More than a Christmas editorial

Every so often, an editorial piece gets it exactly right.

More than a century ago, an 8-year-old girl named Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a simple letter to the editor of the New York Sun. She wasn’t asking about politics or policy or the price of bread. She asked something far more important: Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?

The answer she received — “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” — became the most reprinted editorial in newspaper history. It has appeared in countless publications, crossed languages and borders, found its way into books, movies, posters, even stamps. Long after the presses stopped rolling at the Sun, the words kept going.