Visits and Workshops

A Note From the Author

Since 1995, when The Christmas Menorahs was first published, I’ve traveled across the country to schools and houses of worship talking about the extraordinary events that occurred in Billings, Montana, during the holiday season of 1993.

The country is in a different place now, than it was in 1995, but one thing has remained the same: young people and adults are hungry for true stories that show the power of goodness and highlight—when we listen to our “better angels”—what we can accomplish.

Why has The Christmas Menorahs stuck such a chord in people? Perhaps because it inspires us to realize that we can be “Upstanders” instead of bystanders in our own lives when we see bigotry and injustice.

Comments such as these, made by young people after reading my book, exemplify this realization:

“I pay attention now when kids around me are making dumb comments about other people”

“This story will help change people’s lives”

“The Christmas Menorahs was a fantastic story…When I see people who are prejudiced, I just want to jump up and say No! Don’t!”

“[Reading the book] made me a better person.”

“I learned a lot from your book. If a lot of people read it, you will probably make a change in the world”

On the cover of the new edition of The Christmas Menorahs is a quote from Gary Svee, an editor at The Billings Gazette: “Just a tiny candle we lit. It wasn’t much. But it was something.”

Imagine what would happen if every town in our country lit “a tiny candle” to counter hate.