Of Christmas as long, long ago is my new book arriving for the 2025 Christmas season.

Find out what Christmas was like centuries ago.

Sneak preview, it was weird, and spooky, and rowdy.

Kind of gross sometimes.

Find it wherever books are sold in hardcover from Lions Press and audiobook from recorded books.

It's Christmas as you've never seen it before, and it makes a great gift.

I'm Brian Earle. This is Christmas Past.

It began with a five, maybe a ten, quietly folded into his palm like a secret,

passed into another's hand with a smile and a few words of kindness and seasons' greetings.

Just like that. No fanfare, no clipboard, no camera crew, just a man. In a thrift store aisle or a drugstore parking lot or a diner booth, handing out money to strangers who look like they might need it.

For years, nobody knew who he was. They just called him Secret Santa, a legendary figure who

hit the streets of Kansas City every December, handing out

money and then walking away just as mysteriously as he came, before his stunned recipients could

even process what just happened. By the time he revealed his name, Larry Stewart had given

away more than $1.3 million. But why? As with any legendary figure, there's an origin story.

Just before Christmas in 1979, Larry was nursing a bruised ego, sitting in his car at a drive-in

restaurant after being fired. Two years in a row, he'd lost his job just before

Christmas. But then he saw a car hop in a thin jacket, working in the cold for nickels and dimes.

He thought about how rough his own day had been, but looking at her realized that she must have it

much worse. So he gave her a $20 bill and told her to keep the change.

He later recalled how she had started crying at the gesture, saying that he had no idea what

that $20 meant to her, but he knew what it meant to him. That day, Stewart went to the bank and took

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