FAR WEST END PRESS

Christmas Tale a Family Affair

When John Snyder sat down with his grandmother a few holidays ago to record the story of her most memorable Christmas, the chain of events he set in motion was soon to reverberate her in Henrico as well as at Snyder’s Maryland residence.

The story of the 1918 holiday that Anna Snyder told her grandson so moved him that he promptly piled his wife and two young daughters in the car to head for the western Pennsylvania town where the events has occurred. Although his grandmother’s house had been replaced by a vacant lot, the visit kindled Snyder’s imagination, and the story continued to turn in his mind on the long drive home. By the time he reached his Annapolis-are residence he had decided to write it down.

That’s where the Henrico connection comes in.  Snyder’s manuscript – originally intended as a simple short story to preserve Anna’s memories for her offspring – eventually blossomed into a 164-page hardcover Christmas book entitled ‘The Golden Ring.”  A public relations specialist by profession, whose clients have included the Washington Capitals hockey team and the Washington Bullets (now the Wizards), Snyder decided to published and promote the book himself after publishers said the market was too saturated with Christmas books. In the weeks preceding Christmas 1999, “The Golden Ring” was the number one seller at several Washington-area and western Maryland bookstores, occasionally even topping Titles on the New York Times Bestsellers Lists. So it was that Snyder came to Wellesley in October of this year, staying with his sister Darleen Aronhalt, in hopes that a series of signings in the Richmond area might spur an equally successful 2000 season.  On Dec. 4, he will return to the area to appear at Barnes and Noble in Midlothian from 12-2 p.m.

Snyder claims that even his “Cigar-chompin’ golf buddies” were brought to tears by the sentimental tale, which has the wholesome, feel-good family appeal that wins comparison to O> Henry stories and Norman Rockwell paintings alike. Threading his grandmother’s real-life experiences through-out the novel , Snyder chronicles the holiday of nine-year-old Anna and the series of dreams she mysteriously shares with her father Joseph. Anna’s railroad engineer father is, because of deep religious convictions, somewhat skeptical of gifts and other commercialized aspects of Christmas. He does, however, give his daughter a golden ring like the one in the title.

While producers have expressed an interest in filming the story, Snyder is more intent on compiling his family history for future book projects than on going Hollywood. “I have a great interest…in listening to older people, because they have so much to share,” Snyder says.  “Unfortunately, we don’t ask enough to have holder people talk about their lives.” He hopes the book will inspire readers to approach their elders to hear – and preserve – their recollections.  “That’s the true history of this nation – it comes from our kitchens and front porches.  We don’t ask – because they won’t tell.”

During the three years he worked on “The Golden Ring”. in fact, Snyder was motivated by his grandmother’s declining health and his fervent desire to complete the book for her to enjoy. “I knew I was racing against time.” Snyder recalls.  “I wanted to get this project finished and in the hands of my grandmother before time took her from us.”

Happily, 90-year-old Anna Snyder was able to see her story in print and celebrate publication with her grandson. She died, however, just days after the two of them were interviewed for a Cumberland, Md. Newspaper. She was buried the day before Thanksgiving, 1999 – a copy of “The Golden Ring” at her side.

The book is available at area bookstores as well as on-line at www.thegoldenring.com.