Woodbury resident James Schmitt had been creating and telling stories to his children, Matthew and Sarah, for years. It wasn’t until his wife asked him to think about writing down a story told on Christmas while driving to Des Moines, Iowa, that he became a co-author.
Schmitt and Maggie McCoy, his sister, began working on their book, Santa’s Last Ride, around 20 years ago. As Schmitt has dyslexia, he asked McCoy to collaborate with him. “Maggie would come up with an idea, and then she’d start a chapter, and then she’d send it to me,” Schmitt says. “I’d put a little into it, so some of the chapters are Maggie’s, or some are mine.”
Santa’s Last Ride (santaslastride.com) sees Santa go into retirement and follows his last trip on Christmas Eve. Santa expects his son to take over his role; however, he has no interest. Santa’s daughter is ready to step up instead, but she might be too young yet for the job. “Santa takes the reader with him, and you get to have all his adventures,” McCoy says.
