Ellen Byron--A Christmas Conundrum

DEBORAH CROMBIE:  Is it that time of the year already??? Yes,  it's  Halloween. So we can start talking about Christmas. But if you need a little help easing into the Christmas spirit, here's a story from author Ellen Byron that will warm up the old skeptical cockles.  And we all need a dose of Cajun, right? Especially at Christmas.

Here's ELLEN BYRON with: A CHRISTMAS CONUNDRUM

Given my book’s title – A CAJUN CHRISTMAS KILLING – I wanted to share this story.

When I worked as an entertainment journalist, I was a regular contributor to Redbook magazine. My beat was celebrity articles, so I happily tootled along sharing the tragedies and triumphs of film and TV’s famous faces until the magazine asked me to do a holiday roundup featuring famous religious figures.

This was during the heyday of televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and Jerry Falwell. I’ve always believed faith should be a non-profit venture, and some of those guys were living large. Obscenely large in a few cases. I also happen to be a born skeptic and a bit of a religious mutt. My Italian mother’s family is Roman Catholic, my dad was Jewish. In the course of a weekend spent with relatives, I could be at temple on Friday night and Mass Sunday morning, which merely confused me as a kid. But afraid to damage my relationship with the magazine, I shelved my concerns and agreed to do the piece.

My job was to extract “heartwarming little Christmas stories” from these preachers and reverends. (If you’re wondering why there was no heartwarming Hannukah story, it’s because there wasn’t a rabbi who was a household name. Yup, that’s how it worked.) Roundups – stories which include more than one celebrity – can be a bear because no publicist wants their client to share the stage with another star unless they really need the publicity. But my story was innocuous enough to score big gets.

Some of the participants simply faxed me their contribution. A televangelist who’ll remain nameless barked his story at me by rote and then ended the call without even a goodbye. But what I’ve never forgotten is the impact of one preacher – Rex Humbard. 

Even over the phone, Humbard was the definition of charisma. He was warm. He was charming. He was solicitous. As we talked, I could feel his pull, and my skepticism almost melted away. (Note the “almost.”) I got the man’s appeal, which gave me empathy for his followers.

The article was such a success that the next year the magazine asked me to do it again, but with a twist – I had to interview the wives of prominent religious figures. Sadly, I don’t have a copy of that piece anymore. But again, one particular memory stands out. While most of the women parroted a story they’d obviously told a hundred times before – which most of their husbands did as well - I had an actual conversation with Robert Schuller’s wife, Arvella. She was open and honest about the ups and downs of her life, even sharing how a bout with breast cancer briefly made her question her faith. My takeaway? Arvella was a human being, not a religious icon.

Why were these revelations important to me? Because they forced me out of my narrow, jaded New Yorker mindset and broadened my world, which made me a better human being and writer. There’s faith in A CAJUN CHRISTMAS KILLING. It’s subtle, but it’s there. And I owe part of that to unexpected lessons learned from Rex Humbard and Arvella Schuller.

DEBS: Now, more than ever, I appreciate having my faith in human nature confirmed. REDs and readers, has you had an encounter that gave you an unexpected affirmation? 

Here's more about A CAJUN CHRISTMAS KILLING: Maggie Crozat is home in Cajun Country during the most magical time of the year. But the Grinch has come to stay at the Crozat Plantation B&B, and he’s flooding travel websites with vicious reviews. Maggie ID’s him as rival businessman Donald Baxter –until Baxter is found stabbed to death. With her detective boyfriend sidelined as a suspect, Maggie must catch the real killer or it will be the opposite of a Joyeux Noel for her.

 And more about Ellen Byron, who is as charming and lovely as her heroine. 

Ellen Byron writes the Cajun Country Mystery series. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called her new book, A Cajun Christmas Killing, “superb.” Body on the Bayou won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery, and was nominated for a Best Contemporary Novel Agatha Award. Plantation Shudders, was nominated for Agatha, Lefty, and Daphne awards, and made the USA Today Bestseller list. She’s written over 200 national magazine articles; published plays include the award-winning Graceland; TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, Fairly Odd Parents, and pilots. Ellen lives in Studio City with her husband, daughter, and two spoiled rescue dogs.

 http://www.ellenbyron.com/

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