Navigate
I was now convinced that Henry Livingston had probably written "Night Before Christmas," but I had no more proof of it than had those other descendants in 1879. I turned where I turn whenever I need help - to the Internet. Ian Lancashire, a professor of English at the University of Toronto, explained that the right person to answer the authorship question was someone who specialized in the identification of anonymous verse. And he knew just the person - Don Foster, a professor at Vassar College. Strangely, Vassar College turned out to be in Poughkeepsie, not far from Henry's home of Locust Grove! You couldn't have wished for a better coincidence. Don Foster lives at a furious pace of life, and his email messages came with that same frenetic energy.