Stephen Hanks

During my adolescence, Labor Day weekend basically meant two things to me: a new school year was about to start and the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy (ALS) Telethon would be on the air for 20 hours. In the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s, when the telethon was in its televised infancy and broadcast out of New York, I watched in awe of Jerry Lewis and his relentless comedic talent.

During my adolescence, Labor Day weekend basically meant two things to me: a new school year was about to start and the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy (ALS) Telethon would be on the air for 20 hours. In the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s, when the telethon was in its televised infancy and broadcast out of New York, I watched in awe of Jerry Lewis and his relentless comedic talent.

This Saturday, September 28 (at 4 pm at Don’t Tell Mama), I’ll be hosting passionate All-Star women cabaret performers who’ll be singing their hearts out for Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and Democrats. Next to my father, mother, and brother all dying before their 65th birthdays, January 20, 2017 was probably the saddest and most depressing day of my life. About a month before, I had ended the life-support for a very good friend who had been in a coma for days from a massive stroke.