Third in a series.
Re: “Growing up with the Values of Josh Arnold”
Nick Arnold, the father of the School District’s young new superintendent, was a
successful Hollywood screenwriter, television comedy writer and comedian.
“The wrinkle,” said the proud Dr. Josh Arnold, “is that my father was born with severe spastic cerebral palsy.
“My dad was the first, or one of the first, cerebral palsy standup comics — in the ‘50s and ‘60s. My house was really funny, professionally funny.
“Friends would come over to my house (in Beverly Hills), and it was really, really funny.
“The second you could get over — right? — that this guy has cerebral palsy, which takes a few minutes, which is fair…
“You seem to be telling a joke. And you seem to think it’s verrry funny.”
You knew Josh Arnold was telling the truth.
This bear of a man, now in his late 30s, conveys unending candor and honesty. He carries three prominent values with him whenever he leaves home:
He is a truthteller, he is a storyteller, and he is as disarmingly comfortable, even upon first meeting, as if you were longtime chums, schmoozing around the kitchen table.
A compassionate, loving son returns to the Nick Arnold story.
“You have CP. But you seem to be telling a joke. You seem to think it’s very funny. Let me pay closer attention because he is slurring his words. Hard to understand. He is spastic. So he is moving a lot.”
As Josh Arnold reawakens childhood memories, the picture fills in on your mental screen.
“That was supernormal to me,” Dr. Arnold says. “I didn’t even know he had CP until probably middle school. Until I realized this is reeee-ally different from every other parent.
“That was my normal.”
(To be continued)
