Willem Lange

Willem Lange (born 1935) is an American author, newspaper columnist, and television presenter.

Early life and education Willem Lange was born in Albany, New York, in 1935. He became fluent in sign language at an early age; his parents were deaf. In 1950, he began to attend a prep school in New England in lieu of attending a reformatory in his home state of New York.

In 1962, Lange earned a BA after nine years from the College of Wooster. During the nine years it took for him to graduate, Lange worked a number of jobs, including as a construction worker, announcer for bobsled races, factory worker, taxi driver, bartender, and cowboy, among other jobs.

A Christmas Carol Since 1975, Lange has read A Christmas Carol to a television audience during Christmastime. He uses the original prompter script used by Charles Dickens for a 1867–68 tour of the United States. Lange told Vermont Public Radio that Favor Johnson was based on a true series of events when a neighbor's dog was accidentally shot by rabbit hunters on Christmas Eve and another neighbor, a physician, saved the dog's life, and the dog's owner, who had been an army cook, started baking fruitcakes for his neighbors.

The story was published as a picture book in 2009 by Bunker Hill Publishing with illustrations by Bert Dodson.

In 2021, Franklin Pierce University awarded Lange with the Fitzwater Medallion for Leadership in Public Communication.

Personal life In 1959, Lange married his wife Ida. Together they had three children. He lives in East Montpelier, Vermont.

Books Words from the Wild (Bauhan Publishing, 2015) The White-Footed Mouse (Bunker Hill Publishing, 2012) A Dream of Dragons (Bunker Hill Publishing, 2011) Favor Johnson: A Christmas Story (Bunker Hill Publishing, 2009) Intermittent Bliss: Reflections on a Long Love Affair (University Press of New England, 2003) John and Tom (Vermont Folklife Center, 2001) Okay, Let's Try It Again (University Press of New England, 1999) Tales from the Edge of the Woods (University Press of New England, 1998)