COLUMN: The words of Christmas are evergreen

I have no overwhelming desire to whistle “Joy to the World” on Presidents Day. Or watch cheesy Hallmark holiday movies during the dog days of summer.

But the stories of Christmas stay with me all year. They are not fleeting, like many of the movies and songs of the season.

The words are evergreen. They linger longer than the holiday lights. They are the gifts that keep on giving.

I have revised my list of “Twelve Reads of Christmas,’’ and I’m checking it twice.’’ It is a mix of obscure personal favorites you probably never have heard of and traditional holiday standards you likely know by heart.

12. “Memory of a Large Christmas” (Lillian Smith) At the suggestion of a friend, I picked up this book years ago at Golden Bough Vintage Books on Cotton Avenue. Older readers who grew up in small, Southern towns, will appreciate the simple holiday reminiscences in the company of large families, caroling, hog killings and shaking the pecan trees.

11. “The Shepherd, the Angel and Walter the Miracle Christmas Dog’’ (Dave Barry). I have read it at least a dozen times, and it’s still a hoot … just like Barry, the best humor writer of his generation. It’s about a Christmas pageant in 1960, and it will make you laugh and cry – maybe at the same time.

10. Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen (Bob Greene) And speaking of miracles. ... It might be a stretch to call this a “Christmas” story, but it qualifies in my book because it began on Christmas Day 1941 in the tiny town of North Platte, Nebraska. Two weeks after Pearl Harbor, the townspeople heard that a train filled with some of their native sons would be passing through on Christmas Day before going off to World War II. So, they organized a welcoming committee at the depot. But there were no hometown boys on the train that stopped. It was one of the many troop trains that rolled through North Platte during the war, and the community became legendary for its hospitality. By the end of the war, local volunteers had fed and entertained more than 6 million servicemen.

9. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas’’ (Dr. Seuss) -- It’s a classic, filled with innocence and wisdom. We all know a few Grinches. On occasion, we might even be one ourselves. For 63 years, this story has brought a reminder each holiday season: “It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

8. “A Christmas Carol” (Charles Dickens) Ebenezer Scrooge was the original Grinch. Bah Humbug. The masterful Dickens gave us a timeless story rich in characters – three Christmas ghosts, Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley and Tiny Tim.

7. “52 Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life” (Bob Welch). I have known Bob since 2004. In many ways, we are kindred spirits -- even though he lives in Oregon, some 2,000 miles away. We are both newspaper columnists, journalism teachers and the fathers of sons. We also share a love of my favorite Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,’’ which will mark its 75th anniversary next year. Bob came up with a year’s worth of weekly devotionals. It’s rich.

6. “Skipping Christmas” (John Grisham) There are devoted Grisham fans who will read everything he writes. I am not one of those people. I do love this story, though, which is another “you can’t keep Christmas from coming” tale. It has reached an even wider audience since it became a popular holiday movie, “Christmas With the Kranks.’’

5. “The Polar Express” (Chris Van Allsburg) I read it to my boys when they were growing up. I have read it to my grandchildren. I might go so far as to say it is the most beautifully written and illustrated children’s book of all time. Back when I would visit elementary schools to read to youngsters, I would pull a tiny bell out of my pocket at the end and tell them it was from Santa’s sleigh. I would tell them I believe in Santa, so I can still hear the bell. Believe.

4. “The Lesson of the Peaches” (Al Martinez) This is not a book. It is a story. And you will have to go online to find it. But as journalist, I believe it should be required reading for everyone in my profession. It was written by veteran newspaper columnist Al Martinez of the Los Angeles Times. He was working on a rainy Christmas Eve as a reporter for the Oakland Tribune in California in the 1950s. He had been assigned to write about a boy who was dying of leukemia. The child had an unusual Christmas request. He wanted fresh peaches. “The Lesson of the Peaches’’ is a lesson for all of us. Get the boy his peaches.

3. “One Solitary Life.” When “Holiday Spectacular” was a Christmas tradition at the Macon Little Theatre, it always would close with a narration of “One Solitary Life.’’ I loved it then. I love it now and have committed it to memory. It began as a sermon by a Baptist preacher named James Allan Francis in 1926 and has been widely recited at Christmas for more than nine decades. For Christians, it is the essence of why we celebrate this day.

2. “A Christmas Memory” (Truman Capote) I cannot think of a single Christmas when I have not turned the pages of my favorite short story. It has stayed in my heart since I was a was old enough to read it. When I was a freshman at the University of Georgia, I sat on the cold ground at the Reed Quadrangle one night and listened to Capote deliver it at a lecture. I will never forget it.

1. Luke 2:1-20. The Birth of Jesus. The Christmas Story.

Merry Christmas.

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon. His column appears on Sundays in The Telegraph.