Author Presentation / Q&A / Book Signing

The Historic Odessa Foundation is delighted to present a bicentennial celebration, in conjunction with museums across the country, of the American poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clark Moore with an engaging presentation and book signing by the distinguished author Pamela McColl. 

Join us as McColl, author of 'Twas The Night: The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem (2023) traces the evolution of the holiday, presents how the historic figure of Saint Nicholas evolves into the central character in the story, and how characteristics of today’s Santa Claus originated with Clement Clark Moore.  McColl uses dozens of vintage illustrations from the thousands of editions published over the last 200 years in her lively and informative presentation.

As an exciting bonus to the evening’s festivities, the author will be introduced by the enthusiastic Benjamin Bradley, known as “Mr. Christmas”, from the Netflix original series Holiday Home Makeover.  As a member of the organization Golden Glow of Christmas Past, he has loaned some of his Christmas collection to the HOF exhibit.

After a question and answer period with both of our guests, participants will have the opportunity to tour the Christmas exhibit.  Come celebrate the holiday season with Pamela, Benjamin, and HOF!

Please RSVP at 302-378-4119 to reserve a wonderfully festive evening!

About the Author: Pamela McColl

Pamela McColl is an award-winning author, publisher, and lecturer. After studying art and history at the University of Manitoba, McColl worked for 25 years as a corporate art consultant. In the 1990’s she formed a publishing company devoted to bringing books of social and historical significance to the public including Pacific Spirit: The Forest Reborn which Frank Murkowski, a United States Senator and Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources called “one of the most important works on forest management in recent years”. Among her other publications is On Marijuana - a compilation of essays and articles that examine the impact of cannabis on children and communities. McColl is also a director on the advisory council of a national non-profit, Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada.

In 2012 she published the delightful 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, edited by Santa Claus for the Benefit of Children of the 21st Century. It was hailed as the first “smoke-free” edition of the poem since McColl omitted the image of Santa smoking a pipe with a ring of smoke over his head. This publication created a media sensation and was covered in the United States by The Colbert Report, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, The View, Vanity Fair.com, Fox News, and The Huffington Post as well as other news outlets. In Canada and abroad the book was covered by the BBC News, The Current CBC, The Globe and Mail, CTV News Station, The Edmonton Journal, News Track India, The London Telegraph, The Guardian, Australia's Brisbane Times, and many others. The 2012 publication ranked a best-selling book by Amazon.com in the category of American 20th-century poetry. The book won the Global EBook Best Christian Book of 2012, A Gold Medal Best Holiday Book for the Moonbeam Children's Book awards, and four Benjamin Franklin book awards for 2013.

McColl’s latest publishing endeavor is 'Twas the Night: The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem, the subject of this presentation.  www.twasthenightbook.com.