Lots of folks have Bill Cosby stories. Here is mine. His comedy show opened with a shot of a beautiful mural. The artwork was created by a high school in Harlem. When the school asked for a small fee, he said "nope" — he could get his studio's art department to do it. Cosby is akin to Ellen and Rosie. They play nice on TV. In real life, not so much.

After a four-year-long roller coaster, Meghan McCain is leaving her co-host duties on "The View." Her sparring with other co-host Joy Behar could get out of hand at times. Whoopi Goldberg often had to play ringmaster for the two. Her own mother Cindy McCain has said, "It does make me cringe a little bit." So far no one at the network has made an official announcement. An off-the-record source said, "we had no idea she planned to leave." McCain, who is known for her creative hairstyles that made a fashion statement, took Vogue Magazine to task for not putting Melania Trump on its cover. She made this comment after Jill Biden was featured on the cover.

The daytime drama family lost two iconic father figures this week. Ray McDonnell, who played Joe Martin in "All My Children" for almost 40 years, and Stuart Damon, who played Alan Quartermaine in "General Hospital" for nearly 30 years. Their TV personas were yin and yang.

Joe Martin was solid, caring, ready to take people into his home and always had sage advice. McDonnell had a Fulbright Scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Before Dr. Martin, he was the not-always-upstanding Philip Capice in "The Edge of Night." The actor loved working on AMC. It really was like doing a play a day. He loved the challenge of live TV. When the show started taping it was still done scene by scene. He once quipped that he wished he had a Joe Martin to go to. The 93-year-old leaves a wife and three children.

Now for Dr. Alan Quartermaine. He was a brilliant surgeon. He was also a devoted son and father. He was also a serial cheater, who tried to have his wife Monica killed and became unhinged when he could no longer perform surgery. Stuart Damon had the role for over 30 years. He was a pivotal character. Until then-head of ABC Daytime Brian Frons decided to kill off the character. Frons was very good at killing off. He axed "One Life to Live" and "All My Children." To make things worse, Frons decided to take the New York-based AMC and film in Los Angeles. Everyone uprooted themselves — yes, even Susan Lucci. A year later, he killed that show. Damon's character was also a dedicated surgeon. He saved many a life. He was the doctor who helped Robin deal with her AIDS diagnosis. Kimberly McCullough — who plays Robin - posted a tribute to him. Everyone from her to Leslie Charelson, who played his on-again, off-again wife, talked about their relationship. "We had a wonderful relationship. I was his "daytime wife" and he went home to Deirdre, his forever wife, and we all had a wonderful relationship," she said to SoapHub. Every post talked about how funny he was and caring. Steve Burton (Jason) said he "was so blessed to have this guy play my TV dad." He also noted that Damon always had his back. Damon saw that Burton could be a star. He went to the producers and told them to give Burton more to come. Nancy Lee Grahn alluded to a previous role. He played Prince Charming in a TV movie version of "Cinderella." "What a lovely, funny, talented Prince of a man," she said on Twitter.

I did see him at a not so charming moment. He had just learned he did not win an acting Emmy. During those years, fans could buy tickets. A fan walked up and asked for an autograph. He bellowed, "Can't you see I just lost an Emmy?" As the woman backed off, Damon's face almost collapsed as he kept telling her he was sorry. The fan got her autograph, and next year, he won his Emmy.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo Credit: gracinistudios at Pixabay