Essays | Themes | Research
Holiday Vignettes
In Which Scrooge is Redeemed
— Sheryl Long
Two Holiday Poems and a Linzer Torte
— Victoria Dym
In Which Scrooge is Redeemed
— Sheryl Long
Thanksgiving weekend. Dinners are over. Christmas decorations are up. Gift lists are started. I’m a bit tired from all the doing. Hmmm. Putting my feet up and watching a movie seems like a good option. But after scrolling through Netflix and Amazon Prime, my eyes begin to glaze over from the choices, and lack thereof. Instead, I perused my own DVD collection. It’s not huge but full of old favorites. I confess (much to the horror of some of my friends) that I watch movies over and over again. Not just any movie, but the ones that speak to me for some special reason. But I digress. I settled on The Man Who Invented Christmas. A gift from my daughter last year along with the book, the DVD tells a tale of what inspired Charles Dickens to write perhaps his most beloved novel, A Christmas Carol.
“Bah. Humbug.” Watching A Christmas Carol and hearing Scrooge’s delivery of that line delights me, no matter how many versions I have seen or how many times I have watched a particular interpretation. There’s Patrick Stewart or Will Ferrell or Jim Carrey or Henry Winkler as Scrooge. (The first film version of ACC was titled Scrooge and came out in 1935.) In 1938 another black and white version followed titled, A Christmas Carol. There’s Mickey’s Christmas Carol and Mr. Magoo’s, too. Plus Dr. Who. Even Barbie has a version. The Smurfs have done it. The Muppets have done it. Jackie Gleason has done it! There’s a musical version starring Kelsey Grammar. Another animated musical version features Tim Curry of Rocky Horror Picture Show fame. Even the Flintstones got in on the act.
I could list more, but my all-time favorite is George C. Scott as Scrooge in the 1984 version. If you Google A Christmas Carol as a film title, many reviewers and critics refer to Scott’s rendition as the go-to version. All I know is the acting, the sets and special effects, and the production values come together in the most wonderful and magical way for me. Scott is oh, so believable as an old gruff miser, but he doesn’t overact as many of the other live-action Scrooges do. Scott once said that playing Scrooge was one of his most rewarding roles. Supporting actors are also well cast and convincing in their portrayals.
Of course, the real credit for the magic is Dickens himself. The heart-warming tale of mean-spiritedness transforming to caring and service is a surefire winner. It was in 1843, and it still holds true today.
Les Standiford’s small tome with the long title The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits reveals the framework of the Victorian era and the path that led Dickens to the finished short novel. Paraphrasing one book reviewer – it’s part history and all heart, much like the book that inspired it. I say it’s a great read at any time of the year.
The film version of Standiford’s work gives us an engaging and very entertaining story about Dickens’ inner demons, the difficulties of his life as a youth, and the challenges that a writer faces. The fictionalized plot reveals how the author’s journey brings Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim and other characters to life. You also learn about the current Christmas customs of that era and new ones just coming into vogue. As with much historical drama, this film sticks to some of the facts but takes a few liberties when it makes a better story. FYI, Dan Stevens of Downton Abby fame is Charles Dickens, and the talented Christopher Plummer played the Scrooge of Dickens’ imagination. Mr. ‘Bah. Humbug’ himself.
The Man Who Invented Christmas. I’m smiling just thinking about it. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I will watch it again during the holidays.
Sheryl Long graduated with a BA in Mass Communications from the University of South Florida. In the past she sewed custom clothing to earn money for college, managed an independent bookstore on Sanibel Island, was an artist assistant for Robert Rauschenberg, and produced an international TV series for PBS. After retiring as a communications and marketing manager, Sheryl began taking OLLI classes in 2016 and teaching there in 2019. As well as OLLI, she volunteers at a hospice and a hospital. She has a curious mind and loves a good story. Sheryl is teaching three new classes in the Winter/Spring term — African American Women Who Didn’t Make the History Books, Women in Mapmaking, and Behind the Scenes with Robert Rauschenberg — as well as a repeat of the hands-on Outsider Collage class.
Two Poems for the Holidays
— Victoria Dym
Santa Stones
~ after CA Conrad’s Instagram
She SEES Santa Claus on stones on the beach,
then takes them home to paint their faces.
Red hat, rosy cheeks, black eyes, white beard,
some with spectacles, some without—
She talks to her father while painting these stones—
a man who died in 1977.
And then, very quickly on Christmas Eve this year,
she, herself passes.
An old cardboard box, beside her bed, no lid—
filled to the top, brimming with her Santa stones.
On the Occasion of Taking Four Ibuprofens at the Water Fountain near the Public Men’s Rest Room at Ross Park Mall, Christmas Eve
after Stacey Waite
Santa in full costume, white mane and beard
walks towards me,
and from my hunched over position, through the arcing drip—
a six-year-old, eyes wide, clutches his father’s hand, exclaims:
Dad, Dad, can we go pee with Santa?
In December 2022 Victoria submitted an instant classic about preparing a Linzer Torte for Christmas Dessert. Click here to revisit the story; bakers can follow her torte recipe, below.—Editor
RASPBERRY LINZER TORTE
Mostly unchanged from The Silver Palate
2½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1½ tsp grated lemon zest
2 eggs
1¼ cups flour
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
1¼ cups blanched or slivered almonds, very finely ground to be ¾ cup (I used a food processor)
⅔ cup raspberry preserves
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together for five minutes or so until light and fluffy. Add grated zest and eggs and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, spices, and salt. Add flour mixture and almonds to butter mixture and mix until combined.
Pat half of this mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9- inch tart pan (with or without a false bottom). Spread raspberry preserves to within ½ inch of the sides of the pan.
Roll out the remaining dough. Cut the dough into strips and weave them into a lattice crust on top (making all the lines in one direction first, and then making lines in the other direction), leaving over an inch between each line if you can help it (the crust grows as you cook it, so much of the space goes away). Don’t fuss over the lattice crust too much—it won’t keep its shape perfectly while cooking, and it will look rustic and beautiful regardless!
Also, you may have quite a bit of dough left over—I have found that this recipe makes more than I typically use (which is why I end up eating raw dough until I feel sick).
Bake in the center of the oven for 50 minutes or until crust is evenly brown. Let cool slightly, at least 15 minutes, before removing from pan. Slice and serve with fresh whipped cream.
Victoria Dym is a graduate of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College with a degree in Humility, and holds a Bachelor of Arts, in Philosophy, from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing-Poetry from Carlow University. She is currently working towards a Narrative Therapy Certificate. Her prizewinning chapbook, Spontaneous, was published by the West Florida Literary Federation in 2022. Two earlier chapbooks, Class Clown (2015) and When the Walls Cave In (2018), and her full-length manuscript, The Hatchet Sun (2023), were published by Finishing Line Press. Victoria is an improv artist with regular performances at the Commodore Theater and yearly appearances at the Countdown Improv Festival, and she hosts and produces Poetry on the Lighter Side, where poetry and improv collide. Victoria holds Laughter Yoga workshops and works as a patient actor with Nova Southeastern University, USF and the University of Tampa. Read more about Victoria in a 2024 feature article in Tampa Bay’s Creative Loafing Magazine.
Leave a Reply