned to meet in person.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

L FISHER: You take care of yourself. We’ll talk again soon.

WASHINGTON: We never did. Lenny Fisher died in 2024, but you’re hearing his voice now because we were both journalists and we both knew to record the call.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

L FISHER: Go ahead, record, if you’re not already. This is a perfect Christmas Hanukkah story. They’re just – you know, you can’t make this up.

WASHINGTON: For NPR News, I’m Robin Washington.

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