Had they been reading Spencer Holst? Aftenposten, a Norwegian newspaper had to apologize earlier this month (left)  after accidentally publishing a notice that stated Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, was dead. We see Santa, indeed, appearing to have drawn his last breath leaning back against a decorated Christmas tree with the forearms and hands of children reaching toward him.

Had they been reading Spencer Holst? Aftenposten, a Norwegian newspaper had to apologize (left) earlier this month after accidentally publishing a notice that stated Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, was dead.
Photo Credit: Aftenposten/Associated Press / Manuel Balce Ceneta

Santa Claus murdered? Impossible, you say….lend an ear

Recall for a moment that day in the school yard when time stopped: the day in the school yard when your best friend announced to you–forcefully–that there was no such person as Santa Claus and he had proof.

Mrs. Claus has white, curly hair under her red bonnet. Her granny glasses sit on the tip of her nose.
Mrs. Claus © cbc.ca

Think back, also, to the time after that proclamation when you decided to hedge your bet–bluff it–just to make sure you didn’t come up empty the next morning after your parents safely tucked you into bed on Christmas Eve.

Santa Claus dead? Preposterous!

Let’s take it a step further. What if Santa has been murdered, his duties assumed by his better half, Mrs. Claus?

More preposterous, no?

Not if you’re the late American writer Spencer Holst, who had some ideas on the subject that he published back in 1971

To share those ideas, RCI contacted Canadian actor Michael Rudder, a man of no small imagination, who joined us by phone from his his home in Quebec’s Eastern Townships.

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