Gerard Haughey is on a mission of sorts, to get the truth out about a poem that he claims to have written. He says, I am very proud of writing Don't Quit, a bit sad that others have to claimed to have, but over all I have made my peace with God and if I'm helping the many people who've been touched by 'Don't Quit' well then I am on good terms with God.

He has even went as far as to register a domain dontquitpoem[dot]com, in his mission to prove that he is the author of the poem.

However, I'm afraid the poem that Gerald Hauley claims to have written is plagiarized. Research shows that the poem is a St.Jude prayer found on the back of St Jude Holy Cards like the one here St. Jude (Don't Quit) Holy Card with Medal.

The original author of the poem is unknown.

Does Gerald Hauley believe that he truly wrote this poem or is he just a disturbed individual?

Why a man would go to so much trouble to prove that he wrote a poem that he didn't write, I'll never know. But this just goes to show how far some people will go to take credit for someone else's talent.

In my Possession is one key chain printed in 1980, that shows he clearly didn't write this poem that he says he wrote in 1994.

Photo of the keyring in my possession. Click on image for larger view.

I have been subject to a number of threatening and abusive emails from Gerald Haugley. He also joined the Today's Woman forums and caused quite the disturbance. I have uploaded a directory of some of the abusive emails sent to my husband and I from Mr. Gerard Haughey  http://www.todays-woman.net/GerardHaughey/

Comments regarding the plagiarized Don't Quit poem

From: Eric's Gym
Email Received: Friday, November 18, 2005 12:32 AM


Rose - I added a short page to my Don't Quit website about Gerard that you can refer to - I will write more about him when I get a little more time. This link is below: http://www.geocities.com/dont_quit_anonymous/gerardjameshaughey.htm
 

That poem is older then anyone alive today, I can tell you this for sure, Booth of my grandmothers had copies of that poem in their possession, and it states author unknown, my one Grandmother had hers framed, and she told me it was her mothers, that Grandmother would have been a hundred and nine this year, from childhood I was led to believe it was written after or during the civil war. Maybe even by a soldier, from that era. I guess it is something we will never know for sure, It was written before the turn of the century I can tell you that.

I am going to get with some cousins, and see if I can locate the framed poem, that was written on parchment paper in calligraphy and framed in a beautiful hand crafted carved frame , by my Great, Great Grandmother, she did not write the poem I am not saying that so please do not confuse the issue. She simply loved the poem, and gave it honor.

-Ray

Let me say this ,When I went to school back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth 'Don't Quit' was a poem we had to memorize for English class. I did memorize it and I remember it clearly .It was attributed to Edgar Guest. That was in the fifties. You can in no way be the author of this poem.

I would like to know how Gerard can explain thousands of copies of the poem "Don't Quit" - word for word as he presents it on his website - that have been in circulation for close to a hundred years. Anyone, other than a kid, who has read poetry knows how famous the Don't Quit poem is and that is has been in existence a lot longer than the mid-nineties -- the time Gerard claims he wrote it. The problem here is that Gerard, besides being crazy, is ignorant. He is a man that did not do his research before he decided to steal this poem. Many people reading this already know what I am talking about as they have read copies of the Don't Quit poem decades ago - written even before the 38 year old Gerard Haughey was born. Just the very length of Gerard's post will tell most people that he is mentally unstable with nothing better to do all day but play on the computer. I have seen many people on the Internet try to claim this poem in recent years as Gerard has; and they are all too  ignorant to realize that millions of people already know that the author is long dead because the Don't Quit poem has been known to be in existence since about 1900. Do your research better on the next poem you decide to steal Gerard - this one is too easy to identify. You might as well claim to have written the Declaration of Independence while you are at it. -- Eric

Just so you all know, the dont quit poem is all over Australia as well. You can purchase cards, magnets, keyrings whith that poem on in most news agenceys and bookshops!! Has been around for donkeys years!!

sharonsong

I purchased our mobile home in 1984, and bought a plaque to hang on my living room wall. It had the Don't Quit poem on it. I still have the plaque, though we have sold the trailer to my daughter and her husband. So I do know for a fact, undeniable, that it had to have been written way before 1984. My mind truly does not understand how anyone can claim to have written the poem in 1995. As my daughter used to say when she was small...duh!!!!!!!

I have exchanged several emails with Tommy Collins, who claims that the poem " Don’t Quit" was originally entitled life and it is an exact copy of the life poem written by his late Father Frank Collins, while in hospital in Birmingham in 1952. He said that national newspapers printed the history of his father when the poem was put on display by the Irish Heritage Trust in Bunratty Castle and Folk park Co Clare Ireland 1997. He said that the author is Frank Collins and is registered with the Copyright Association of GB CAE Number 251613298 membership No A4928.


When asked to provide proof, he said that he no longer needed to defend his ownership of copyright for the poem. He instructed me to check with the (PRS), but all I pull up is the Performing Right Society (PRS). He said that the UK patient office is the wrong place to check CAE numbers associated with the PRS society of G.B.

Gee, Rose I have two toads and a frog in the back yard who claim they wrote it............Lol.....

These people need to realize just how silly they sound to others with their claims, any person who wonders about the author of this poem should just do a search like you and I did, they will find that it can be traced back to the turn of the century and that there are dozens of people who claim to have written it, and more seem to turn up each year. I often wonder if it is such a powerful statement that they heard it as a small child and it stayed in their sub-conscious and when it manage to surface they thought it was orignal to them. Regardless of why they think they can claim to be the author, they have no business or reason to make the type of threats and harassing statements to you and Shawn, just because you questioned their claim.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but do not quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Anonymous -

 Update: April 4th 2006

Kelly Burke is claiming that her mother may have written this famous poem, also known as a St. Jude Prayer.

Submitted: April 4, 2006, 11:08 am
Sender's Name: kelly
Sender's Email: Removed by administrator
Comment/Request/Message:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
okay i came across this site and had to put my two cents in.Back in the early to mid 1950\'s my mother started a photo albulm full of poetry that she herself had written and in this book is a poem titled \"dont quit\" although it is not exact it seems the newer redid poem is a run off of her poem.my mother passed away back in 1987 so there is no way to know for sure.

There have been several claims of authorship for this poem that is believed to be in the public domain. Jeff Lief reports that the poem was written by his father Ben Lief in 1929 when he was 19 years old. Kelly Burke claims the poem was written by her mother. Joe David Harrison and Gerard Haughey both claim to have written the poem. Robert Ellis claims the poem was written by his grandmother Betty Naimo Rich of Wakefield MA. Tommy Collins claims the poem was written by his father Frank Collins while in hospital in Birmingham In 1952. George Munchinsky claims that Alice Enzie Zimmerman wrote the poem in 1948 at the age of 15.
 

Rose DesRochers

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