Steve Dunlop<\/a>, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and communications expert. He said that The Christophers had been off his radar for years, but he heard our radio show one Sunday and decided to reach out. Dunlop revealed that his late mother, n\u00e9e Jane Harris, was one of the original Christopher staff members hired by Father Keller in 1945. <\/p>\nJane had graduated college with a journalism degree and worked as a writer in the world of advertising and celebrity publicity. Specifically, she worked for Steve Hannagan, a pioneer in the field of public relations before \u201cpublic relations\u201d even had a name. He turned the Indianapolis 500 \u201cinto an American instituion,\u201d said Dunlop; helped develop resort cities like Miami, Las Vegas, and Sun Valley, Idaho; befriended celebrities at the renowned nightclub \u201cThe Stork Club\u201d; and maintained a reputation as an honest press agent.<\/p>\n
As a result of working with Hannagan, Jane rubbed elbows with stars of the era, including Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, and William Holden. Dunlop explained, \u201cA devout Catholic who attended regular rosary at St. Agnes on East 43rd Street, Mom was nagged by the notion that she was\u2026hobnobbing with the stars while American servicemen were dying overseas. So she started keeping her eyes open for new opportunities\u2014where perhaps, she hoped, the work was more in line with what she felt God wanted her to do. It was sometime during this period that she stumbled across a small ad in a newspaper with an intriguing headline: Calling All Christopher Writers!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ad,\u201d continued Dunlop, \u201cwas seeking wordsmiths of all stripes who could help spread a disarmingly simple idea: that the actions of just one person could, literally, change the world. It asked interested parties to contact a \u2018James Keller\u2019 without much further explanation. Mom told me on many occasions the ad actually outraged her, at first. By this point, the superficial milieu of celebrity PR had beaten down her youthful idealism.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dunlop recalled what his mother told him her letter said \u2014 \u201cDear Mr. Keller: Change the WORLD? Are you kidding? You have a lot of nerve to promote the idea that just one person can change the world. It seems millions of Americans can\u2019t change much of anything in the world right now. How, exactly, do you propose that one person do what millions can\u2019t? Since your ad makes it seem as though you have all the answers, I can\u2019t wait to hear them.\u201d<\/p>\n
A week later, Jane received a response \u2014 \u201cDear Miss Harris: Thank you for your letter. I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you. Could we set a date for you to visit my office? Please contact my secretary, Dorothy Egan, for an appointment. Sincerely, Fr. James Keller, M. M.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jane was mortified because she hadn\u2019t realized that \u201cJames Keller\u201d was a Catholic priest. Dunlop said, \u201cIn the 1940\u2019s, for most Catholics, addressing a priest as \u2018Mister\u2019 was tantamount to mortal sin!\u201d <\/p>\n
Father Keller didn\u2019t mind, though, because he met with Jane and hired her as a writer and researcher. Dunlop recalled, \u201cWhen Mom walked out of the Stork Club\u2019s world and into Fr. Keller\u2019s office, she was expecting a more established mission \u2013 something tangible and bankable. That\u2019s not what she found. All she found was a Maryknoll priest and a secretary. At the time, Mom told me The Christophers consisted entirely of Fr. Keller and one Dorothy Egan. <\/p>\n
\u201cDorothy herself is a story of perseverance. A former child model, blonde and brimming with moxie, Dorothy had been struck in her pre-teen years with polio, which left one of her legs paralyzed. At too young an age, Dorothy made the gutsy decision to have the afflicted leg permanently stiffened so that she could walk without crutches. I got to know Dorothy later in her life. Her disability had no effect whatsoever on her manual dexterity; she was one of the fastest manual typists I have ever seen. And she always spoke about how much she owed Fr. Keller\u2026Following the meeting with Fr. Keller, Mom gave her notice at Hannagan Associates, left that firm on excellent terms, and joined The Christophers. She spent the next several years there\u201d and likely helped Father Keller meet The Christophers\u2019 early celebrity supporters like Bob Hope and Jack Benny.<\/p>\n
About five years later, Jane left The Christophers to have a family and raise three boys. But the years she spent with Father Keller always stayed with her. Dunlop said, \u201c[Mom] was devoted to the Christopher message for the rest of her life.\u201d <\/p>\n
The story of Jane Harris and Father Keller goes to show that responding to anger with civility and kindness can lead to an unexpected positive outcome.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Can an angry letter to a priest result in a friendship that also has a positive impact on the world at large? Yes, it can, and it\u2019s part of our history here at The Christophers that I just learned about. This year marks the 70th anniversary of our founding by Maryknoll priest Father James Keller […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":488,"featured_media":6421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,48,40,52],"tags":[113,76,111,107,120,92],"class_list":["post-6419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catholic","category-father-keller","category-inspiration","category-media","tag-catholic","tag-father-james-keller","tag-inspiration","tag-leadership","tag-media","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Can an angry letter to a priest result in a friendship that also has a positive impact on the world at large? <\/p>\n