Jonathan Meath

Meath attended Phillips Academy and graduated in 1974 with the school's first co–educational class.[10] As a student he directed his friend and classmate Dana Delany in a video. He graduated with honors from New York University in 1979. During the 1980s Meath worked at CBS, Business Times, The Creative Establishment, MTV Networks and Greenwood Productions in various capacities. During 1996–1998, he produced twenty shows for the Jim Henson Company called The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. He produced for PBS 295 half-hour episodes of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, as well as 80 episodes of Zoom.

Meath feels that he and other Santa Clauses uphold a tradition that has not been commercialized, despite criticism that this has been the case with the appearances of many Santa Clauses in shopping malls and in advertisements:

Santa is really the only cultural icon we have who's male, doesn't carry a gun, and is all about peace, joy, giving, and caring for other people. That's part of the magic for me, especially in a culture where we've become so commercialized and hooked into manufactured icons. Santa is much more organic, integral, connected to the past, and therefore connected to the future. I like that representation of Santa because I'm not a Coca-Cola Santa. I'm much more of a Santa of the woods, a Santa of the snow, a Santa of the solstice.

— quote in Yankee magazine, 2011[18]

Meath, whose beard and hair went white early in life,[18] noticed that children sometimes called him Santa. He is slightly overweight – he has described himself as an organic Santa –[11] and his wife bought him a red suit.[13] He attended schools to learn the craft of being a Santa.[11][19] He appeared in parades.[20] He is a professional vocalist.[12] In 2012, he appeared as Santa at Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Spectacular show in New York City.[11][16] According to one source, Meath uses his real beard but conditions it with a "shimmer-like shampoo known as Cowboy Magic, and uses hair gel for his mustache.[21] His role as Santa was described in numerous publications.[12][15][18] In 2009, he appeared in a thirty–second television commercial spot for the Boston Red Sox baseball team. Sometimes the task of being Santa requires physical exertion:

When he's not listening to children's wish lists ... you can find him "training" for the momentous Christmas sleigh ride by swimming, running, and flying down a two-story tall slide made out of ice at the hotel's ice sculpture exhibit.

— report in Time Magazine, 2013[16]

Meath promoted charity events such as the Red Sox's "Jimmy Fund Fundraiser" (2008), the Nature Center in New Canaan, CT, and the Dana–Farber Children's Clinic (2009).[22] As Santa, he visited children who are cancer patients in hospitals.[22] In addition, he supports the non–profit performing group Revels and has sung as a tenor on two of their CD albums.

Meath has one child and lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His mother was activist and historian Mary Stewart Hewitt.[23] He is the great great grandson of businessman and sportsman John Malcolm Forbes and the great great great grandson of railroad industrialist John Murray Forbes.[23] Through this, Meath is distantly related to John Kerry. Meath's daughter, Amelia Randall Meath, is a member of the bands Mountain Man[24] and Sylvan Esso.

Additional source for awards: Phillips Academy website [29]

• Video about making candy canes on YouTube
• Jonathan Meath on NPR as Santa
• Santa JG website
• Santa JG on Facebook
• Meath as Santa in airline's inflight safety video on YouTube see 2:19