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The article quotes Jan Harold Brunvand, an expert folklorist and an English professor at the University of Utah. Brunvald has brought together — and commmented on —hundreds of enduring modem myths in four books.
Brunvald calls the dying child legend “Postcards for Little Buddy.” It bears the earmarks of the Craig story: dying boy seeks a record for receiving the most post cards.
The story Franke wrote about was about a boy named David in a hospital in Bedfordshire, England.
Other stories have circulated. The names and places change. Franke recollected a story that made the newspaper rounds in 1987.
There never is a Buddy, a David, or a Craig, but small town post offices across the country — and around the world — are flooded with postcards as these fake stories receive attention.
The Associated Press reported the efforts of people around Bethlehem, Pa., to grant a boy’s dying wish for a place in the record books in 1987, Frankel reported.
National magazines and organizations, including the Rotary Club, have had their collective heart strings tugged by this century-old tale.
One of the intriguing features of urban myths that Brunvald points out in his books: people swear they are true and believe in them passionately.
Brunvald’s collections include “The Vanishing Hitchhiker,” ‘The Choking Doberman,” “The Mexican Pet,” and “Curses, Broiled Again.”
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