This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu

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Memorandum

Date: August 12, 1993

To: Senator Dole From: Alec Vachon kl Re: FYI/Attached Article on Jerry Lewis

The attached profile of Jerry Lewis appears in September's Vanity Fair -- takes him to task for his"pity" approach in the annual Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) telethon (see, e.g., pp. 86-87, 92). The article also presents Lewis as an unpleasant, overbearing jerk.

Evan Kemp, former Chairman of EEOC, is a long-time critic of Lewis; discussed on pp. 92 and 94 (photo p. 84), together with personal problems Kemp and others have encountered in taking on Lewis and MDA.

On page 92, Stephen Mikita is mentioned -- a former MDA poster child and currently a State Assistant Attorney General in Utah. A strong Lewis supporter, Mikita stopped by to visit with me several weeks ago. Although a Republican, he is campaigning for an Administration job. (The meeting was set up by Jack Gannon, acting Chair of the National Council on Disability and former President of the International Firefighter's Union. A get-acquainted meeting; no assistance by this office was request- ed or offered.) Initially, Mikita wanted to be an EEOC Commis- sioner, but no "Republican" slots are expected for some time. After meeting with a senior White House senior personnel of- ficial, he now apparently expects to be offered Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights or General Counsel at EEOC.

The article also suggests possible improprieties in MDA's operations.

Page 1 of 9 This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu

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Abore, Jerry Lewis with his "kids" at the annual M.D.A. Labor Day telethon. Left, at home in Las Vegas, the 67 -year-old Lewis waits alone. JERRY VS. THE KIDS His Labor Day telethons have raised millions for muscular dystrophy, but Jenyr Lewis, King of Comedy, is under siege fron1 disabled adults who say their "pity-mongering" patron has ntil he tells me about the re- fund-raising-including that of the porter who asked him where Muscular Dystrophy Association, bec01ne patronizing. the money goes, Jerry Lewis which Lewis has been involved and I seem to be doing fine. with since the early 1950s. "I told And Jerry's anger is no I already know he considers her, 'If you do anything to hurt journalists to be "stupid my kids, I'll have you killed, you laughing matter whores" and "morons," but understand?' " he says, very de- he's being very nice. It's liberately. He raises an index fin- taken more than a year to ger and starts shaking it, slowly persuade him to see me; his longtime ha- and meaningfully, right in my BY LESLIE BENNETTS tred of the press has been exacerbated face. His face is getting red; his the restaurant, an aged hippie with recently by coverage of the anti-Jerry voice begins to rise. ''I'll have you leave Jank hair holds out an ancient rec- Lewis protests being mounted around killed," he repeats. ''I'll have you killed!" long, for Lewis to autograph. He the country-by the disabled, of all peo- By this point he is almost shouting; I'm ord album it with a benevolent smile. From ple. Lewis has spent more than 40 years no longer sure whether he's recalling his takes t~e al~1,1!n cover, his own face grins idi- working on behalf of those with neuro- anger at somebody else or yelling at me. .up at him, 40-odd years young- muscular diseases, and now some are I stare wide-eyed at his big onyx pinkie otically Jerry Lewis the monkey, as accusing him of demeaning them with ring. J .L. is glaring at me; his eyes arc er: this was describe himself, the comic the so-called pity approach which has dark with fury. he used to to make a fool of him- long been a hallmark of the annual Mus- Finally he withdraws his finger from who was willing get a laugh. The valet- cular Dystrophy Association telethon. under my nose and resumes eating his self in any way to looks at the album This makes him very mad. But here we pasta, looking resentful. O.K .. J.L. : parking attendant out Lewis's face, and are, in a nice little Italian restaurant in message taken. Since he has already told cover, checks "Oh my God!" she San Diego where all the waiters bow me some eye-opening, but off-the-rec- clutches her heart. I can't believe it's and scrape, and everything seems warm ord, stories about his lifelong friend- gasps. "Jerry Lewis! Oh my God!" By and friendly. ships with famous mobsters, this new you! Oh my God! cheer- Then he starts talking about some re- anecdote puts a distinct damper on the now Lewis is looking positively we get in, even porter who was investigating charitable mood. until we finish dinner. As we ful. His car pulls up and 0 VANITY FAIR/SEPTEMBER 1993 82 Page 2 of 9 This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu

Lener trom Las Veg!IB This is a man who spent his entire adult -though our destination-the luxurious "Didja like that'? Good energy. huh'?" of life shoving microphones and pickles marina where Lewis anchors his boat- He pressed a button and the window and chow mcin up his nostrils to get a is less than a five-minute walk away. the limo slid down. Lewis leaned out laugh. He hasn't changed a bit. The next Earlier that same day we had spent with a fixed ~mile on his face and started night we're in a different restaurant with several hours at a photo shoot for Kcl- waving like an automaton. "Hi . . . ~idcwalks a bunch of his friends, at a table for logg 's, which joined with the M.D.A. in a Hi .. . Hi .... " he said. The eight, and at one point everyone is occu- promotion for this year's pied talking to so111cone else, and no one Labor Day-weekend tele- is looking at J.L. He picks up a roll, thon. Lewis wore a white shreds it. and packs the cru111bs into his chefs apron, hugged chil- 111outh until it is stuffed too full to close. dren on cue, and gazed Then he pretends to choke. His wife reverently at an oversize turns; she is well trained. An indulgent box of Rice Krispics. smile on her face. as if she were humor- The current national post- ing a s111all child, she pats him on the er child is a tiny frccklc- back. By now all eyes arc ou J. L. He faccd redhead named grins and opens his 111outh. Each time Lance Fallon, and at his wife taps his back, breadcrumbs one point Lance grabbed ~pray fro111 his 111outh and cascade down Lewis's hand and start- the front of his clothes. Everyone ed kissing it with a de- laughs. J. L. ~pews so111e 111orc bread- votion so pas~ionatc it c ru 111 b s from his was almost painful to witness. "Ycow- mouth. He looks like no biting!" Lewis said curtly. He you do anything to hurt a leaf blower in over- bopped the child on the head with a pad "I told her, 'If drive. By this time paper and walked off abruptly. Lance of I'll have you killed, people at other tables confused . Lewis's humor often my kids, looked arc watching, too. has a hard edge, and sometimes his you understand? I'll have you killed.' " When he finally runs smaller fans aren't entirely sure what to out of breadcrumbs, make of it. When Lance started bounc- he flashes a dazzling ing up and down in his seat, Lewis grin. His audience growled, "What did he get for break- smiles. He nods 111agisterially, as if ac- fast? A little Ritalin never hurt knowledging his grateful subjects. At- any kid." tention has been paid . He looks serene During one lull in the action, and satisfied. For the moment at least, Lance and a small black girl be- Jerry Lewis is a happy man. gan to giggle and squirm. Lewis snapped at them, "We can't have he palm trees rustic gently in the that, children, or you'll be out of balmy breeze that caresses San Diego the show so quick you'll never Bay. Vivid flowers are blooming in know what happened." A slight I manicured pots around the ma- carefully pall fell over the Kellogg's reps, rina, which is thick with boats of every M.D.A. officials, parents, and description. all gleaming white in the other adults waiting around, but morning sunshine. Gleaming the bright- Lewis's instincts are finely Lewis est of all is Sam's Place. Lewis's 68-foot honed; raising his voice so everyone Top, Los Angeles activists picket slel'l"Otypes Grebe motor yacht, a pristine beauty of could hear him, he added quickly, and the M.D.A. for perpetuating Evan Kemp Jr., polished teak that sports thick red car- "Get my traction out of the car so I can of the disabled. Abore, fonner chairman of the Equal Employment peting inside. Sam (short for San Dee) is hang them!" After all, the Jerry Lewis Opportunity Commission, who says Jerry's wife, the former dancer he wed persona has always included a large the M.D.A. hired a man to spy on him. after divorcing Patti, the 111other of his measure of hostility, if not outright six sons, to whom he had been 111arricd malice. When another boy introduced nobody for 36 years. Jerry's Place, a second himself, Lewis replied, "I'm Jerry. were full of passer,by. but block. he poat ti~d up alongside the big one, is a How old arc you?'' The kid said he seemed to notice. Block after were the 16-foot'Boston Whaler. was nine. "You're nine? So am I. kept it up. waving as if ours except that Inside the boat, coos and gurgles ema- ~ Let's go outside and throw a rock in a lead car in a motorcade, or nate from the next cabin, where Sam is ~ window," Lewis suggested. there were no squeals of recognition taking care of Danielle, the baby girl the z Later, inside his stretch limo on our delight from the crowd. ~ back up Lewises adopted last year. The family ~ way back to the boat, his voice rose in Finally he rolled the window J.L. lives in Las Vegas, but they spend sever- ~ a stirring denunciation of those who and lapsed into a sullen silence. is paying al months a year on the boat, even I: fail to give their all in support of his does not like it when no one don't take it out see the veins pounding attention. He is 67 years old, and he has though they apparently i "kids." I could ~ bu~iness was five, on the water very often. For J. L., just in his temples. But then, as if observ- been in show since he to draw at the dock seems to be ..~ ing his own performance, he caught him- but he will still go to any lengths sitting there stage. enough. "You can't explain boat peo- self. "Wasn't that great?" he asked. the spotlight to his comer of the VANITY FAIR/SEPTEMBER 1993 84 0 Page 3 of 9 This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu

_~- --~ •··- . ·-.. ~ -· ~ -· .. . .. -· ... ___...... - - Lene.r from Las VegQS calls her "Mommy," ~he calls him. pie," he tells me with a lofty shrug. De- raising. One time, he says, "I did the "Daddy"). and especially since falling spite open-heart surgery in 1983 and a best 90 minutes of my life, and I go me in love with his seventh child, who is of bout with prostate cancer last fall, he backstage and look for my dad: Give course called Danni and who is his first looks tanned and robust. my medal, Dad. And he says, 'You daughter. "After the heart surgery, I had We are talking about anger. Lewis, were O.K.-for an amateur.' " Lewis a whole different sense of almost every- who has been described as having "three shakes his head, wincing at the memory. thing," he says. "Room service being rows of teeth," is famous for his. "At Assuming that this incident happened .late wasn't such a big deal. Little chick- least I'm a good boy now-I don't use when Jerry was just starting out, I ask things that would annoy you, you my hands," he says with a shrug. In the how old he was at the time. "Oh, it was enshit were embarrassed at that kind of annoy- old days he used to haul off and hit peo- about a year before my father died," ance now." J. L. 's friends attest to how ple with a kind of vengeful glee. "At Lewis says offhandedly. His father died mellow he's become. the moment you do it, it's wonderful," in 1982, which means that Jerry was 55 This can come as a surprise if you've he recalls wistfully. "Watching a guy years old and had been a show-business his ever tried to have a reasonable con- go on his ass-particularly when it's icon for more than three decades when right versation with him about disability 'Why should a Jew get his car before dad called him an amateur. "He was rights and the views of movement ac- anybody else?'-it's wonderful to see on the money," J.L. assures me. "He tivists, many of whom flatly reject him hit the deck." knew everything-c1·cry1hi11g-about the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Lewis had acquired his first ulcer by the racket." "pity approach." The spectacle of the time he was 30, and during the No doubt that perfectionism paid off; Lewis, sweating and weeping, begging 1970s, when his Percodan addiction in his heyday, Jerry Lewis was an inter- for the folks out there to fork over masked the symptoms, he came within national sensation. He made his stage enough bucks to save two weeks of bleeding to death before a "my kids" has long more dangerous ulcer was discovered, struck many observers as according to his doctor. Jerry Lewis has old days Lewis used to hit In the distasteful and demean- never been what you might call a laid- ing. "My kids cannot go back individual. lt does not take a rocket people with a kind of vengeful glee. in the workplace," he scientist to figure out why he has been says in a typical appeal. so angry all his life, but when I ask him "At the moment you do it, "There's nothing they can what he sees as the original source of his do. They've been attacked rage, he looks startled, as if he had nev- it's wonderful," he recalls wistfully. by a vicious killer. I'm er thought of this before. "Maybe the begging for their surviv- original source of the anger was . . . al!" Such pity-monger- abandonment?" he suggests, as if trying ing has seemed especially anachronis- to guess the answer to a multiple-choice debut at the age of five, singing " Broth- tic since the Americans with Disabil- quiz. Oh yeah, abandonment. This is, er, Can You Spare a Dime" at a hotel on ities Act went into effect last summer. after all, the only child of two vaudevil- the borscht circuit in upstate New York. A groundbreaking anti-discri.mination lians who were on the road more than Before he was 2 l he and Dean Martin law that reflects the current emphasis half of every year, who were always were one of the hottest acts in show on mainstreaming the disabled, the stashing their heartbroken son with rela- business. Painful though it was, even A.D.A. promotes the idea of integrat- tives while they went off for weeks at a their breakup didn't slow Lewis down; ing them into the workplace and help- time; these were parents who managed in 1959 he signed a $10 million contract people lead productive lives rather to miss their own son's Bar Mitzvah, al- with Paramount Pictures to star in 14 ing segregating them as objects of though they did telephone to say maze! films over a seven-year period. At the than tov. Lewis, or Joseph Levitch, as he was time, it was the biggest single transac- charity. old habits die hard, and Lewis has then known, was a little boy who was tion in movie history for the exclusive But in refusing to address the never sure his parents loved him, be- services of one star. been adamant of his critics. A year ago a tele- cause they were never there. Every time But whatever he did, it never seemed concerns interviewer asked him if he had they left him, "it was a killer," he says to be enough for his father. When Jer- vision considered the possibility he might brusquely. ry's parents moved out to California, he ever in his wholesale rejection of However, Lewis lias never delved too got them an apartment in Beverly Hills be wrong views. "Never, never, deeply into his past. Many years ago, and a custom-built Cadillac, a one-of-a- the activists' Lewis said. He has not re-eval- during a period of intense emotional kind luxury sedan that cost him a for- .n.ever!" :. t~is position in the intervening stress after his breakup with Dean Mar- tune. He bought 25 yards of red ribbon uated Sitting with him now, I ask tin in 1956, he went to a psychiatrist to wrap around the car, tied a great big months. he thinks his detractors make who advised him not to enter psychoanal- bow on the hood, and delivered it to whether points at all. "None!" he ysis. "The danger is that your pain may his father's doorstep. His father's only any valid End of subject. leave, but it's also quite possible that you comment was "How come it's not a barks. the dissidents as a tiny hand- won't have a reason to be funny any- convertible?'' He sees of malcontent ingrates~· "You have to more," the shrink said. Being funny won. So who could be surprised that Danny ful sitting in chairs I Although he has always idolized his Lewis's son developed a notoriously ex- remember they're he says nastily, referring father, Danny Lewis, whom he credits plosive personality? These days J.L. bought them," ' wheelchairs the Muscu- with teaching him everything he knows, likes to talk about how much he's to the motorized Association helps provide his supposedly inspirational anecdotes changed since his open-heart surgery, lar Dystrophy meet certain requirements. about his father's tutelage can be hair- his lovey-dovey second marriage (he to those who 0 VANl1Y FAIR/SEPTEMBER 1993 86 Page 4 of 9 This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu

Lener rrom Las Veg!IB say you have to lose your dignity in order. Chicago would have · "This one kid in to get the appliances you need." life and never had passed through this Before 1990, a lot of people weren't be acknowledged by the opportunity to thrilled with Lewis's approach, but most out that by being anybody, but he found kept their doubts to themselves. Then picked up in a limo a dissident he gets came an infamous cover story he wrote station. What do they by a television for Parade magazine, displaying a sen- They want me to not want me to do? sibility that seemed several decades out Labor Day? They raise $120 million of date. He referred to disabled people work in the labs? want me to stop as "cripples" and called dystrophic ill- them that are telling me There's 19 of ness "this curse that attacks children of million. I don't give a not to raise $120 all ages." Trying to imagine what the what they call it; I am good goddamn life of a disabled person is like, he put money so that your new giving doctors himself in a wheelchair and decried the new baby never have to baby and my source of so many people's mobility as must be doing some- deal with this. I "that steel imprisonment," bemoaning raised one billion three thing right; I've how "trapped and suffocated" he felt. dollars. These 19 peo- hundred million "I realize my life is half, so I must learn to do that. They want ple don't want me to do things halfway," he wrote. "I may Fuck them." He watch- me to stop now? be a full human being in my heart and down, and then says es me write this soul, yet I am 6till half a person." loudly, "Do it in caps. FUCK THEM." The article was greeted with horror with an- very Fisher Hall is electric and incredulity by dis- for ticipation as the lights go down "I don't give agood goddamn what ability-rights activists. which Athe Toyota Comedy Festival, "My wheelchair isn't will mark Jerry Lewis's first appearance they call it. I must be doing an imprisonment-it's The in Manhattan in more than a decade. a tremendous vehicle time. I've raised one billion crowd is clearly expecting a good something right; of liberation," says the Alan King is the first to welcome Carol Gill, president and million dollars." audience ("Good evening, ladies three hundred of the Chicago Insti- host as germs") apd to introduce the tute of Disability Re- one "actor, comedian, director supreme, search. "What's a of the world's most beloved clowns- negative im- Jeny Lewis (right) with his fonner steel imprisonment is those Jerry Lewis." Lewis gets a standing the M.D.A. partner Dean Martin. Lewis built his career ages that Jerry Lewis and ovation before he even speaks. "I am so locked using a stage persona that now seems promote. The stereotypes keep us he brays in the loud, nasal , thrilled," a caricature of disability. in a cell of discrimination and prejudice.'' obnoxious voice he uses quintessentially "I used to think the telethon was "I have only when he's performing. the Parade article," says spits out one middle-aged man . harmless, until never been in Eddie Fisher Hall! Being a saint!" Dys- anyone, the Cris Matthews, a former Muscular special joy for me, because I Without directly accosting here is a trophy poster child who is now 38. "It for. . . " protesters keep offering their message, have such regard for. .. uh ... a brick wall: all of Lewis of "pity-monger- was like running into checks the inside of his lapel, as if which accuses He stereo- a sudden we realized the han11 it was "For the Toyota ing" and promoting "outdated looking for a cue card. have a spokesperson who They don 't seem angry, simply doing. They company!" He rolls his eyes. types." and he . thinks he's the god of disability, Lewis's function as to- patient and determined Actually, totally misrepresented what we've one of "I think Jerry Lewis was a fine come- just night's host is largely an honorary for, which is the Frieda Zames, a retired spent our lives fighting introducing the other comics. Richard dian," says and is vice presi- idea that our lives are worthwhile the lineup, acknowl- college math professor who Belzer, the first on could be functional. He painted "I dent of Disabled in Action of Metro- that they edges Lewis as "the King" and adds, you could "He just doesn't the worst picture of disability to be Jerry when I was a little politan New York. wanted I paint. It was like 'I would rather have medication-and understand our problem with telethons. kid. Then I took some dead than have dystrophy.' My think he doesn't have a clue. I don't my child I became me." had to do man; he's so sure.-· brother and I decided we on the Lincoln Center plaza, think he's a malicious Outside " something about this. Jerry Lewis has to the soft of himself he just doesn "t realize that the fountain is splashing gaily in to do this to any- trying to say might have go. He has no right summer night as people in motorized what we're hard for us to body's life." gathering quietly in some merit. But it's very wheelchairs begin her brother Mike Ervin, who is function in the world with this image of With front of A very Fisher Hall. When the child, Mat- puts before the pub- also a former M . D.A. poster is over, the departing audience is disabled people he ... show thews formed a Chicago-based group faces of lic. We're trying to become part of soci- met with the earnest upturned Orphans. "It's a sarcastic Disabled people want jobs, want to called Jerry's demonstrators distributing flyers that ety. Ervin, want to par- shot at that mentality," explains "Disabled People Protest Jerry be part of the community, read, to say a 37-year-old freelance writer who hap- Some people ac- ticipate. And at some point we have Lewis Nationwide." to be the "kid in Chicago" Lewis on by. A we can't be put down in order to get what pens cept the handouts; others walk the term 'Jerry's It's not a fair exchange to denounces. "I think few are overtly hostile. "Jerry Lewis is we should have. VANITY FAIR/SEPTEMBER 1993 90 0 Page 5 of 9 This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu

Lener from Las Veg~ our society to- a member of the M.D.A. 's National Kids' is insulting and antiquated, and people with disabilities 'in reach so many Task Force on Public Awareness. "That counterproductive to anything but the day, mainly because they a his- gave way to 'handicapped,' which was M.D.A. 's fund-raising purposes. It rein- people," reports Paul Longmore, San Francisco replaced by 'disabled,' which then be- forces the childlike stereotype; it in- torian who teaches at in the his- came 'physically challenged,' and now fantilizes and emasculates people with State and who has specialized "The in some corners they're even going back disability." · tory of people with disabilities. that, collective- to 'cripple.' People are confused about Lewis himself uses " Jerry's Kids" as telethon sponsors claim audience of what they're supposed to say." a term of endearment, and he does so ly, they have a combined That's the equiva- To some, such shifts reflect the tyran- without embarrassment or irony. We are 250 million people. of this country. ny of political correctness, and it is pos- sitting around his boat one afternoon lent of the population is that what- sible to view Jerry Lewis as its casualty. when the telephone rings. "One of my The message of telethons with disabilities On the other hand, it is hard to dispute kids," Lewis mouths to me as he takes ever condition people has essentially that routinely defining an entire class of the call. After he finishes, he tells me have, that condition and the only way to people as childlike, dependent victims the caller was Stephen Mikita, an assis- spoiled their lives, them. The message might affect the dignity and respect they tant attorney general :if the state of correct that is to cure movement is that arc accorded in the workplace. More- Utah. "He's an incredible kid," Lewis of the disability-rights a whole person with a over, Lewis continues to make inflam- assures me. "I deal with him as I deal it's possible to be matory pronouncements. If you found with all my kids: I will not talk down to disability." is vast; ac- out you had amyotrophic lateral sclero- them. His greatest joy is to hear me The disability constituency figures, 43 mil- sis, "you might as well put a gun say, 'I' II race you to the corner-and cording to government as disabled in your mouth," he saiJ on the 1991 you 're going to lose!' because nobody lion Americans are defined telethon-a statement that else does that." hardly improves societal at- Mikita is 37 years old, but he doesn't titudes toward people who mind Lewis's terminology at all. "My my wit e and I saw "What continue to lead productive dad calls me one of his kids, too," Mi- lives despite that diagnosis. kita says. "With Jerry, I think it's frightened us. I'm not prepared to But what is most surpris- evidence of the passion. That term is in- ing is Lewis's reaction to dicative of the almost familial commit- take on Jerry and the boys." any criticism, which is so ment he has. I think it shows how much hostile and paranoid it he truly cares-as much as a father or seems almost Nixonian. It about his children and grandfather cares easy, and cer- in one way or another. Although their would have been fairly grandchildren." · many see Lewis's in- tainly desirable from a public-relations Nor doc~ Mikita have any doubt about views vary widely, that he has outlived standpoint, for Lewis and the M.D.A. to Lewis's stature. "Jerry Lewis is one of transigence as proof they acknowl- defuse the attacks by meeting with oppo- the greatest humanitarians who has ever his usefulness, although he has made over nents, paying lip service to their points, lived," he proclaims. "He's one of my edge the contribution Lewis's approach is a and making a few substantive changes. heroes in life-Jerry and F.D.R. Jerry the years. "Jerry Laura Hershey, a Instead, they have responded ~ith aston- Lewis spoke about persons with disabil- relic of the past," says helped organize the ishing virulence. One of their earliest ities, and embraced persons with dis- Denver activist who "There's still critics was Evan Kemp Jr., a Washing- abilities, long before it was politically Tune Out Jerry Coalition. about him because ton attorney who has a form of neuro- correct or in vogue to do it." a sentimental feeling for so long, but muscular disease and who has long been Like Mikita, there arc many people he's been working at it he's using doesn"t a leading disability-rights activist. As with dystrophic illnesses whc:i are the kind of approach our community early as I 98 I, Kemp wrote an op-ed col- proud to be considered "Jerry's Kids" have any place in how umn in The New York Times voicing his and who disagree vehemently with his feels about itself now." is that Lewis has dismay at the telethon's approach. Ever critics. "I don't know of anyone else The curious thing to accommodate since, the M.D.A. has considered him who puts the time, caring and love into shown no inclination of the public enemy number one, and accord- efforts against this disease the way you the evolving consciousness so many years ing to Kemp it has gone to extraordinary do into the Telethon," one parent wrote group he has dedicated disabled people now lengths to monitor his activities ... "The in a letter published by the M.D.A. to helping. Many language com- M.D.A. hired a guy to spy on me in "So if you have to beg, borrow or object to some of the and these days _1981,'' reports Kemp, whose parents steal, make people cry or shake their monly applied to them, if one uses 'were among the original founders of the · 1 heads, too bad! Our kids need every- one is likely to be corrected " like "polio victim"- M.o:·A':s Cleveland chapter. "His job thing you get for them. Please know a loaded term I is "post-polio"- was to undermine me on the Hill. He that the people who need you and the the preferred phrase as "suffering" came to Washington and visited me, . 1 people who love you arc behind you or describes anyone "I don't suf- talked with me, and became my friend. I 100 percent!" from muscular dystrophy. on the air to just thought he'd gotten a job with the However, others see a more insidious fer," Mike Ervin retorted interviewer M.D.A.; I didn't realize they'd hired message in Lewis's approach. "Four one unenlightened television him to do this. He finally told me. I really major annual telethons-Easter Seals, last year. at a time when didn't suspect it at all. He also claimed the Arthritis Foundation, United Cere- "Jerry Lewis grew up generally used they spent $250,000 spying on me. That bral Palsy, and the M.D.A.-are the 'crippled' was the word explains Dr. was his sole job. That's a lot of money." single most powerful cultural mecha- to describe people like us," and The alleged spy, who has muscular nism defining the public identities of Arnold Gale, a pediatric neurologist 0 VANITY FAIR/SEPTEMBER 1993 92 Page 6 of 9 This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu

Lener from Las Veg!rn various government officials. Kemp's dystrophy, will talk future at the E.E.O.C. became a moot about the M.D.A. only point when Bush lost the 1992 election, on the condition that he and Kemp has since left the agency for not be identified. the private sector. However, he is not "What my wife and I the only activist to be targeted. saw frightened us," he Dianne B. Piastro, who writes a syn- says. 'Tm not prepared dicated newspaper column called "Liv- to take on Jerry and the ing with a Disability," began to publish boys. They would try to columns critical of Lewis, the M.D.A., destroy me. What little and the telethon after Lewis's unfortu- I have, they would try nate Parade piece. In a series of articles, to take it away." Piastro not only deplored the "pity ap- However, he con- proach" but also raised questions about firms much of what ,.. M.D.A. finances, including high execu- I Kemp says, including I tive salaries, unexplained expenses, and the fact that he spent I the organization's frequent failure to al most a year being make available some of the financial- flown around the coun- detail- disclosure forms required by law, I try and wined and I ing how it spends the massive amounts I dined at M.D.A. ex- I ~ of money raised every year. (Last year's although he says -':": "' pense, revenues exceeded $100 I he was not on salary million, but the organi- I and doesn't remember the $250,000 fig- I zation still came up ure. "l was sent to find out who Evan lot of the money goes to keep the short with a $6.4 mil- was, what he wanted, what he and the "A lion deficit.) Although disabled community were going to do M.D.A. alive, to keep money Piastro has repeated- next," he reports. "They told me they 1 y requested inter- Evan had cost them $4 million in felt in the pockets of its administrators," views with M.D.A. contributions, and they wanted to dis- officials and even sub- credit him." says Carol Gill. "It's an empire." mitted written ques- M.D.A. officials deny Kemp's charges tions, the M.D.A. has as preposterous. "It's not true," says stonewalled almost all Gerald Weinberg, the director of field of her inquiries. "Why would any- organization. "It's a delusion." ; .' body respond to unjust criticism?" But after Kemp succeeded Clar- asks Weinberg, who describes Pias- ence Thomas as head of the Equal tro's columns as "erroneous and in- Employment Opportunity Commis- flammatory.'' sion in 1990, his opponents re- But the organization's response went newed their efforts to neutralize further: the M.D.A. threatened Piastro him. According to Kemp and his and her syndicate with lawsuits and pres- staffers, the M.D.A. orchestrated sured newspapers not to publish her col- an intensive campaign to block his umns criticizing the M.D.A. reappointment when his term ex- "We intend to take legal action pired, lobbying strenuously at the against Ms. Piastro and her syndicator," White House and on Capitol Hill. warned Robert Ross, the M.D.A.'s ex- Weinberg claims that the M.D.A. ecutive director, in a letter sent to news- had nothing to do with this effort papers carrying her column. Despite a and that members of its advisory couple of years of threats, the M.D.A. task force were acting independent- never did file suit. Piastro 's explanation is ly in campaigning against Kemp. simple: "There is nothing actionable in But Jerry Lewis wrote President thosecolunms." However, the M.D.A. 's Bush an angry letter accusing " strategy apparently had a chilling effect; Kemp of "misusing the power of ' ·· · - with many-newspapers did not print her sub- .., his governmental office" by making Top, Jeny Lewis in the 1950s on ·the organization. The ~ the telethon. his first wife, Patti Palmer, and sequent column statements that could hurt ~ Above, Lewis with his new M.D.A. also encouraged Lewis loyalists "If ever there was a point of light. .. I'm their son Chris. z second wife Sam and their to mount a letter-writing blitz, and ac- ~ it," he railed in an outburst that was family, 3: adopted daughter, Danielle. cording to Piastro it even released her 1ii promptly described by a headline writer home address. (It has · also published ':i as "Points of Spite." The M.D.A. also Although the business addresses to promote letter- ~ went after Kemp's pocketbook. "They traordinarily upsetting." having sponsored a writing efforts attacking Cris Matthews, t. attempted to boycott Invacare, a wheel- M.D.A. has denied the organization did Mike Ervin, and Laura Hershey.) Pias- ~ chair company I helped found, saying I boycott of Invacare, 8 use other sources for tro was especially perturbed by the ex- was attacking the M.D.A. and costing suggest that dealers 6 against Kemp with posure of where she lived. "I really it them money," Kemp says. "It was ex- equipment and lobby VANITY FAIR/SEPTEMBER 1993 94 0 -.. Page 7 of 9 &&illkWSC . - -- --·---.-...... -~·~ 11w_i;RJ6£N!iJRW$4Ri¥3£1JWWWCJ 7 This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu

Leu~1· u-um Lil~ vey~ primarily as a middle- felt vulnerable," says the columnist, a The fact that the MDA fails to acknowl- charity functions to other groups 54-year-old grandmother who has mul- edge that these expressions are genuine man, handing out funds research . .. the lead- tiple sclerosis ·and gets around in a and are based on our experiences as per- that actually do the less than if the chari- wheelchair. "I must admit, when I sons with disabilities is disappointing er is typically paid such services," Money went out to walk the dog at night I'd and insulting." ty itself provides M.D.A. dispensed look both ways." The M.D.A. is clearly frightened by stated. Although the neuromus- The effect of such tactics is hard to any criticism; these are hard times for $19.6 million to research on functioned as assess. 'Tm not really sure" how much telethons, and the future is uncertain. cular diseases last year, it than actually con- impact the M.D.A. campaign had, Pias- The M.D.A. telethon currently draws 80 a middleman rather comparison, tro says, but her fate was exactly what million viewers, a decline of at least I 0 ducting the research. By highest-paid the M.D.A. might have wished: her syn- million over the last few years, a drop the responsibilities of the list, City of dicate, the Newspaper Enterprise Asso- M . D.A. officials attribute to shrinking executive on the Money include the di- ciation, recently declined to renew her network audiences. However, last year's Hope's Sanford Shapero, center and a re- contract. (Diana Loevy, the executive telethon take was nearly $45.8 million, rection of a medical addition to a fund- editor of the N.E.A., denies that the the highest ever, despite the charges by search institute in decision had anything to do with the M.D.A. officials that their critics are raising organization. named the M.D.A.'s pressure tactics, attributing it hurting fund-raising efforts. Oddly, Nevertheless, Money of the IO to the fact that Piastro's column has a however, even while Lewis and his fel- M.D.A. to its "honor roll" charities, and "specialized" audience-something the low· M.D.A. officials continue to insist best-managed large U.S. up well ac- N.E.A. could presumably have deduced that the protesters have no legitimate the organization did measure other before it signed her up in the first place.) opinions whatsoever, the organization cording to some of the survey's its Other M.D.A. critics have also suffered criteria. Money gave that harassment. The M.D.A. 's lawyers, approval to charities percent while denying that they were impinging When Lance started bouncing up spend at least 65 pro- on Cris Matthews' right to free speech, of their income on nevertheless threatened her with legal and down, Lewis growled, gram services rather than other action in retaliation for the Jerry's Or- fund-raising and phans protests, warning that she and 'jWhat did he get for breakfast? costs, and 82.5 percent ex- anyone working with her would be held of the M.D.A. 's ser- "personally and financially responsible Alittle Ritalin never hurt any kid." penses go to program re- for any and all losses" the M.D.A. vices, including 17 might suffer. When the M.D.A. closed a search, with only summer camp in the Chicago area, those percent allotted to fund- who cqmplained were told to blame has quietly made changes that seem to raising. However, the financial reports sig- Matthews' and Ervin for hurting the or- constitute at least a token response to filed by such charities often leave and ganization's fund-raising ability. their charges. Instead of focusing pri- nificant areas impenetrably vague, The spectacle of a big-business behe- marily on doomed children, the last tele- the M.D.A. has shown little enthusi- "Who moth like the M.D.A. expending valu- thon pointedly featured functioning asm for clarifying the mysteries. of able resources to crush opposition among adults, including Steve Mikita as the re- used the travel money and what type the very disabled people it purports to cipient of the first National Personal travel did they do for the $6. 9 million asked serve is so bizarre it seems surrealistic ., Achievement Award in recognition of spent in 1990?" Dianne Piastro Moreover, the M.D.A. 's continuing char- his professional success, personal lead- the M . D.A.'s director of finance in a acterization of its critics as a tiny handful ership, and community service. written query two years ago. She has of mean-spirited rabble-rousers simply "It docsn 't seem coincidental that never received an answer. the indicates to many others how out of touch these changes have come at a time when '·A lot of the money goes to keep the organization is with its ostensible con- there's this mounting negative reaction M.D.A. alive, to keep money in the stituency. "There is a real dispute be- from the disability community," ob- pockets of its administrators," says Car- tween the disability rights movement and serves Paul Longmore. Nevertheless, not ol Gill. "It's an empire. They are big the MDA that goes far beyond Evan only do M . D.A. officials claim their crit- business, and it's a business that exploits Kemp and his relatively mild statements ics have had no impact-"None whatso- people with disability. They don't bring bet- about 'the pity approach,' "wrote Debo- ever," maintains Weinberg-they even us in and say, ·How can we do this on rah Kaplan, director of the division on deny there have been any changes. ter?' They have a few token people have technology policy at the World Institute The M.D.A. 's antipathy toward criti- , the board, but the activists who on Disability, in a letter to the White cism is not hard to understand; big bucks ~ fought for our rights get threatened." House last year. "Whether or not the arc involved, not only for the charity's Although M.D.A. officials consider MDA wishes to acknowledge it, there is beneficiaries but also for its officials- such charges unfair, their recordkeeping very broad support from disability advo- like Robert Ross, the executive director, seems inadequate to refute key points. cates for the position that Evan Kemp whose salary exceeds $288,000 a year. The M . D.A. board contains only two has taken and for his right to express hi.s This made him the third-nighest-paid ex- disabled people out of 20, according to views. I can assure you that this is not an ecutive among charity bosses surveyed Weinberg (most of the disabled are rele- issue that has been manufactured by Mr. last year by Money magazine. More- gated to an advisory task force), and the Kemp .... The pity approach does not over, Ross's compensation looks even organization is unable to provide figures encourage 'mainstreaming' .. or civil higher when assessed against an impor- on what percen:age of its staff is disabled. rights for:. persons with disabilities .. . . tant standard set by the survey: "If a Jerry Lewis, who has compared the

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. fit• This document is from the collections at the Dole Archives, University of Kansas http://dolearchives.ku.edu teue1· 11·1m1 LtlS veyll! protesters to neo-Nazis, presents a more bi jokes and priest jokes, toilet jokes and way of knowing what that figure is," complicated question. Stories abound of penis jokes. The only new element is Weinberg claims. his dedication to people with neuromus- Danni, who is hoisted onto the stage at Lewis himself has always been indig- cular diseases, his unflagging efforts on the end of the show, long past a baby's nant about questions concerning his their behalf, his tireless commitment to bedtime, blinking in the harsh glare of compensation, attributing them to the the cause as he crisscrosses the country the spotlight; her face crumples and she post-Watergate cynicism of an overly and works the phone lines in support of begins to cry. When Lewis played the suspicious press. He is proud of his con- the disabled. "There probably isn't a Westbury Music Fair on Long Island tribution and he says he has no regrets. day of the year where he isn't doing recently, the opening act was comic But whatever peace of mind he has something for the M.D.A.," attests Pat Cooper. "My God-Sunday night achieved, the old themes resurface inex- Weinberg, who has known Lewis for 36 in Westbury," Cooper said sarcastical- orably. There is the anger, and there is years. What began more than four dec- ly. "Who knows-maybe next year, the need. One night my phone rings ades ago as a charitable sideline has Utah!" But high-profile work is harder and it is J.L. He has just learned that I slowly assumed center stage in Lewis's to come by these days, even at home in have interviewed Evan Kemp, and he life, and today it is clear that his contri- Las Vegas. "Years ago I used to play is furious. "Evan Kemp is a vicious, bution to the fight against dystrophic ill- 20 weeks a year in Vegas," Lewis says poisonous individual," he hisses. "If I ness constitutes his life's work. It has sadly. "I didn't have more than four had known you were going to talk to always seemed ironic that Lewis, who weeks last year." Evan Kemp, I would never have talked spent virtually his entire professional ca- Although he has earned many mil- to you!" reer working to help people with neuro- lions of dollars over the years, he I tell him I am amazed he would ever muscular diseases, built that very career has also spent lavishly and made some have imagined I could write about through a stage persona that was so spas- him without interviewing tic as to seem disabled, so dopey as to Kemp; it is, after all, a re- appear retarded. He developed that char- "H I went down Fifth Avenue porter's job to explore ev- acter very early in life; even in school he ery point of view in a con- was known as "Id," short for the Idiot. window-shopping and troversy, and the former Later, when he became famous, the in- chairman of the E.E.O.C. ternationally known character named no one bothered me, it would break is Lewis's most prominent Jerry Lewis often seemed like one end- critic. J.L. is not mollified. less, increasingly unfunny joke on peo- my heart," Jerry Lewis said. "It just kills me to think ple who actually had progressive degen- about these people getting erative diseases. publicity," he rages. Further irony can be found in the vi- "These people are leeches. cissitudes of his success. When Lewis's catastrophic business decisions. The They all glommed on to being Jcrry- career wa~ at its height, he surely didn't most traumatic failure was that of bashers. What did they have before that? imagine that the time would come when the Jerry Lewis Cinemas, a chain They're disabled people who arc so bit- generations of younger people who nev- of family-oriented movie theaters that ter at the bad hand they were dealt that er knew him as the world's most famous was forced into Chapter 13 in 1981. they have to take down somebody comedian would someday recognize him "You never can recoup that kind of who's doing good. There's 19 of them, primarily as the guy who sings "You'll loss," he says. "We're talking $50 but these people can hurt what I have Never Walk Alone" off-key every La- million. It took my entire career to built for 45 years. There's a million bor Day. To be sure, the telethon has have that free and clear." He adds and a half people who depend on what long since assumed the status of a camp proudly that he paid off all his credi- I do!" classic, and in some circles it has even tors, "but it cost me everything I had. The voice on the other end of the inspired a cult following among those I was tapped." phone is the powerful one of the 67- who gather to hoot at the parade of has- He says he has accepted his reduced ycar-old man, but inside it I hear some- beens and ncver-wercs who predominate circumstances. "You drive one car, you thing else, something faint but as persis- among telethon guests. To the callow eat three meals, you kiss Danni 7 ,000 tent as an echo that follows you wherev- young, the name Jerry Lewis conjures times a day-what else do you need?" er you go. It is the pain of the angry Iittlc up less-than-reverential images. "You he says with a shrug. "As long as all my boy, and I suddenly realize that the mes- know why I like Jerry Lewis?" said responsibilities are taken care of, I'm sage delivered by the protesters · is the Guardian Angel Curtis Sliwa on his New fine." However, although his current one he has heard in his nightmares all York radio show last year. ''He still uses lifestyle would indicate he's not exactly ,. his life: They don't love you. No matter Brylcrccm and Wildroot. He's one of destitute, it's hard to decipher where the \ow much you try to do for them, they the last, right? I mean, talk about money comes from. Lewis has always don't love you. 'greasy kid stuff'! Mickey Rourke must made much of the fact that he takes no Despite all the decades of acclaim, the have learned hair-conditioning treatment salary from the M. D.A., but he travels craving hasn't abated; J. L. may have from Jerry Lewis." constantly on M.D.A. business, and kicked Pcrcodan, but he will never kick Like his hairstyle, Lewis's career stretch limos seem to be de rigueur. the need for adulation, something he ad- hasn't exactly been on the cutting edge M.D.A. officials say that many of the mitted to me weeks ago. "If I went lately. His one-man show is so tired it perks are donated and cost their organi- down Fifth Avenue window-shopping seems to have been caught in a time zation nothing, but they are unable to and no one bothered me, it would break warp: there arc Polack jokes and Jew provide figures on how much Lewis's my heart," he said. The look on his face jokes, Chinese jokes and Jap jokes, rab- expenses amount to per year. "I have no was enough to break mine. O

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