Eartha Kitt has passed on.  Besides her wonderful addition to the Xmas oeuvre, she also challenged a President’s wife while lunching at the White House.

In an early signal of how tumultuous 1968 would become, television actress and singer Eartha Kitt challenged Mr. Johnson’s wife, Lady Bird, at a White House women’s luncheon. The subject was crime, and Ms. Kitt said it was "no wonder" that young American men, faced with going off to Vietnam, smoked marijuana. 

Many sources say that Eartha Kitt ended up on Richard Nixon’s enemies list for her continued outspoken activism against the war. She spoke out about her difficulty getting work and traveling abroad due to this listing, although the "official lists" do not name her.

Nonetheless, she provided a powerful example of speaking truth to power… at power’s table.

And left us with a mighty swell Santa song, too!