In April 2006, doctors told him he had cancer of the esophagus, and it had spread to his liver.
That November, he let his name be printed for the first time. Secret Santa was Larry Stewart, 58, a businessman from Lee's Summit, Missouri. He said he wanted to speak to groups about kindness, and he couldn't do that without saying who he was.
He wanted people to know he had been poor, briefly homeless and fired from jobs. Every time he hit bottom, someone had given him money, food and hope.