SEQUIM — After more than 77 years in show business, one might think entertainer Art Linkletter deserves a little R&R.
But instead of living out the rest of his days in relaxed luxury, the 91-year-old broadcaster, best-selling author and television icon still plays to crowds at fund-raisers such as Saturday’s gala benefiting the Olympic Medical Center’s Cancer Care Center in Sequim.
The black-tie event, sponsored by the medical center’s foundation and held at the SunLand Golf and Country Club, drew a packed house.
And though his schtick is legendary for its humor, the enigmatic Linkletter succeeded in leaving his audience in stitches while at the same time somberly driving home the importance of contributing toward medical advancements.
To Linkletter, the latter impulse is instinctive among humans — particularly those in the United States.
“Nowhere else do people act so generously and lovingly to those who are hurting,” he said.
Buoyed by encouragement from Linkletter and KOMO-TV weatherman Steve Pool, Olympic Medical Center raised more than $14,000 on auctions alone.
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The rest of the story appears in Monday’s Peninsula Daily News.