I, too, have fond memories of hanging with Doug, who could party till the wee hours (that still true, D?).
Final statement about Lewis: it's true that I respect his better work on strictly comedic/artistic grounds. He was a major American comedian, regardless of who he is as a person. But there's a lot of his work that I don't like at all; I'm hardly an uncritical admirer. Still, some of his work broke new ground or otherwise built on other, major comics. I'm a student of comedy. To ignore Lewis's contribution would be ridiculous.
As for Marta, whom I deeply respect, she can feel anyway she wants to about Lewis the comic/man. My beef with her on this is an aesthetic one, but not one I'm going to the mat with. And as for Lewis's MDA involvement, well, I always found it creepy and strange and somewhat exploitative. (The telethon itself had for years been a kitsch fest for many comedians.) I dunno how many disabled activists would champion Lewis on this front, but my guess is quite few. When it comes to MDA, I'll cede ground to Marta.
Dennis