Local memories of Richard Pryor

(Correction: Because of a reporting error, Tim Shriver was misidentified in the Names column in yesterday's Living/Arts section. He is Sargent Shriver's son.)

His stage persona was raw and irreverent, but Richard Pryor, who died over the weekend, had a sweet side, too. Jazz impresario Fred Taylor, who owned Paul's Mall on Boylston Street back in the day, swears the comedian was a stand-up guy during his four sold-out shows at the fabled club in 1974. ''People paid to stand in the corridor and just listen to him," Taylor told us yesterday. ''They couldn't even see him." (Tickets to the show cost $4.50.) On the first night, Taylor said, he went backstage to say hello to his hero. ''But before I said a thing, Richard stood up and said, 'Is everything OK?' " Taylor recalled, still stunned at the legendary comic's humility. ''I said, 'Are you kidding? Everything's fabulous!' " When Pryor came back to Boston a few years later to perform at the Music Hall, Mayor Kevin White marked the occasion with a proclamation: Richard Pryor Weekend.

Sargent Shriver honored at JFK Library

Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Sargent Shriver was the center of attention at the JFK Library yesterday. With his wife of 52 years, Eunice, by his side, Sarge was honored by, among others, journalist Mark Shields, the Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, former Pennsylvania senator Harris Wofford, biographer Scott Stossel, and his grandson Tim Shriver. Considering that Sarge was the first director of the Peace Corps, it seemed kind of appropriate that MSNBC's Chris Matthews, a former Peace Corps volunteer, moderated.

While in town for the Shriver event, Matthews interviewed Mitt Romney, and the ''Hardball" host pressed the governor on his plans for the future. ''If you're not running for reelection as governor, we can take that as an announcement for president?" Matthews asked. But Romney wouldn't bite. ''No, not really," he replied. What about those polls that suggest Rudy Giuliani and John McCain are the Republican presidential front-runners? ''I think they're great people," said Romney. Yawn.

Parents beware: Steve-O wants you!

Are your parents uncool? If so, Steve-O wants to talk to you. Johnny Knoxville's wild-eyed sidekick on MTV's ''Jackass" is looking for uptight parents from Boston to star on his new reality show, ''Camp Steve-O." The skatefreak who's been known to apply a staple gun to his bare bottom will play a camp counselor on the show, and 16 pathetic parents will be his campers. ''I'll make them do all kinds of things that they absolutely hate," the host told us. So what makes Steve-O qualified for the job? ''I'm the most inappropriate person to be involved with anything having to do with family values," he said. (Kids who think their mom or dad are lame enough can call 800-481-5952.) Asked if he's looking forward to parenthood, Steve-O said no. ''I'm getting a vasectomy," he said. ''I wouldn't trust myself with a hamster."

New guy in the forecast

Less than a week after Todd Gross got his walking papers as Channel 7's chief meteorologist, Pete Bouchard's been given the job. Bouchard, who joined WHDH-TV in 2002 after a few years forecasting in Maine, will do the weather on all Channel 7 newscasts. WHDH execs haven't publicly said why Gross was ousted after 21 years. . . . Boston-bred Michael Bivins of New Edition was at the Winky Wright-Sam Soliman fight at Mohegan Sun. So was Yankees star Gary Sheffield, whose wife, DeLeon Richards, sang the national anthem. . . . Former state treasurer Joe Malone was in Providence to see his old friend and former UMass coach John Calipari. (Coach Cal's Memphis Tigers beat the Friars Saturday.) After the game, we're told, Malone paid a visit to the Memphis locker room to congratulate Cal.

The Celts played Santa yesterday during a holiday party with patients from Boston Medical Center. Saying ''Ho! Ho! Ho!" were Paul Pierce, Ricky Davis, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, and CEO Wyc Grousbeck. . . . Harvard President Larry Summers is keeping his friends close and his enemies closer. According to the Harvard Crimson, Summers invited two of his outspoken critics -- William Kirby, dean of the faculty, and Theda Skocpol, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences -- to his wedding reception at the Fogg Art Museum. Summers married English professor Elisa New Sunday.