Rudolph ties

To the editor:

Thanks for the very interesting story in the Journal-World on Christmas Day about “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and the booklet’s connection with Lawrence.

As the story noted, the production of the booklet preceded the appearance of the song by several years. I wondered how the song writer and publisher avoided a big lawsuit for copyright infringement. I found the answer in Wikipedia. The composer of the song, Johnny Marks (who also wrote “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “Holly Jolly Christmas”), was the brother-in-law of Robert May, the author of the booklet. Presumably, the song had May’s blessing.

Robert C. Casad,

Lawrence