Jean Shepherd (or Who?)

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Jean Shepherd. If you are asking yourself, "Who?", then you have lived a tragic life. Perhaps the next image helps?

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Yes, Jean Shepherd is the master humorist behind the classic Christmas movie, A Christmas Story.

Shepherd started out as a radio broadcaster, did a stint in Television, but was largely known for this writings, including his semi-autobiographical tales which were published originally in various editions of Playboy Magazine.

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These tales were later collected into books such as In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash; Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: and Other Disasters, and so on.

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These various stories were then incorporated into one narrative that became the seminal A Christmas Story.

I tell you all this because those writings are masterpieces of humor and the written language. The turns of phrase, the near poetic orgasm of speech is amazing. Read them aloud if you have the chance! Each short story tackles a topic that will have you laughing in stitches. Trust me, find his books, read them, and laugh uproariously!

Now, there have been several movies and TV specials based on his writings, but outside of A Christmas Story, none of them are worth it, especially that abomination A Christmas Story 2 (which is a posthumous travesty). This is largely because Jean Shepherd was involved in the scripting of the original movie, actually narrated it (yup, that's his voice - he was in radio remember) and had a cameo. The remainder shows/movies were made with more or less involvement from Jean Shepherd and never rose to the magnificence of A Christmas Story. Just stick with the books, and thank me later for enlightening your life.

-Brent

"That reminds me of something that happened to me when I was a kid." - Jean Shepherd