When I get pleas to donate to my alma mater, Emerson College, my typical reaction is a deep guffaw and a profanity-laden tirade about how they'll get a donation from me once my student loan balances dip below five figures. I hate to be deny my artsy brethren, but a girl's got to eat.
That was the reaction I had when I got a fundraising letter from Denis Leary, a fellow Emerson alum. But some other recipients are angry that the college tapped Leary to ask for money because he's since made some controversial remarks about autism.
Let's all calm down a little, please.
In his forthcoming book, "Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid," Leary, in a chapter titled "Autism Schmautism," wrote: "There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their [expletive] kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks."
People. It's Denis Leary. The guy who wrote a song about how proud he is to be an asshole. It's probably best to take this with a grain of salt.
As an alum, I'm more upset that my college continues to cultivate a relationship with a man who got his career started by flagrantly plagiarizing Bill Hicks. In fact, has anyone checked to see if Hicks made any comments about autism before his death? Because odds are, Leary stole this from him too.
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