This holiday season, we bring you a show filled with stories of people going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families, including: tales of Luna the guinea pig, Bambi the reindeer, and Jeko the super-powerful (and somewhat-scary) Christmas elf.
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Pirecua and Luna
Courtsey of Linda Lutton
Prologue
Linda Lutton and her eleven year old daughter Pirecua explain what happened the year Pirecua begged for a gift that she turned out to be allergic to. Linda is a reporter at our home station, WBEZ Chicago. (6 minutes)
Christmas in 3-D
Maya Gurantz tells the story of Glenn and Laurie Mutchler, who go further than most parents to create a magical Christmas for their kids, Colin, Erica and Adam. Theirs included a family mythology of Santas that had its own logic, with many Santas and a family elf named Jeko, who were never jolly and often thrillingly scary. (20 minutes)
Deer in the Footlights
Ira talks with Connie Rex about the deer she and her sisters kidnapped and ended up putting into their school’s Christmas pageant in Woodruff, Utah, in a starring role. (11 minutes)
Song:
Piddler On the Roof
Ron Carlson reads from a short story — it’s fiction — about a man, his wife Drew, his daughter Elise, a Christmas sledding record, a tree, and horse manure. "The H Street Sledding Record" by Ron Carlson. Copyright © 1984 by Ron Carlson. From his story collection A KIND OF FLYING: Selected Stories by Ron Carlson, published by W. W. Norton & Co. Originally published in McCall's. (20 minutes)
Song:
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