Cosby will pay for education of 2 top grads

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Comedian Bill Cosby, who recently said black children are "going nowhere" because they don't know how to read and write, is paying for the college education of two top high school graduates who support themselves.
Cosby, who lives in Shelburne, read a story in The Republican of Springfield about Loren M. Wilder and Jimmy L. Hester, who are also black. They went to three colleges in a tour arranged by Cosby, and selected Hampton University in Hampton, Va., after visiting the campus Tuesday.
"This is all about your careers, your lives," Cosby told the teenagers as they traveled with him on his private jet, The Republican reported for today's editions. "The more you study, the better you do now, the more will open up to you later."
Troubled lives
Wilder was 14 when his mother was jailed for dealing drugs, and Hester left home at 15 after years of moving around and fighting with his mother.
Both moved from place to place before getting an apartment together this winter with another student from Putnam Vocational Technical High School.
Cosby was scheduled to honor a dozen high school students and graduates, including Hester and Wilder, today at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.