"A Christmas Story" is set in the city near me (Hammond, Indiana, called Homan in the book and movie, which is a name of a major road). It was written by Jean Shepard who grew up there.
Jean Shepard was best known for his long time radio show that he did out of NYC. In spite of this very sweet childhood story about his hometown, Shepard really had a great disdain for the region (NW Indiana), much to the annoyance of the city fathers, his peers and other people living in the area of the time. Only since his death, has Hammond embraced Shepard's story, attempting to attract fans of the movie.
He was one of those liberals who could never see past his own biases. He thought he was champion of the working class, when in reality he was only advocating for things that would make life much worse for those people.
