'Pawn Stars' Extend Kind Gesture to Autistic Boy
Rick Harrison is known for driving hard bargains on History's "Pawn Stars," but recently he has received praise for sending a kind letter to an autistic boy.
Reddit user MrsLeslie posted Harrison's letter and the story behind it to the Internet last week.
"Little J is a huge fan of the TV show, 'Pawn Stars' and he talks about the show incessantly," the boy's mother reportedly told MrsLeslie. "I encouraged him to write them a letter, which he did, and he offered to sell his Gameboy to them for $30. I added a cover letter, describing J and his autism, and although I told them that I didn't expect them to actually buy his Gameboy, I did ask if they could at least reply."
Harrison responded in a letter of his own, thanking J for watching the show. He included $30 with the letter to cover the fan's asking price for the Game Boy, but told him to keep the device.
"I'm donating the Game Boy back to you for being such a loyal viewer, so keep enjoying it and think of us when you play with it," wrote Harrison.
He continued: "Chumlee says thank you, because he already has one and you were right, he does like it. You have a wonderful Mom who loves you very much. You are a lucky Boy. Always pay attention to what she tells you. You stay healthy and enjoy the New Year."
MrsLeslie said in her post that the Pawn Stars "went above and beyond" in their response to the boy.
The official "Pawn Stars" Facebook account confirmed last week that Harrison indeed wrote the letter. The reality show star told "Fox & Friends" he had forgotten about it, however, until media outlets began reaching out to him.
"I totally forgot about it until I started getting calls from a gazillion reporters," said Harrison. "Celebrities, especially people with shows that kids watch a lot – there's a lot of kids that watch my show – should be doing this on a regular basis."
"Pawn Stars" follows Harrison and others at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas as they do business and seek to discover the value of and story behind the items that are brought into the shop.
New episodes of the show air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on History.
