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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY
Catholic PRWire

CONTACT: Mary Beth Gordon, Gordon and Associates (816) 363-4590 or
ROGER COLEMAN, AUTHOR (816) 753-6719

THE POPE AND THE SNOWMAN CHRISTMAS STORY ENTERTAINS CHILDREN AND INSPIRES ADULTS

In this humorous fable, a trespassing snowman helps a despairing pope – who is overwhelmed by the pain and suffering on earth – to reconnect with the hope and optimism of his youth and ultimately do something radical to change the world for the better.

KANSAS CITY, MO (November 27, 2009) - The Pope and the Snowman is a funny, inspiring and slightly irreverent holiday tale, which transforms what appears to be a disappointing Christmas into a metaphor for the rebirth of hope. This richly illustrated children’s story focuses on a modern-day pope (represented by a brandy decanter) who on Christmas Eve can think of nothing positive to say to the faithful who will gather that evening in St. Peter’s square. As he ruminates in despair amid the first major snowfall in Rome’s recent history, the pope is confronted by a sassy snowman (in the form of a sock), who leads him on a life-changing journey outside the walls of the Vatican. Here, in an afternoon of sledding and tossing snowballs, the pope meets and interacts with ordinary children who remind him that all things are possible if you believe.

Inside the Vatican, powerful forces (cardinals represented by a flock of bickering birds) worry that the pope has flipped his lid and that all will not be as it always has been. And indeed it won’t. That evening, to everyone’s surprise, the pope announces a major crusade, which he will personally lead, designed to make the world a safer, happier place for children.

The Pope and the Snowman works on two levels. For children, it is an entertaining holiday story that enables young people to see possibilities they may have never considered, such as how their personal efforts, combined with those of others, can make a big difference for those in need. For adults, the book is a meditation on personal integrity – on the importance of practicing with actions what one preaches with words.

Both children and adults will appreciate the exquisite illustrations by Richard Becker as well as the clever, lively verse that is interspersed with snappy dialogue between the pope and the snowman. Readers are sure to chuckle. It is a book destined to be a classic, one that families will read together year after year during the holidays. Although the lead character in the story, the pope, is a Catholic, the book is written in such a way that it appeals and is relevant to people of all faiths as well as anyone with spiritual or humanistic inclinations.

The seemingly absurd context of The Pope and the Snowman – a snowman guiding the pope on a journey that results in spiritual renewal – began as a dream for author Roger Coleman. After attending a holiday party where the mantel was decorated with a variety of traditional characters, including both a pope and a snowman, Dr. Coleman had a dream-filled night during which the pope and the snowman from the party mantel engaged in lively conversation. The morning-after notes of that dream served as the seeds for what eventually became The Pope and the Snowman.

For the past 35 years, Dr. Coleman has been a minister and community activist who advocates for children and youth in Kansas City, Missouri. He is also pastor of Pilgrim Chapel, a public chapel open to people of all faiths. He says that The Pope and the Snowman was influenced in part by a trip he made to Ethiopia in 1986 as part of an international response to the famine in that country. Also influential was a miraculous evening spent in Rome on his return home.

Although The Pope and the Snowman is Dr. Coleman’s first published book, he has written and produced numerous socially relevant songs and dramatic presentations with underlying spiritual messages, which are often laced with humor. These include Danny Cox's Troost Avenue Blues, Silent the Night and Zacchaeus and the Rattlesnake Church.

The Pope and the Snowman is available from AuthorHouse in hard cover ($14.00), paperback ($8.50) and e-book ($3.95) form. For more information about ordering the book, visit www.popeandsnowman.com. For additional information about Dr. Coleman and his book, or to arrange an interview, contact Mary Beth Gordon of Gordon & Associates (816/363-4590) or Dr. Coleman at Pilgrim Center (816/753-6719).

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