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Footprints Poem Leads to Authorship Suit

Long Island man claims his mom wrote poem in Great Depression

By Kate Rockwood,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 1, 2008 3:51 PM CDT
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(Newser) – A religious poem that adorns coffee mugs and T-shirts worldwide may now inspire a court battle, the Washington Post reports. A Long Island man has filed suit claiming that his mother wrote the inspirational work, "Footprints in the Sand." At least a dozen others have claimed authorship of the poem, which has raked in millions of dollars in merchandising.

Margaret Fishback Powers, a Canadian poet, says she wrote the poem as a teenager. Self-proclaimed poet Carolyn Joyce Carty claims to have scribbled it down in 1963, at age 6. But last fall, one literary sleuth traced elements of the poem to an 1880 sermon, raising the possibility that no one person penned "Footprints."

The plaintiff claims that millions of dollars in Footprints-related merchandise are at stake.
The plaintiff claims that millions of dollars in Footprints-related merchandise are at stake.   (Magnum Photos)
A recent lawsuit seeks to settle a decades-old question: Who wrote Footprints in the Sand?
A recent lawsuit seeks to settle a decades-old question: Who wrote "Footprints in the Sand"?   (Magnum Photos)
Dozens of people have claimed to be the sole author of the inspirational religious poem.
Dozens of people have claimed to be the sole author of the inspirational religious poem.   (Magnum Photos)
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Stevenson's 'Footprints' website
Footprints-in-the-sand.com

Carty's website
Faithweb2.com

'Footprints' lead to 1880 sermon
Poetry Foundation

 
religion • copyright • lawsuit • author • copyright infringement

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