Free Republic

So much for Santa Claus, who could turn up slim and gluten-free at any moment. A new version of the classic “A Visit from St. Nicholas” edits out all references to Mr. Claus‘ pipe smoking in the beloved old poem, rewritten by Pamela McColl, a writer and smoking-cessation advocate in Vancouver, Canada, who deleted two verses penned in 1823 by original author Clement Moore, for “the benefit of children in the 21st century,” she says. Vanished: “The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.” Santa now explains...

It’s a holiday classic Mayor Bloomberg would love. A sanitized version of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” edits out all references to Santa Claus’ pipe habit — and critics say it’s yet another example of political correctness run amok. A one-woman vice squad — self-published Canadian author Pamela McColl — kicked St. Nick’s butt habit in a new version of the beloved poem about “the night before Christmas.” McColl deleted two verses — “The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth/and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath”— and hired an illustrator to redraw Santa...