Free Republic

For 45 years watching The Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon was what millions of families did on Labor Day. The Telethon was to Labor Day what fireworks were to the 4th of July and a turkey dinner to Thanksgiving. This year the Muscular Dystrophy Association has decided to replace this holiday tradition with a television show on Labor Day Eve. The 6-hour program will still be called a telethon, but Jerry Lewis won't be there and it won't be live for most viewers unless MDA has different programs for each time zone. The program will start at 6 P.M. local...

Jerry Lewis said Saturday that his years of service to the Muscular Dystrophy Association helped make him a star, but he didn’t provide details on his recent departure as the group’s national chairman. In his first public appearance since the that announcement, Lewis accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Nevada Broadcasters Association, saying that he made his reputation in show business by saving lives. "I made my reputation in this business caring for what I did, caring for the people that I did it for," said Lewis, who donned a red foam clown nose at one point during his...

For 40 years, comedian Jerry Lewis and his muscular dystrophy telethon have been as much a part of Labor Day weekend as the start of school and the symbolic end of summer. Now 80, and swallowing 25 pills a day for his sagging health, Lewis is approaching his curtain calls dogged by disabled activists who contend the show is designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled. Led by a former muscular dystrophy poster boy from Chicago, the activists scored what they call their "big triumph" last November as wheelchair-bound protesters ambushed Lewis in an appearance at the Harold...