#mda telethon

[fredandginger64]

And this......you'd have to be deaf and blind not to see who this was for. One year after THE reunion.

@judy1926 @justquicksshot

[jerrylewis-thekid]

About the 1976 reunion. It would not have been such a major event if those two had said publicly that they had spoken to each other from 1956 to 1976. It is the (false) twenty years of silence (twenty no but maybe nine yes) that transform their reunion into an event.

[make-a-little-mischief]

Ringing in the new year right - SANS PANTS

Taken from this photo

***DISCLAIMER*** Hi friends, if you'd like to repost these photos please credit my bog. Thanks and a happy LEGGY New Year to y'all 🦵🏻🎊🥂😘

[sometimesiamhappy]

I love that subtle finger rubbing... They are so adorable ❤🥰

[preventthefuture]

"Oh Jesus."

[phillyradiogeek]

Summer 2023, as least culturally speaking, has just about come to a close. And for me, Summer isn't over until I hear this.

I hope you had a fantastic Summer! Have a great Autumn!

[theotherstephencobert]

Labor Day 1972 - The Man Upstairs Did WHAT?!?

This Labor Day marks a most interesting anniversary that I wanted to commemorate (or at least write about) this year.

Fifty years ago, 1972, I was 17 years old and living in the Bible Belt state of Tennessee. During Labor Day weekend of that year, on and off I would tune into the Jerry Lewis Labor Day MDA Telethon to check out the entertainment amd to see how much had been raised to fight Muscular Dystrophy. The telethon itself was not without controversy: a number of people took issue with Jerry's very public ways to raise money for the cause. Also, many kids with MD, and their families. took issue with being called "Jerry's Kids". However, as my nephew Dan Cobert brought up in response to one of my Facebook posts, the Telethon at least meant Labor Day was here for SOMETHING and not just because "we need a major holiday between July 4 and Thanksgiving".

In 1972, though, the MDA Telethon had a special bit of notoriety all its own.

In the course of the Telethon, Jerry referred to kids with muscular distrophy as kids that "the Man upstairs goofed when He made them". (I personally remember Lewis saying it a couple of times Saturday evening going into Sunday morning. The timing of the comments probably didn't help matters any.))

The phones at the local (Knoxville) TV station carrying the Telethon were ringing off the hook with religious folks (mostly Christians, I'd guess) expressing their indignation at Lewis' sacrilegious and blasphemous comments. I remember when the show cut away to the local station, the local hosts were trying to keep the 1972 Telethon from turning into a disasteer. I recall local personality Carl Perkins saying something like this: "If you were offended by what Mr. Lewis said, we have the address to the Muscular Dystrophy Association here at the station; you can write to them and Jerry Lewis will get your letter. But PLEASE do not refuse to donate to the MDA or decrease your contribution because of what Mr. Lewis said. If you do not donate this year, you will not be hurting Jerry Lewis, you will be hurting children with muscular dystrophy who need the services and research that your contributions make possible."

I don't remember that controvery ever occuring again during a Labor Day telethon. I suspect there was enouugh of an outcry across the nation that MDA officials probably asked Jerry to cool it with the "Man upstairs" comments in future Telethons.

Incidentally, Jerry's comments came about 9 years prior to Rabbi Harold Kushner publishing his book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People". Dr. Kushner was inspired to write it after his oldest son, Aaron, died from progeria, a rare disease that causes children to age rapidly and usually die in their early teens. Obviously (no pun intended) more orthodox than Jerry Lewis' emotional comments, Dr. Kushner uses the book of Job in the Bible to try to explain that in this world some things happen that God did not do and cannot or will not prevent. (It seems to me that conclusion is almost inevitable in a world where God has given His creations Free Will.) I know for fact that at least some Christians were quite vocal in their disagreement with Dr. Kushner's conclusions.

[pleiades974]

Regardez "Jerry Lewis Sings "Back In Your Backyard" (1975) - MDA Telethon" sur YouTube

Eyes on fire, speedy rythm, still so graceful at 49, Jerry seems to be "en pilotage automatique" there, but I love him even that way ♡♡♡

[coolthingsguyslike]

[fredandginger64]

Happy let's pull Jerry around with me Sunday.

[jerrylewis-thekid]

Jerry is so handsome in black! And that smile... ❤️ ❤️ 

[make-a-little-mischief]

Happy Labor Day/Telethon weekend

In remembrance of Jerry and all the work he did out of love

💖

[sometimesiamhappy]

@fredandginger64 Here you can see it, at minute 4:57 😊

[rosen01]

“To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is Godlike.” ―Horace Mann