Jun 23, 2008

George Carlin




This may be a "Six Degrees" post...the flimsiest of connections between the late comedian and me. From a Playboy interview with Carlin:

PLAYBOY: In your routines, you return constantly, almost obsessively, to your parochial education. Did you ever attend public high school in New York?

CARLIN: I went to George Washington High School for six months before my 16th birthday, when I could legally quit. That was an even worse experience than the Catholic schools. I mean, they were still teaching fractions. But mostly, I played hooky. I had one 63-day streak.

PLAYBOY: That's quite a streak.

CARLIN: Yeah, and I didn't count weekends or holidays.

PLAYBOY: Would you describe yourself as a problem student?

CARLIN: I was a discipline problem, and I never did homework.

PLAYBOY: What sort of trouble did you get into?

CARLIN: When I was in seventh grade, I was caught stealing money from the visiting team's locker room during a basketball game. So I was sent to The Brothers. That's what they called this parochial school up in Goshen, New York. I was supposed to get closer supervision there and more "masculine influence," whatever that means. But I was thrown out for telling a couple of really lame kids on the playground that I had heroin.

PLAYBOY: Did you?

CARLIN: It was just a joke...


The connection is that "The Brothers" in Goshen is the same school I attended many years later. Carlin's connection was never talked about during my time there (surprise! Like they would brag about it?) A former classmate discovered the Playboy interview some years ago and the rest is history. Another student swears he saw Carlin's name carved in a desk. There's not much left of the school...the property's been turned into a public park.

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