It was on my second trip cross country with the Ansonia YMCA — the one that I was joined by Gary Moss and Jay Berman (Alan’s cousin) — that one of the kids mentioned that I looked a lot like Jerry Lewis. I think I was all of 13 or 14 at the time. <\/p>\n
Then in 1969 when I hosteled my way thru Europe with a bunch of rag tag college\/high school kids I had another person remark that I resembled Jerry Lewis… so much in fact, that for the remainder of the summer I was called Jerry <\/em>by one and all. To this day if someone calls out “Jerry”, I turn around. <\/p>\n I was never sure if it was a compliment to be said that I looked like Jerry Lewis. <\/p>\n But by an large, regardless of his appearance, I certainly was not a big fan of his. It never ceased to puzzle me why the French regarded him in such high esteem. But they did. They thought he was a pure comic genius on par with Charlie Chaplin. It is real safe to say that he was more popular on that <\/em>side of the Atlantic, than on this one. So be it. <\/p>\n A couple of years ago I caught him on the Letterman Show (and it was clear that Letterman thought he was a genius, too), and then I caught him on cable (A & E or Bravo?) with that guy who interviews folks at length and entertains questions from the audience… Actor’s Studio? or Behind the Scenes? (I am terrible with names of shows these days). Anyway… listening to Lewis reflect on his years I began to warm to him… yes, this was a funny, witty & talented man… not just a silly buffoon. <\/p>\n I can not remember a Labor Day without the Jerry Lewis Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy. When I was a kid and watched a lot of TV, Labor Day was such a disappointing day… nothing was on!<\/em> Of course this was well before Cable… and even well before station changers! <\/em>So there I would be turning the dial on the TV… nothing, nothing, nothing… Jerry Lewis Telethon… nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing… Jerry Lewis Telethon. <\/p>\n If I knew his “connection” to the disease (one of his children? Maybe a sibling?) I have long since forgotten it. But for the longest time it seemed that the only time Jerry Lewis’ name would come up was around Labor Day and his Telethon… a one day a year guy? <\/p>\n Yesterday I headed home after helping Zack and Beth move into their apartment in the City. I was beat & flopped on the couch and put the tube on. I flipped thru the channels for a bit and came across the Telethon just as a key donation of some 8 million dollars was being made by the head of some big national union… And there was Jerry on camera to receive the big check (gone were the days when he would virtually never leave the set… taking the briefest of respites during the wee hours when fewer folks were tuned in). <\/p>\n I was floored. No longer dressed in his signature dinner jacket standing with microphone ready to break into a dance or song, there he was seated in casual attire… face and body exploded by the hormones he is taking for whatever disease that has invaded his <\/em>body. What happened? Would this be his last Telethon? <\/p>\n Was it him? Maybe it was his kid? Is he still alive? My gosh, I don’t know… where have I been? What else have I missed? <\/p>\n Folks still talk of “Jerry’s Kids”… and I can think of no more fitting tribute to a person who has lent his name and talent for so many years to help find a cure. <\/p>\n A silly buffoon? <\/p>\n No… I don’t think so. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was on my second trip cross country with the Ansonia YMCA — the one that I was joined by Gary Moss and Jay Berman (Alan’s cousin) — that one of the kids mentioned that I looked a lot like … Continue reading