by Robert Laurence
Walt Disney's basically optimistic view of the world is apparent in his
description of his favorite relative, his mentally retarded uncle Ed, whom
the Disney clan always looked after. “Uncle Ed may have been touched in
the head,” Disney once told a reporter, “but he was happy. He spent hours
wandering through the woods. He knew all the birds and their calls and he
knew the names of all the plants. It was a privilege to wander with him .
. . There wasn't anybody happier or friendlier and I loved him so. To me
he represented fun in its simplest form . . . I could never figure out who
was crazy, Uncle Ed or everybody else . . .