AllForLoveBlog

This Was Michael's Writing Desk During His Stay...Who Knows, He Might Have Penned A Song Or Two Sitting Here!

They had announced on Thursday evening that on Friday, after the morning sessions wrapped up, they would take us upstairs to the 4th floor suite where Michael actually stayed during his last visit to Gary. Everyone was excited. We were actually going to see where Michael slept, went to the bathroom, showered and shaved and all that sort of good stuff that fans are…well, just curious about.

They told us once we got up there, we were free to look around, and could take all the pics we wanted. “Just don’t take anything!” we were warned.

So on Friday at about noon, a group of us headed up to the 4th floor. We were shown the “secret” exit door where Michael enetered and exited the hotel, and got to ride on “the secret elevator” to the 4th floor…the elevator no one is supposed to know exists (but now you do).

They explained that Michael, his children, and his entourage had the run of the entire 4th floor, which was shut off to everyone but them during their stay. In other words, when Michael Jackson rents a hotel room, he doesn’t just rent a room-he rents the entire floor!

Michael's Sofa. Pretty Plain, Huh?

I couldn’t wait for the guide to unlock the door! I was going to see Michael Jackson’s hotel room!

I think what struck many of us instantly was that it was a lot more scaled-down than we had imagined. I’m sure most people, myself included, had envisioned a room filled with plush, ornate  furnishings like those photos we’re used to seeing of his living quarters in most places. But really, other than the fact that it was a suite and therefore bigger than your average-sized hotel room, there was really nothing to differentiate it from any one of a hundred other hotel room just like it. There was nothing extraordinary about the decor’; nothing extraordinary about the furniture or fixtures-nothing extraordinary except for the fact that, for a night or two back in June of 2003, Michael Jackson had slept here.

But it probably made sense, in keeping with Michael’s coming home and getting back to his roots for a little while, to keep things scaled back (perhaps the less to draw attention to himself). Besides, not to sound like a snob, but this is Merrillville, Indiana-not New York, Paris, France or any of those other cities with lavish, 5-star hotels.

Michael's TV...What Do You Want To Bet It Was Never Even Turned On?

In Merrillville, the Radisson is as upscale as it gets.

They did tell us that some of the furniture had been rearranged since 2003, but other than that, everything was exactly the same as it would have been during Michael’s stay.

The tour was pretty brief, and there really wasn’t much to say about the room other than that Michael was there, so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy!

This Was Michael's View From The Living Room Area...Not Much Of A View, Is It?

Of Course, This Was The Holy Grail Of The Room...EVERYONE Wanted A Pic Of This Bed! I Did Get To Sit On It...It Was SOOOOOO Soft!

Michael's Bedside Lamp. Maybe He Slipped On Those Sexy Bifocals And Did Some Late-Night Reading By Its Glow!

The King's Porcelain Throne...I Know, I Know, I Couldn't Resist. But I Wasn't The Only One Taking A Photo Of It, Trust Me! It Was The 2nd Most Popular Item After The Bed!

Dr. Vernon Smith poses with...The Jackson 4? (Or is he the #5th member? Lol!)

Believe it or not, I’m still getting through the events of last Friday! It looks like this is going to take awhile longer than I had anticipated, so I hope you guys don’t get too burned out on “Fanvention Reports.”

The hour before Aphrodite Jones went on, there was a Q&A session with several hometown friends and family members, a panel that included Keith Jackson, Felicia Childress (Michael’s elementary school teacher), Evelyn LaHaie, Dr. Vernon Smith, who played steel guitar with the Jackson 5 early on, Reynaud Jones, and Claude Jackson (definitely a relative; the resemblance to Joe was uncanny).  I   think  the organizers had some idea towards presenting Michael’s life chronologically, beginning with his childhood and youthful time in The Jackson 5 on Friday, then gradually working through each succeeding era of his adult solo career, but it didn’t quite pan out since the guests were all on different schedules and some, like Ms. Jones, had to leave early).

I ended up missing most of this session because, as it turned out, it was my only time to get the interview with Aphrodite Jones if I was going to get it at all, so I had to sacrifice most of this session. I had hoped to catch at least the first 30 minutes or so, but they ran almost 30 minutes late getting started, so I only had time to hear a little bit of what Keith had to say, and on my return, I caught the last few minutes of Felcia Chuildress’s story and Evelyn LaHaie’s, but LaHaie’s story was the same thing I had already heard in our interview, so nothing new there.

I’ll just relate what I remember of Keith’s story. It was back during The Jackson 5 days and he and Michael were hanging out together at a hotel. Keith was bored and tossing water balloons off the balcony at guests (which seems to be a Jackson familt trait). Michael was drawing a sketch of Keith. In between drawing, he kept warning Keith that he should stop because he was giving away their location to the fans and pretty soon they were going to get attacked. Sure enough, the girls got wind of where they were and here came a stampede! Michael ran away and left Keith to deal with it. Later on, he was laughing like everything, saying, “I told you so, but you wouldn’t listen!”

Mrs. Childress, who looks amazing to be 93 years old (I would have taken her to be about 70) said Michael was a good student, a very outgoing and extroverted child who was very popular with the other kids. She said he spoke with a slight stammer in those days (I had read this before, in one of her interviews) and his stammer would get worse whenever he was excited. Once, she didn’t see him in school for nearly two weeks. She didn’t realize at the time that little Michael was living a double life, as a student by day; a singer and performer by night. When he finally returned after two weeks, she was somewhat annoyed, thinking he had been playing hooky.

“Michael, I haven’t seen you in school for two weeks. Where were you?”

M-m-Mrs. Childress, p-p-please don’t be mad, I was all, allllll the way up in..in New York!”

But although I missed most of this session,  I did get the really nice photo from Dr. Vernon Smith of himself with Michael, Jackie, Tito and Marlon. (Where was Jermaine? Who knows!).  Dr. Smith was quite proud of his ‘fro, which needless to say, has long gone the way of his bell bottom pants and the platform shoes he said Michael was so fascinated with.

Killing Two Birds With One Stone: Theresa Gonsalves Asked Me To Take This Pic Of Her And Aphrodite Jones Posing Together

Well, here it is: Time to cover the events of Friday morning, August 27th. The morning began with my sit-down with Aphrodite Jones. As I’ve already hinted, this was by far my most challenging interview and I only hope I can do justice in covering everything that was said. What I am presenting here is a combination of what was said during the course of our interview and, also, the notes I took during her Q&A session.

Most of you, by now, have probably seen the clip that was recorded of Aphrodite answering my first question, which was about Michael’s physical decline during the trial. This was something I had gone into the interview with a keen curiosity about, because as I read through Conspiracy, one of the things that struck me most was her day-to-day observations of Michael throughout the trial. As she reminded us during her Q&A, “imagine you are sitting right there” (pointing towards a chair in the far left row) and Michael Jackson is sitting right about here (as she pointed to a chair in the center, front row) and from that angle, you’re able to observe this person every single day as his whole life is paraded in front of him.”

Since they routinely rotate the videos out on the Fanvention homepage, it isn’t available there anymore (at least not at the moment) but you can still access it on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1f6i6c2jBA

For me, some of the most fascinating details were simply learning what it was like in that courtoom on a daily basis. She said there were about 2400 members of the media there. Of course, every day of the trial meant walking through the frenzy outside the courtoom-fans yelling and screaming on one side; haters, protestors and demonstrators on the other, and the media, of course, there for a feeding frenzy. Michael was usually brought in through another entrance, which necessitated him entering the courtoom from the opposite direction as herself and most of the media people entering. This led to one of Michael and Aphrodite’s few actual, face-to-face encounters. “It just so happened we were going through the metal detectors, facing each other, and both looked up at the same time.” You know that feeling you have sometimes, like when an elevator door opens and you walk into it thinking it’s empty, and all of a sudden someone pops out of it; that little momentary feeling of being startled; taken aback? Aphrodite said the “metal detector” incident was very much like that; that she and Michael both startled each other, jumping at the same time. But beneath the humor of the moment, she could tell he was very scared.

“At the time, I just thought he was scared because he was guilty. I assumed he was scared for what was going to happen to him. I learned later that it was not for that reason at all. He wasn’t scared because he was gulty. He was scared because he was afraid of what the people of Santa Maria would think of him. He was scared of how they would view him because of this.”

Every day, fans would line up for the lottery, hoping to be among the lucky ones who would get to go inside.

“The courtoom had 30 seats for the public,” she said, and noted that the room itself was smaller than the room where we sat for the session.  “I was the last one to get a seat.” There were many days when even Jackson family members did not have seats. On the day of the verdicts, “Janet graciously gave up her seat and watched the proceedings from the closed-circuit TV upstairs.”

Inside the courtoom, the rule was “pure silence” except for those on the stand and the attorneys addressing them. No one was allowed to have recorders, cell phones, laptops or any other devices. Reporters had to make all of their notes by hand.

“We were in prison. Literally, in prison. You couldn’t talk, you couldn’t whisper. You could hear a pin drop.”

Clearly, if there were those thinking they were going to get to witness a star-studded extravaganza with Michael Jackson at the center of it all, they were in for a rude awakening once inside the courtoom doors. This was a serious matter. A man’s life was on the line. And Melville ran his courtoom in accordance.

"He Always Stood When The Jury Walked In"-Aphrodite Jones

If the oppressiveness of the courtoom itself wasn’t enough, there was simply the wear and tear of the grueling schedule each day, which took its toll on everyone. “Every day, it was up at 6am, be in court by 8:30, sit there until 2:30 in the afternoon, nothing but maybe a 10-minute break here and there. This wasn’t like a normal trial, where you’re there at 9:00 and you break for lunch for like an hour and a half and then you reconvene until 5…no, it wasn’t like that.”

Placing her hands on her chest, she said, “It wore ME down, and I wasn’t even the one on trial. Now add to that the fact that you’re not sure what’s going to come out of this, you don’t know if you’re going to be found guilty, if you’re going to go to prison, and you start to understand, this is what Michael was going through. And you’re damn right it took its toll.”

But on the day the verdicts came down, she said she actually saw the change in him. It was as if all the burden and all the weight of the past months-you might say, even the past two years, for that’s how long his ordeal had been-was suddenly lifted. Even now, her face still glows and her voice radiates the excitement and pride of that moment. “He straightened himself up, held his head high, and he floated out of that courtoom like he was walking on air.”

Oddly enough, however, even after sitting through all the testimony, observing Michael every day and listening to all the bs from the Arvizos, she says she still thought he was guilty-until the day the verdicts came in. This shocked me, because certainly if you read Conspiracy, and take it as gospel, your first impression is going to be: How could anyone sit through all of that, and not believe he was innocent? I had gone into this interview thinking there had to have been some defining moment; some moment when the light bulb went off. But, no. Aphrodite Jones insists she thought he was guilty right up until June 13th, 2005. When pressed for a reason why, she could only admit that it was her own bias that kept her from seeing things clearly. “I went into this thinking he was guilty. I mean, he already had these other allegations from 1993, a whole bunch of money had been paid, da-da-da-da-da…and yes, my impression throughout the trial was, yes, he’s very sweet; yes, he’s very humble; yes, he’s very polite, but probably guilty as sin.”

“So what changed your mind?”

"The Day Those Verdicts Came In, He Straightened His Shoulders, Held His Head High, And Floated Out Of That Courtoom Like He Was On Air"-Aphrodite Jones

“The day the verdicts came in, he was voted “Not Guilty” on 14 counts. And I just sat there for a moment and it hit me. I thought, Wow. These men and women on that jury heard and saw what I could not.”

Coming out of the courtoom, she was stopped by a reporter who asked her if she thought the jury had got it right?

“I had a split second to give my answer, and I thought about it, and before I even knew it, I said, ‘Yes. I do.”

From that moment, there was no turning back. It was only then, in hindsight of the “Not Guilty” verdicts, that she began researching and documenting the case-requesting and reviewing transcripts, watching endless hours of video footage (which had to be done in the records room; she did not have the luxury of being able to take the tapes home to view at her leisure); asking the clerk over and over to pause, rewind, etc. It was a grueling and tedious process of examing and analyzing the case in hindsight. But when all was said and done, one thing stood clear: The jury did get it right. Michael Jackson was innocent.

One of the questions I had was where she had gotten the information that Marin Bashir had intentionally set up the scene in his documentary of Gavin holding Michael’s hand and laying his head on his shoulder.

“Where did you hear that?” I asked.

“That came from two of the attorneys who represented him {Michael}. (Later, in her Q&A, she added their names with an aside wink-”Thomas Mesereau and Brian Oxman”).

“Yes, from what I heard, Martin Bashir was saying to Gavin, ‘Why don’t you lay your head on his shoulder, blah blah blah, and Michael said, ‘I hardly knew this kid.’ He hadn’t seen him in two years!”

“I get the feeling-and some people have said-that a lot of this had more to do with the fact that Gavin felt resentful of Michael when he sensed Michael was pulling away and distancing himself from him.”

“Oh, absolutely! Mesereau asked Gavin point blank, ‘Why are you so upset with Michael?’ The kid said, ‘Because Michael wasn’t there at Neverland.’ Michael was distancing himself because this family wanted him to be their daddy, and Michael wasn’t interested in being this family’s daddy.”

Not surpringly, she also doesn’t think much of the two jurors who later claimed they were “coerced” into their “Not Guilty” votes.

“When you take an oath to be a juror, you are sworn to uphold that jury’s decision. They were going after book deals. I just thought, ‘How dare they! How dare they make a mockery of our judicial system, because that’s what they did.”

Since she had detailed much of Adrian McManus’s testimony in Conspiracy, in which McManus  described seeing June Chandler in Michael’s bedroom on several occasions, and having had the opportunity to observe June Chandler’s testomony in court, I asked Ms. Jones what was her take on the theory of a possible affair between Michael and June?

With a reminder that Adrian McManus’s testimony (who was one of several disgruntled ex-Neverland employees; in fact, she had stolen one of Michael’s sketches of Elvis, claiming she found it in the trash) is nothing to build a substantiated claim on of any kind, she said, “I think June wanted to have an affair with him; I don’t think he necessarily wanted to have one with her.”

I had thought to follow up by mentioning what Ray Chandler had quoted his brother as saying in his book (that he hoped June would divorce Dave and hook up with Michael) but we were extremely pressed for time, so I had to move on to the next question.

The next question was a tough one, but I felt it needed to be addressed and clarified once and for all. I wanted to know how she addressed those cynics and critics who accuse her of being biased in her book and who refuse to take her work on Jackson seriously because they think she was simply “smitten” with him or is simply another fangirl. In a way, I was a little apprehensive about asking  the question. I knew this was going to be a sensitive issue, and I had a brief flashback to what Oprah said when she was asking Michael about his cosmetic surgeries: “It’s hard to get them back once you tick them off; it’s hard to reel ‘em back in.” but by the same token, I knew she had to be aware that those criticisms are out there. And once it becomes a credibility issue, I think it is important. After all, critics and haters love nothing more than to have any excuse to discredit those journalists who are trying to get the truth about the Jackson allegations out there.

“First of all, I’m a professional journalist. I’ve had a 30-year-career as a journalist, I was a syndicated columnist, I’ve been with some of the biggest celebrities in the world. My interest in the Jackson case was simply because I thought he was guilty. Was I struck by his demeanor in the courtroom? Yes. Was I impressed by it? Yes. Smitten? No…maybe for a second. Maybe for a fleeting second, I was smitten. But that was not why I wrote the book. I wrote the book because it was a book that needed to be written. Michael Jackson wasn’t just an entertainer; he wasn’t just a performer. He was someone who had a message for the world. How many pop stars do you know who actually use the platform they’ve been given to make some change in the world, to do some good? Michael was using his platform. He was using it to say we’re in trouble environmentally; he was using it to get a message out to the world.”

"Was I Smitten With Him? No....Okay, Maybe For A Fleeting Second."

In other words, she was saying, in essence, that it was the allegations that destroyed Michael’s good works and stifled his message. I “got” that. I “got” that it was about exonerating his name by putting the truth out there, and not just because she was “smitten” or a “fangirl.”

While on that train of thought, I asked about the small handful of other journalists, such as Mary A. Fisher, who have also gone against the grain by standing up for Michael and reporting the facts of the two cases? I had wanted to ask if she kept in contact with any of them, but somehow the conversation drifted off on a tangent about some of Michael’s hypocritical “friends” who are all giving interviews now, but couldn’t be bothered in his time of need. We were talking about Michael’s fans, and I remembered she had once made the comment, in her book, about Michael’s fans being smart. “They’re smart enough to see through the BS,” I said, and Aphrodite agreed: “Yes, they are smart.” But on that note, we also talked about the increasing division among the fanbase, and how it is doing more harm than good by undermining our best efforts-for example, how fans have become divided between those who support Karen Faye, and those who don’t. Or the TINI’s vs. the fans who don’t necessarily support those theories. But I dropped a bomb she wasn’t expecting when I mentioned the latest source of division-Charles Thomson. She was absolutely shocked about that.

“WHAT?! You’re kidding me! Oh, and he’s such a sweetheart, too…WHY are they attacking him? He’s written so many great articles about Michael.”

I said I only knew some things I had heard from various boards, about The Lowlynewshound controversy and so forth, but she cut me off before I could even make headway. “Oh, please,” she said, digging furiously among the contents of her bag until she had extracted a copy she just happened to very handily have on hand of the Andrea Peyser article, in which Peyser, of course, is ranting on and on about The Saratoga Dance Hall Of Fame honoring “a pedophile.”

Holding the awful article up as an example, she said righteously, “Do you see this? THIS is what you guys need to be concerned about. THIS is what we need to be fighting.”

I “got” that, too. That while MJ fans are so busy fussing and fighting amongst ourselves, the Andrea Peysers of the world are getting their foothold in. But sadly, while people like Peyser seem to have no problem getting heard, it seems that at every turn there is some obstacle to getting the positive truth about Michael out there.

Aphrodite Jones Said We Need To Be Concerned With Who Our Real Enemies Are-People Like Andrea Peyser

During the Q&A, Aphrodite said she was going to show us “rare, exclusive” footage that had only been previously seen in the courtoom; footage, she said, that was part of a pilot for a TV special she hoped to air (I presume on the Jackson allegations, though at that point, my notes got a little schizophrenic so I can’t recall if that’s exactly what was said). But as she began to describe this footage in more detail, several of us began to put two and two together and knew she was referring to the Arvizo rebuttal footage. People began to ask if what she was about to show us was the rebuttal tape (or part of it) and someone mentioned having seen it before. Aphrodite Jones seemed a bit puzzled and thrown off by that, because she couldn’t understand how so many of us could have already seen the footage when it’s never been officially released. Someone spoke up and mentioned the Larry Nimmer DVD, The Untold Story Of Neverland.

That was when Ms. Jones, quite visibly upset with the whole subject, told us that Larry Nimmer “isn’t funny.” She told us Nimmer had taken it upon himself to use the footage without permission; that he had “stolen” from the court and ‘stolen” from her, and that the estate had ordered a cease and desist of the film he showed at the film festival a few months ago for that reason.

Well, that was quite a shocker, as you can imagine, because as you all know, the Untold Story of Neverland, just like Conspiracy, is one of the few positive things out there, and it seems that, once again, something that is positive is doomed to be tied up indefinitely with litigations as to who owns what and who stole from who, while in the meantime-yep, Andrea Peyser and her ilk will have no problem churning out a dozen more articles that will have no problem being printed and read.

I understood, of course, where Aphrodite was coming from about the footage. No one likes to feel they’ve been undermined, undersold, or plain out robbed. But still, for the fans, it’s disheartening to realize that it’s getting harder and harder to even know who to trust anymore. Harder even to know who “the good guys” really are. And if “the good guys” are fighting amongst themselves, just like with the fans, how are we going to get anything positive accomplished?

Oh, but it gets worse. Several of you wanted to know about the status of Conspiracy, which of course is now out of print. I asked the question in our interview, and it was also asked during the Q&A. Is the book ever going to be reprinted again? Sadly, the answer is: No. “Not unless I can find a publisher in China,” she said.

The truth of the matter is an ugly situation that happened with the book’s publisher, I-Universe, last summer. “The book was reissued when Michael died, but they used a reduced resolution,” she said, explaining that the new edition was of an inferior and shoddy quality. Then she was told that they weren’t going to continue the book because, “they said they hadn’t made a profit from it.”  On her end, she says, “I never saw the checks.”

I asked if, given the renewed interest in Michael Jackson since his death and the surge of new fans, she might consider re-submitting it to the major New York publishers?

"The New York Publishing World Doesn't Want It. They Still Don't Want It. Even Now"-Aphrosite Jones

“The New York publishing world doesn’t want it. They still don’t want it. Even now.”  She went on to quote an editor who actually said, “Not another MF Michael Jackson book!”

That is the sad reality. No one wants to publish a Michael Jackson book unless it’s garbage. Yes, you would think there would be a market for an explosive book that tells the truth about the allegations. But they only want a book about the allegations if it’s filled with lies and salacious speculation. “Even now,” the words reverberated. What hope is there for the future? For any time? Perhaps one could argue from a business perspective (since publishers only think dollars and cents) that editors believe only fans will buy a book like Cosnpiracy. But heck, our money’s green, too. And there are a LOT of us.

However, I got the distinct impression that she has simply grown weary with the struggle. She has been fighting the good fight since 2007 for this book, with unfortunately very little to show for the effort, other than, of course, a dedicated following among Jackson fans. I’m sure that has to count for something. But when you’re a professional journalists with many other stories to tell, I guess there does come a time when you may feel enough is enough.

“I’m not going to bring the book out again unless it’s a completely updated, revised edition,” she said, indicating that she does plan to write a new book pending the outcome of the Murray trial. In the meantime, I guess the best advice I can give anyone is to hold on dearly to those copies you have.

All in all, it was a lot to wrap my hands around and I was left feeling vaguely depressed, defeated and sad, wondering again why it’s so EASY for all the garbage to get out there, but so very, very hard for even one simple thing that is positive about Michael?

I think these were the questions a lot of us were left with. I’m sure Michael must have wondered the same thing, when all he’d ever wanted was to entertain and make people happy. The most emotional moment of Ms. Jones’s Q&A was when she talked about going to see the Jackson house with Jennifer Batten on Thursday.

Choking back tears, she said, “I just stood there looking at that TINY little house, and thinking, This person went from THIS house to a 2700-acre estate. Imagine working that hard, achieving everything you ever dreamed, and suddenly it’s all taken away from you. Even your home…your HOME. Thomas Mesereau told him, after the trial, ‘You’ll have to leave here. They don’t want you here. These people don’t want you here (pointing her finger, emphasizing Mesereau’s words) and if you stay here, they will never leave you alone.’ So yes, everything he worked his whole life to achieve was taken from him.”

At that point, there was hardly a dry eye in the room. Some wept openly. It was a very intense moment; even now, it is difficult to type this, and to recall that moment. It makes you realize just how raw emotions are, still. I’ve said many times, it is not the grief over Michael’s physical death that hurts the most. It’s living with the injustice of what was done, and continues to be perpetrated. I can’t speak for everyone. But for me, I know the physical loss is something I can come to terms with, eventually. But the rest of it?

Never.

Last Visit To Gary: June 2003

Michael’s birthday is a special time for northwest Indiana native Evelyn LaHaie for more reasons than one. It was August 29th, 1965, when she booked the newly coined “Jackson 5″ to perform at the fashion show at The Big Top department store in Gary. Michael was turning all of seven that day, but there was no mention of it being his birthday- in fact, other than that the boys were performing one of their first major gigs, there was no mention of it being any kind of special day at all. It was, as usual, simply another performace; another day of work. “No one at the time even mentioned that it was his birthday,” Evelyn commented during her Q&A session.

Of course, what Evelyn also could not have known at the time was that the family had recently converted to the Jehovah’s Witness faith. In hindsight, she came to understand that for Jehovah’s Witnesses, a birthday is just like any ordinary day. Part of this stems from the belief that no one day should be singled out as being more “special” than others. Yet there’s still something a little bit sad when you think of a seven-year-old boy whose only concern on his birthday is to give the best show he can give; who never mentions presents or “all the neat stuff I got.”

But, of course, he wasn’t down about it at all. Why would he be? He was only seven, and had not yet caught on that there were other kids his age who did things differently. He and his brothers were not yet stars, so all of the pressures of fame and never ending work that were to come later were not yet a factor. At that age, it was still fun, and Evelyn was in a unique position to get to know little Michael before the pressures of stardom took their toll.

A few weeks before, Joe Jackson had responded to an ad placed by Evelyn seeking auditions for the The Big Top gig. The Jackson Brothers, as they were called at the time, were among 200 local groups to audition.

I had already read that Evelyn had described her first impression of 6-year-old Michael as “magical.” I asked what qualities about him made her choose that word in particular.

“Oh,” she gushed, “just the way he danced; that little guy could MOVE!”

I asked if she remembered what song they performed at the audition, but she said she couldn’t remember, other than it “it was a sad song.”

She said that although all the brothers were talented, she knew right away little Michael had something special about him, and was going to be a big star. She described a bubbly kid who was always smiling; always joking around.

“At that time,” I asked, “which of his brothers would you say he was closest to? Who did he seem to interact with the most?”

“At the time, I would say Jermaine,” she answered (which somewhat surprised me, since I would have guessed Marlon).

I asked if she ever saw evidence of “The Little Shopkeeper,” since I’ve heard so many stories of Michael’s childhood “hobby” of buying up candy to resell to other kids. She said she believed she did recall seeing him do that.

Mostly, what stands out in her memory is that he was a happy kid. And when the music started…”The little guy was magic!” she said, returning to her favorite phrase to describe Michael.

Since she got to witness first-hand the interactions of Michael and his brothers with Joe Jackson, I had to ask if she ever saw any indications of abuse or any signs of Joe being the stern and demanding “stage father.”

Her answer was an emphatic no. “Joe was a wonderful father,” she said, in a tone that left no room to argue the matter. Evelyn has been close friends with Joe for many years. Among her many keepsakes, which she loves to show off proudly, there is a photograph of her and Joe at a birthday party. It’s a recent photo, and is evidence that the bond they formed over forty years ago when Evelyn first auditioned and named The Jackson 5 is still strong. She is one of those who believes Joe gets a bad rep that he isn’t entirely deserving of, noting that she personally had only witnessed what seemed to be a loving relationship between Joe and his boys.

But although Joe may have been a genius when it came to managing his sons and getting their show business careers started, there was one thing he definitely sucked at-coming up with a good name.

The five extraordinary young men who auditioned for Evelyn that August came burdened with a most unremarkable and ordinary name-The Jackson Brothers.

“Every singing family group out there had “Brothers” or “Sisters” as part of their name. It was too ordinary.”

“It sounds like the name of a gospel group or something,” I said.

“Exactly! I said, ‘Joe, you’re going to have to give these boys a name with some zip!’ I said, ‘How about The Jackson 5?’”

Joe agreed to the name change, and the rest is history. Or maybe I should say, HIStory.

As we continued talking, Evelyn began to show me some of her treasured keepsakes. They included many items, such as the group’s audition papers, that miraculously survived a fire at her beauty school several years ago. Then, as she was sorting through, she asked, “Would you like to have a picture of Michael and me?”

“Of course,” I said, “I would love to!”

She gave me a photo of Michael and herself, taken backstage just before Michael was to go onstage to give a speech at Roosevelt High School. This was during his last visit to Gary, in June of 2003. I noticed right away that, in the photo, she was wearing the exact same silver hat and scarf that she was wearing that evening, and I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some significance to that; if she had worn the same items intentionally in remembrance of her last evening with Michael.

“I saw him backstage right before he went on, and I asked if he would pose for a picture with me. I couldn’t believe he took the time to do it, and to talk to me, because you know, most people, when they’re getting ready to go onstage, they don’t want to be bothered. But Michael was never like that.”

I looked at the photo for a long time. I couldn’t help but think that, while the Michael in the photo was very much the Michael we-his fans-had all come to know, he had to have seemed in some ways vastly different to Evelyn from the little 6-year-old boy she had first gotten to know. By that evening, in June of 2003, he had become a global superstar. His albums had sold millions. He had toured the world many times over. He had been accused of horrible crimes, which in many ways had broken his spirit. Even physically, although we know many of the changes such as his vitiligo were beyond his control, he bore little resemblance to the bubbly child Evelyn had first seen perform.

I asked how much she thought had changed about this man in the photo with her from the little boy she first met.

“Nothing,” she said. “Oh, I mean, obviously, the surgery, you know, but other than that, he hadn’t changed at all. He was still just the same; very sweet; very kind.”

“What do you think remained the same about him as he grew into an adult performer?”

“The magic,” she said, the word she always fell back on. “The magic was always there. He never lost it. Never.”

I couldn’t help but find it sadly ironic and bittersweet that we should all be coming together that weekend to celebrate Michael’s birthday. This was, after all, the little boy who spent his seventh birthday doing what he would be doing the rest of his life-entertaining to make us happy. I suppose, however, if it had not been for all those sacrifices and hard work, none of us would have even been there last weekend, or cared to be.  It definitely helped put things in perspective to realize just how much of himself Michael did sacrifice, for us.

But as Evelyn reminded me, we should not forget that he loved it, too.

“He was born to entertain,” she said.

That, he was.

UPDATE: The photo I previously posted of Michael and Evelyn with this article has been removed pending verification of its authenticity. I’ve replaced it for the time being with another photo from Michael’s Roosevelt High appearance. Sorry to have to take that step (I really did love that photo) but there were too many questions about it and I simply could not leave it up unless I am 100% sure it’s “the real deal.” If it does prove to be authentic, I will gladly re-post it. But not until then.

Monica Lynn Manoski's Thriller-Era Portrait Greeted Arriving Guests. "I Wanted To Capture The Happiness And Innocence Of That Time," Monica Later Told Us

Okay, so I won’t waste too much time describing how I got there or the moment I arrived at the Radisson in Merrillville, Indiana because I know you guys don’t care about that. Nor will I waste your time describing what I packed or what I wore because none of that matters. The only thing I’ll say is that, first of all, I was extremely relieved to discover that everything that was going to be the center of my world for the next four days-my hotel (LaQuita Inn) the Radisson (where the Fanvention was taking place) and The Star Plaza Theatre(where the tribute concert would be held)-were all located within an easy two minutes of each other, and all of it just off the Interstate, so there was never any question if I would be able to find my way easily back to the Interstate once it came time to leave Merrillville and head home. That was a relief. For someone like me, who suffers from extreme anxiety, it was a double relief. Nothing spins me into a panic attack worse than being lost in a strange place. Fortunately, I was able to easily map out what would become my little “comfort zone” for the next four days.

That was good. What wasn’t so good was when I discovered that the Radisson itself more than made up for how easy Merrillville was to navigate. I got lost several times within its vast corridors. That hotel is a maze, and it wasn’t until sometime late Saturday that I finally realized I had learned my way around-at the very least, I had learned how to get to the things that mattered. The “trick” that got me through the first few days was “follow the crowd.” Following the celebrity guests was another neat trick I learned, because you knew that wherever they were heading was usually where you were supposed to go. This was how I ended up riding in an elevator with Keith Jackson to the second floor. During the short elevator ride, the conversation was all about the differences between rural Indiana as opposed to rural Alabama and North Carolina (where one of the other guests riding in the elvator just happened to be from) while in the back of my mind I kept thinking, “Girl, you’re riding on an elevator with Michael Jackson’s first cousin! And here we are talking about corn fields, of all things!”

I’ll just add a few words here about Keith, who is the son of Joseph’s brother Martin. He is close in age to Michael and has the same high cheekbones and soft-spoken voice as Michael and Jackie (athough my sister saw his pic and said she thinks he looks more like Marlon). Keith is very sweet, down to earth, and every inch a gentleman. He’s one of those men who ALWAYS opens doors for ladies and  always makes sure that the ladies go first  One thing you can definitely say about the Jackson boys: They were all taught good manners.

Another time I was following behind Jennifer Batten to find my way to a session, and of course again, my brain is going, “Girl, you’re walking behind Jennifer Batten!” I remember riding up to the second floor with Aphrodite Jones and discussing the pros and cons of the Slim Fast diet plan. Once, Evelyn LaHaie and I got lost together (“The blind leading the blind,” I joked) but it was so much fun to talk to her that I didn’t mind rambling aimlessly around the halls while we chatted about everything from Michael to cosmetic surgery to (again!) dieting.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. Anyway, the very thing that caught the eye when you entered the Radisson lobby was the gorgeous portrait of Michael done by local, northwest Indiana artist Monica Lynn Manoski, which is the same portrait featured on the Fanvention website. But that small image on the homepage does not even begin to do justice to how breath taking this beautiful work is when you see it in person. Manoski would say later, during her Q&A session with David Nordahl, that she wanted to capture the pure joy and innocence of Michael’s Thriller years. Her work became a focal point for me in many ways throughout the weekend, as I eventually learned how to navigate my way around the hotel simply  by using her variously displayed King of Pop portraits as focal points-for example, if you saw the huge portrait of Michael in his Billie Jean-era tux and loafers, you knew the elevator was to your right, and so on. My favorite, though, was probably the one I called the “Warlord” portrait, although that’s probably a misnomer since “warlord” was the furthest thing from Michael’s vocabulary. But it’s how I’ve always described that iconic pose where Michael comes out in his shades, strikes a pose, and just stands there for minutes on end, slowly “letting it simmer” as the crowd goes nuts. Monica had a beautiful portrait of that pose which throughout most of the weeked was propped very prominently against the wall in the media room. I found myself staring at it whenever I needed to calm and/or ground myself before an interview. It had that kind of effect on me.

While I was waiting to get my badges and initial registration issues ironed out, I kept seeing a very flashily dressed little woman wearing a black suit, silver beret, and a long, matching silver scarf. I just assumed she was another early  guest like myself, getting her registration taken care of. It was actually Evelyn LaHaie (who, as I would learn, has a penchant for elegant hats and scarves, a look she pulls off effortlessly).

The VIP reception was already kicking off about the time I finally got my badges. The Atrium bar had been converted into an elegant dining area with tablecloths and candles. A buffet line offered four choices of meats and a scrumptious selection of authentic Mexican cuisine to choose from (most of which I only picked at, however, since my stomach still had those just-arrived-and-not-even-settled-in butterflies).

At a quick glance, you could see Aphrodite Jones and Jennifer Batten sitting at the tables, and of course, already surrounded by guests. Keith Jackson’s band started up, and a few brave souls hit the dance floor. Since we also had all the free drinks we wanted, it wasn’t long before more even braver souls were joining in.

I wasn’t expecting that I would be doing my first interview that evening. But as it turned out, several of the celebrity guests, as mentioned, had already arrived, and Karen Williams (the media coordinator, who probably saw more of me over the next four days than she will ever want to see again in her lifetime) advised me that this would actually be an ideal time to get some interviews in, “while everybody is more relaxed.” Uh, relaxed? I was still shaking in my shoes! (Maybe I should have taken better advantage of the free drinks!).

I nervously named off the people I hoped to interview before the weekend was out. Evelyn La Haie was the first name on my list because I had written all the names down chronologically according to the order they would be speaking that weekend. Karen said, “Evelyn’s here, do you want me to go get her now?” I said sure.

Within a few minutes, I was sitting face to face with the “silver beret and scarf” lady I had seen earlier. As it turned out, I was glad she was my first interview. Evelyn is such a sweetheart, just a very sweet, gracious lady, and I instantly felt at ease talking to her.

Heck, this was the lady who even won over crusty Joe Jackson, which as anyone can tell you, isn’t exactly the easiest feat to accomplish.

Coming Up: Hear what Evelyn had to say about meeting 6-year-old Michael, and the naming  of The Jackson 5. “I said, ‘Joe, The Jackson Brothers isn’t going to cut it! You have got to give these boys a name with some zip!’ “-Evelyn LaHaie

2300 Jackson Street Family Reunion, 1989

The first King of Pop Fanvention in Gary, Indiana-as well as Michael’s 52nd birthday celebration- is a memory now. I got in late last night and will probably not start posting my actual interviews and stories until I have a chance to get all of my accompanying photos uploaded and/or scanned. I will apologize in advance that I am not much of a photographer. I am always one of those who can never quite get my angles, lighting and focus just right. But I’ll post the best of the bunch, or at least the ones I’m not too embarrassed to post, over the next few days. I also have a lot of neat pics and other momentos that were given to me by various guests, but I’ll have to wait until I see my friend who has a scanner. In the meantime, until I can get my own pics uploaded, I found these photos of Michael from the 2300 Jackson Street family reunion in 1989 , and from his final visit to Gary in 2003 (a few of which I hadn’t seen before) for you to enjoy.

As I was driving back, what suddenly hit me was the overwheming enormity of my task ahead. How to best present all of the stories, interviews, and experiences from this past weekend in a way that would be easy to follow, and easy for me to break down? Even now, there’s so much to say-so much I want to say-that I’m still feeling a little overwhelmed. Part of me still feels a bit surreal, as if I dreamed the whole weekend. But no, I have my notes, pics and souvenirs-not to mention my blistered face from Saturday, standing in front of the Jackson house at 2300 Jackson Street where I struggled to get at least one decent shot of Joe cutting the birthday cakes for Michael-to prove it wasn’t.

Anyway, I decided that probably the best way to tackle this would be to simply present everything that happened in chronological order. So what I’ll be doing over the next several days, as I get all the pics uploaded, is devoting each day to the events of a particular day of the Fanvention. For instance, starting on Wednesday, I’ll present all my interviews and experiences from Thursday evening, the day I arrived, then each succeeding day, will present all of my interviews and stories from Friday, then Saturday, and finally, will wrap things up with the interviews and events of Sunday.

As a general overview, the Fanvention was a very emotional experience for many of us. A lot of laughter and tears were shared. There were wonderful experiences, and of course, as is inevitable at these types of things, some frustrations as well. But in the end, the good far outweighed any bad. You know those Mastercard commercials where they enumerate the price of this and that, but in the end will name the most valuable thing of all with the tagline…”Priceless?”  To spend an entire weekend chillin’ and hanging out with some of the people who knew Michael best-whether they were family, people who grew up in his neighborhood, who went to school with him or taught him at school (Felicia Childress); who got to witness the magic of seeing those first, very early performances as little Michael learned his craft (Evelyn LaHaie); who worked with him onstage every night during some of the biggest tours of his career(Jennifer Batten); who were in a unique position to observe him each and every day of his darkest hour (Aphrodite Jones); who were his friend and lover (Theresa Gonsalves); who had the unique experience of working with him on the set of “Moonwalker” (Scott Thompson), and those who were not only his trusted, loyal friend, but also his right hand man in some of his most ambitious creative projects (David Nordahl)-like I said, priceless.  Over the course of the weekend, I got to know many of these people well, since our interactions included not just interviews and Q&A sessions, but many meals and casual walks together-even bus rides together, since many of the celeb guests boarded the same bus that us “regular” guests boarded to go to the Jackson house on Saturday and the Railcats baseball game on Sunday, all of which provided ample opportunity for relaxed conversations without the pressure of an “interview.” (I probably should add here that the reason for the bus rides was because the Fanvention was actually in the Gary suburb of Merrillville, and so to get to actual events in  Gary required a 15-minute trip up the interstate).

These were some of the people who knew Michael best; who knew the “real” Michael, and through listening to their stories, as well as seeing Michael’s hometown, meeting members of his family and even (yes!) getting to be inside the same room that he slept in during his final visit to Gary, I feel closer to him than ever before. I struggled all weekend with how to best phrase what I took away from this experience. I guess the best way I can sum it up is to say that the experience somehow put me in closer touch with Michael as a human being. Sometimes it’s easy, even as a fan, to get caught up in the fantasy of Michael Jackson the celebrity, the icon, the man we all “want” him to be for us. But when you immerse yourself in an experience like this for four days, it really brings you closer to Michael as simply a human being. For me, it was the little things…being face to face with Joe Jackson (yes, I did see him, on four different occasions) and realizing this is the man Michael respected and yet feared so much; or sitting at breakfast with David Nordahl and realizing this is the man who was so close with Michael that when Michael excitedly announced that Blanket had spoken his first sentence, that first sentence turned out to be, “Where’s Dave?” Or observing, first hand, Theresa’s quick wit and sense of humor, especially in dealing with some situations that might have been quite sticky for some (such as when two women sitting behind her who didn’t recognize her were discussing frankly whether they believed her story or not). It helped me to see and understand what Michael saw in her. I understood their attraction; their bond. But I’ll say more about that when I get to Saturday’s events.

By the way, those two ladies (regardless of whatever their personal opinions of Theresa’s story) became two of my best buds. That’s another thing about events like this. It’s the oppotunity to bond with other fans who share your feelings and are going through the same thing. Emotions, at times, were still quite raw for many. We were there to comfort each other, to lend shoulders to cry on, when things got too heavy. The tears often came in ways quite unexpected. But there was a lot of laughter, too. Events like this are important for that reason, too. I made many wonderful contacts and formed friendships that I hope will be sustained. But even if some of us never see each other again, we will always have the memories of this weekend, and what was shared.

Just to give an overview before I start posting my individual interviews and day-by-day installments, Omer Bhatti and Genevieve Jackson were not there. I was told that Omer was having some problems with his visa. The family members I did see there were Joe Jackson, Keith Jackson (Michael’s first cousin) and a girl who was at the cake cutting at the Jackson house whom I did not recognize, but was definitely a Jackson. All I can say is, she bore a very strong resemblance to Janet and Rebbie, but looked a bit too young to be Rebbie (perhaps her daughter?). Maybe when I post the photo, some of you might recognize her. I have to confess, though I know all of Michael’s siblings when I see them, when it comes to their kids, there are so many that it’s hard to keep them all straight, and I’m not even going to pretend that I can. I seriously doubt I could pick any of them out in a crowd, except maybe for Tito’s kids but that’s only because they’re somewhat famous in their own right.

I managed to get all of the major interviews I set out to get except, unfortunately, the one I had hoped to get with Jennifer Batten. I ran into Ms. Batten several times and we discussed a time to set up the interview, but in the end, she was always either tied up elsewhere, or I was. We had agreed to find some time Saturday afternoon, but I took the bus to see the Jackson house and the cake cutting on Saturday, and that little venture ended up being a 4-hour excursion, for which I didn’t get back to the hotel until 5pm. By that time, I was exhausted and thoroughly drained from being in the heat for over an hour and a half at the Jackson house, and I knew Jennifer would be busy rehearsing for the concert that evening, so between those two factors, I didn’t feel up to pestering her yet again. The way I see it, there’s a time to be persistent, and a time to know when to draw the line, and by the time we got back to the hotel and I realized it was so late, I just felt it would have been an imposition on her at that point.  However, I don’t feel too cheated because I got a lot of great information from her public Q&A session, including answers to many of the same questions I had planned to address in our interview, anyway. (There was also a little surpise that happened during her session…but I’m going to wait until I cover Saturday’s events to tell you what happened! It was both hilariously funny and touching at the same time).

I got to sit on the bed Michael slept in during his last stay in Gary; I even got a pic of his toilet! (Hey, what the heck, why not? I’m sure he used it at some point!). I saw Joe on four different occasions-he even ended up sitting behind me twice; once, we were face to face, and just for a moment, I  was able to look directly into his eyes. And as I said, I realized in that instant everything that Michael both admired and feared in this man.  Of course, needless to say, I did not interview Joe nor did I expect to. Joe Jackson does not do interviews unless at least six figures are involved; that goes without saying. But I can say I was close enough to the man on several occasions throughout the weekend to observe him closely, and I’ll give you all of my impressions from each of those four times.

Of all the interviews I did, I was (for some reason) most nervous and intimidated during my sitdown with Aphrodite Jones, and I think that was for two reasons-1: Some of the most important questions I had for the entire event were the ones for her,  including the fact that I was hoping to get satisfactory answers for all of the questions you guys had, so I felt there was a lot riding on that interview (which created a sense of pressure) and, 2: Ms. Jones herself. And what I mean by that is simply the fact that if you ever have the opportunity to spend much time around her, you know she has a very commanding presence. You also know right away that this woman is no nonsense, and when she speaks, she means BUSINESS! Sometimes she can get so caught up in whatever she is responding to, so passionately and so fiercely, that you almost shrink back, thinking, “Whoa! Did I just tick her off?” When she talks about the allegations, particularly anything directed at Sneddon, the Arvizos, or Martin Bashir, you can feel her passion and anger (still) at the injustice of it all. For all that she is a professional journalist (and when you’re in her presence, you never doubt that for a moment) you also sense that anger at the injustice of the 2005 case that is never too far beneath the surface. And when I say injustice, I don’t mean the verdicts (which we all know were justified) but the media’s handling of it.

By the way, I might as well tell you since it is already out there, that a small excerpt from my interview with her is posted on both the Fanvention homepage and on Youtube.  http://www.mjfanvention.com/ A  guy who was in the media room with a video recorder captured her response to my first question. Personally, I can’t watch it without cringeing since I loathe both the sight and sound of myself on camera, but fortunately, the focus is on Ms. Jones mostly. You can probably tell I was a bit stiff and nervous when I started the interview. Ms. Jones absolutely bristles with energy and emotion as she speaks; at first, it’s a little overwhelming, but after I got used to her way of answering questions, I became much more relaxed and just “went with the flow.” I realized the best way to get the interview was just to set aside my structured questioning and just let her talk, treating it as a conversation rather than an “interview.” She definitely is never lost for words!

Michael On The Walkway To The Little House In 2003. I Felt Surreal On Saturday To Realize I Was So Close To Where He Had Stood, And Where He Had Played As A Child

The downside is that, because Ms. Jones was leaving out that day immediatly after her Q&A, she had said she preferred to do the interview before her scheduled Q&A session. This put us both in the rather compromising and awkward  position of having to fly through the interview pretty quickly, with the pressure of the time constraints.  For that reason,  I wasn’t able to get to every question you guys had requested, and for that I will apologize in advance for those whose questions I wasn’t able to get to. However, I did manage to get in a good many of them-as many as possible, under the circumstances.

Oh, and if you saw my little blurb on the Facebook page, you probably saw that I said she had “dropped a bomb” regarding Larry Nimmer. Actually, that did not come from our interview, but rather, her Q&A session (and as I do my individual write-ups, I will probably combine the information from both my interviews and the Q&A sessions of these people, since in most cases the  information I got from both sources manage to dovetail and compliment each other nicely).  Let’s just say, for reasons I’ll explain when I get to our interview, Larry is a definite sore subject with Aphrodite right now.

Reminiscing and Looking At Momentos

Which leads me to something else. I probably should add a disclaimer that the views expressed by these people in their interviews are, of course, their own, and just because I am printing their words, does not necessarily mean I agree with or endorse what was said. My job is simply to report what was said, as fairly, objectively and accurately as possible. In some cases, there were things said off the record that I will not print because my name is not Bashir and I am not in the business of betraying peoples’ confidence (nothing about Michael, per se; just things that were said in passing about certain other individuals in his life. Let’s just say that you can get a sense fairly quickly of who these people like and respect-and who they don’t. But anything that was said off the record, stays off the record).

Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy the next few days as I bring you all of the news, stories and experiences of the MJ Fanvention in Gary. And I hope, perhaps, I can encourage more of you to give this event a shot and check it out next year. I think the prices may have scared off some, but there are various packages and combinations of packages that you can purchase to customize to your own needs, preferences, and budget. It’s definitely worth it, and something every fan should experience, if only just once.  

Hopefully by this time tomorrow, I’ll have all my pics uploaded and we’ll be ready to get this train rolling!

I’m putting up this birthday greeting a tad early since I will be in Gary on the 29th and won’t be here to update.

Why do we continue to celebrate birthdays even after the physical form is no longer here? I think it’s a simple answer. It is because we still celebrate the life and the accomplishments of that life. After all, without the physical presence that a person embodies on earth, there is no life and there are no accomplishments to remember-or to celebrate.

I hope that makes sense. My brain is worn down right now with preparing interviews, packing, and all the general stress that comes with preparing for a road trip, so I may have a good excuse to sound a bit loopy (Lol). Anyway, to cut to the chase…happy birthday, sweetie, and know we all still love you!

In the meantime, I will be gone until August 31st so just be aware that there will be no updates here until then. But as soon as I get back, I will have all my news and updates from Gary! I probably will not have Internet access while in Gary, since I’m a bit old-fashioned and out of the loop in that I own neither a laptop nor an I-Phone, but I will probably do short phone-in updates to the Facebook page, so check there often (the link is at the top of the “Friends” menu on the right of your screen). And be sure to check back here on the 31st!

Also, just as a reminder, I won’t have a way to check comments until I get back. If you have posted before, your comments “should” appear automatically, but occasionally the spam filter will catch them. If you are a new poster, of course, your comments will be held pending moderator approval…only the moderator won’t be here! In either case, I will go through and release all comments when I get back, so if yours doesn’t show right away, that simply means it’s being “held for approval.” As I said, I will go through and release any held comments as soon as I return.

Thanks, and looking forward to bringing you all the news when I get back!

Michael, A Few Months Old

Most of this, with a few noted exceptions, comes straight from Wikipedia, so this isn’t exactly rocket science research here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958. However, with Michael’s birthday right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the highlights from the year Michael was delivered to us. There is also some pretty amazing trivia here, especially in regard to Michael’s future father-in-law Elvis Presley and the things that were affecting his life and future path that year-things that would lead, inevitably, to the birth of Michael’s future wife, Lisa Marie.

What was going on in the world as Michael’s life journey was beginning? Overall, it was a fascinating year of space exploration, but paradoxically, many air and space disasters as well. It was a year of economic downturn for the USA (perhaps explaining how it so happened that Joe was laid off from the steel mill right around the time Michael was born) and growing racial tension, which would culminate in the 60′s Civil Rights movements. It was a year of mounting Cold War tension, and yet also the year the iconic peace symbol was born. It seems somehow fitting that Michael Jackson and the peace symbol should have been born the same year.  Here are some of the facts I thought most interesting about the year 1958:

In January of 1958, as Michael was still just barely a twinkle in Joe and Katherine’s eyes:

The first of many air/space diasters occurs, as Sputnik falls to Earth.

14-year-old Bobby Fischer wins the United States chess championship.

There is a violent clash between Lumbee Native Americans and the KKK in North Carolina.

Hall of Fame baseball player Roy Campanella is involved in the auto accident that will paralyze him for the rest of his life.

America’ s first succesful satellite is launched.

Vintage 1958 Pin-Up Calendar

In February of 1958: Katherine probably still isn’t even aware of the new life inside her. In the world at large:

The Arab Republic is born.

The word aerospace is coined.

The Tybee Bomb, a 7600 pound Mark 15 hydrogen bomb, is lost in the waters of Savannah, Georgia! (Ever see Midnight In The Garden of Good And Evil? Maybe that’s where all the poisoned water came from!).

Ruth Carol Taylor, first African-American flight attendant, is hired (then subsequently fired-for being married!).

A Munich air disater kills eight Manchester United players and fifteen others.

A test rocket explodes at Cape Canaveral.

The peace symbol is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom, commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment.

With Nelson Mandela in 1996. Perhaps It's Fitting That Michael, Who Fought So Hard For Glaboal Causes And World Peace...

...Was Born The Same Year As The Peace Symbol

The worst school bus accident in US history up to that time claims 29 lives in Kentucky.

In March of 1958: As Katherine is probably thinking, “Oh no, not again!”

The Turkish passenger ship Uskudar capsizes and sinks at Izmit Bay, Kocaeli, Turkey; at least 300 die.

The USS Wisconsin is decommissioned, leaving the United States Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1896 (it is recommissioned October 22, 1988).

 A U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Its conventional explosives destroy a house and injure several people, but no nuclear fission occurs.

The U.S. Army inducts Elvis Presley, transforming The King Of Rock & Roll into U.S. private #53310761. (While in the army, serving time in Germany, Elvis would meet 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, future mother of Lisa Marie).

Michael's Future Father-In-Law, Elvis Presley, Is Drafted Into The Army in March, 1958. Teenage Girls All Over America Cried As If The World Had Ended.

The United States launches Explorer 3.

The Bridge on The River Kwai wins 7 Academy Awards.

The era of Khrushchev is ushered in, when Nikita Khruschchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.

In April of 1958: As the snows of the Gary winter are finally melting, the days growing warmer and Katherine coming to terms with “Yes, another one’s on the way…”:

The Recession of 1958 hits full swing, with unemployment in Detroit at an all-time high of 20%.

Castro’s Revoltionary Army attacks Havana.

In May of 1958: As little Michael is probably, no doubt, starting to make his presence known:

French Algerian protesters seize government offices in Algiers, leading to a military coup.

During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard M. Nixon’s car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.

 The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3

This Times Photo Shows A Typical Unemplyment Office Scene In 1958. The Recession Hit Americans Hard.

In June of 1958: Summer is starting to weigh hot and heavy. Joe is working odd jobs, even picking potatoes, to make ends meet. The kids are excited about their new baby brother or sister coming, unaware of the adult concerns laying heavy on their parents’ minds. In the world:

Charles de Gaulle is brought out of retirement to lead France by decree for 6 months

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald (yes, the one Gordon Lightfoot would eventually immortalize) was launched.

In July of 1958: The days are hot and long; tension and worry over money matters permeates the little house on 2300 Jackson Street. Still, the family is excited over the new addition. Little Michael is kicking, ready to come out and dance. In the world beyond 2300 Jackson Street:

Eisenhower signs the Alaska State Act into Unites States law.

Another American institution, IHOP, is born in Toluca Lake, California.

A 7.5 Richter scale earthquake in Lituya Bay, Alaska, causes a landslide that produces a huge 520-meter high wave

In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in order to protect the pro-Western government there.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom gives her son Charles the title of Prince of Wales (who knew that in 30 years, Michael would be flirting with his wife!).

In August of 1958: In the weeks immediatly leading up to Michael’s birth:

The last Tom and Jerry episode is produced.

The nuclear powered submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571) becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole under water

 A 4-engine Super Constellation aircraft belonging to KLM crashes into the sea with 99 people on board (the worst crash in civil aviation history up to that time).

 The first Thor-Able rocket is launched, carrying Pioneer 0, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17. The launch fails due to a first stage malfunction

Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita is published.

Lisa Marie's Grandmother, Gladys Presley, Died Just Two Weeks Before Michael Was Born. Lisa's Grandfather, Vernon Presley, Would Die Years Later On June 26th. Doesn't Gladys In This Pic Look A Lot Like Lisa?

On August 14, 1958, a mere two weeks prior to Michael’s birth, Gladys Love Smith Presley, mother of Elvis and grandmother of Lisa Marie, dies in a Memphis hospital. (And Lisa’s grandfather, Vernon Presley, would die 21 years later on June 26th, 1979, so that now the anniversary of Lisa’s grandfather’s death falls just one day after that of her ex-husband).

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2846

August 29, 1958-Michael Joseph Jackson is born after a mad dash to Gary’s Mercy Hospital. Contrary to popular belief, he is not named “Joseph” after his father, but rather his maternal great-grandmother Josephine.

http://michaeljacksonbeat.blogspot.com/2008/08/michael-jacksons-family-tree.html

On that same day, August 29th, 1958:

The Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

George Harrison joins The Quarrymen, which later becomes The Beatles.

http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/august_29.html

The #1 song on the Billboard charts the day Michael was born (how fitting is this!):

Little Star, by The Elegants

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_1958_(U.S.)#Hot_100

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4svyb_the-elegants-meet-randy-the-rainbow_music

In the days just after Michael’s birth:

The United States begins nuclear testing over the South Atlantic.

Race riots between blacks and whites break out in-of all places-Notting Hill, London (yes, the charming and quaint little neighborhood we fell in love with in Hugh Grant’s Notting Hill).

In September of 1958: Little Michael is a newborn at home, taking in the world with those big dark eyes. One day, he will write songs and innovate dance steps that change the face of pop music. But for now, his biggest concerns are his bottle and getting his diaper changed. Meanwhile, the big ol’ world beyond beyond the crib rocks on:

The first Cold War begins between UK and Iceland. 

 Paul Robeson performs in concert at the Soviet Young Pioneer camp Artek Jack St. Clair Kilby invents the first integrated circuit.

 Two rockets designed by German engineer Ernst Mohr (the first German post-war rockets) reach the upper atmosphere.

 Typhoon Ida kills at least 1,269 in Honshū, Japan.

 In France, a majority of 79% says yes to the constitution of the Fifth Republic.

The U.S.S.R. performs a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

In October and November of 1958: Baby Michael is still adjusting to his new world. The recession continues. Joe is having a tough go of it supporting the family. Perhaps as a direct result of the recession, US birth rates actually drop for the first time since the Post-war boom, and an official “end” to the baby boom generation is declared. Michael, we can all be thankful, was an exception to the rule. Coincidentally, despire the declining birth rate, it would also be the the birth year for many other prominent celebrities, including the other two crown jewels in the Royal Pop Holy Crown-Madonna and Prince. Also during these months:

Pope Pius XII dies. 

 Pioneer 1 the second and most successful of the 3 project Able space probes, becomes the first spacecraft launched by the newly formed NASA.

 UK TV series Blue Peterstarted.

 The Life Peerages Act entitles women to sit in the House of Lords for the first time. Baroness Swanbourough, Lady Reading and Baroness Barbara Wooton are the first to take their seats.

 Pope John XXIII succeeds Pope Pius XII as the 261st pope.

In December of 1958: Katherine isn’t yet a Jehovah’s Witness, so it’s possible little Michael experiences his first Christmas (the first of a very precious few, until many years later in his 30′s). The weather has turned cold again and the heavy Gary snows are starting to pile up. As the family looks ahead to a new year, no doubt hoping 1959 will be a turn for the better:

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen, when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost.

Pop's Holy Trinity...

...Michael, Madonna, And Prince...

 The 3rd launch of a Thor-Able rocket, carrying Pioneer 2, is unsuccessful due to a 3rd stage ignition failure

 The right-wing John Birch Society is founded in the USA by Robert Welch, a retired candy manufacturer.

 The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first ever to reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility.

 Arthur L. Schawlow and Charles H. Townes of Bell Laboratories publish a paper in Physical Review Letters setting out the principles of the optical laser.

 President Dwight D. Eisenhower broadcasts a message from a Project SCORE satellite.

 General Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France with 78.5% of the votes.

A BOAC Bristol Britannia (312 G-AOVD) crashes near Winkton, England during a test flight.

Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker (the George Balanchineversion) is shown on prime-time television in color for the first time, as an episode of the CBS anthology series Playhouse 90.

 The Baltimore Colts beat The New York Giants 23–17 in overtime to win The NFL Championship.

 Rebel troops under Che Guevara begin to invade Santa Clara, Cuba. Fulgencio Batista resigns two days later, on the night of the 31st

As the year draws to a close, tallies reveal that, for the first time, total passengers carried by air exceeds total passengers carried by sea in transatlantic service.

Clearly, in 1958, many American families were struggling. Yet people were also looking to the skies and beyond, to the stars. The future seemed bleak (with the Cold War and threats of nuclear attack ever looming) and yet filled with infinite possibilities. This was the world that Michael Joseph Jackson inherited. In many crucial ways, it was the world that molded and shaped him into the adult he became.

Check this out! The American Look (1958) : Takes a look at the prevailing styles and aesthetics of 1958:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9118785157777261461#

Audrey The Blood-Sucking Plant From "little Shop Of Horrors"-Or David Schwartz? With So Much In Common, It's Hard To Tell!

It Was Hard To Be Michael Jackson, With Everyone Expecting A Free Handout At His Expense

Ever see Little Shop Of Horrors? Then you’re familiar with the famous catchphrase of Audrey, the blood-sucking plant: “Feed me!”

Throughout his life, Michael Jackson was surrounded by blood-sucking leeches crying out the same phrase. Only the “blood” they were interested in wasn’t red, but green.

Over the past few weeks, I had brought you a series called “Evan Chandler Confessed To Drugging Michael.” With the help of research done by Dave Edwards, who had the stomach to go through Ray Chandler’s book All That Glitters with a fine-toothed comb, I took a look at some of the devious schemes contrived by the Chandler family to extract false “confessions” from both Michael and Jordie and to bleed Michael for every dime they could possibly (and legally) extract. I had also mentioned at some point I would have more to say about David Schwartz and his role. I think that is important for a number of reasons.

One reason is that a lot of people-myself included, up until just very recently-may be under the false impression that David Schwartz was at best a “good guy” who exposed Evan Chandler’s extortion plans with the taped phone conversation, which was later presented to Michael as evidence. At worst, some may think he was simply a neutral player who simply got caught up in this family drama by accident and through no doing of his own. But the evidence clearly shows that David Schwartz was no neutral player; he had just as big a hand and just as much at stake in extorting Michael as June and Evan.

Okay, So He Doesn't "Really" Look Like Audrey The Blood-Sucking Plant-But That Doesn't Make David Schwartz Any Less Greedy!

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that I’ve been re-reading and taking a more in-depth look into Aphrodite Jones’s book Conspiracy. Last night, I came to the chapter whereby the prosecution began bringing in past cases as “evidence.” Melville had allowed this over the objection of Mesereau who had argued that the past cases had no merit in the present case. But with the prosecution’s case literally in rags by that point (both Gavin and Star’s testimonies as well as all the prosecution’s key witnesses to that point had been totally ripped to shreds by Mesereau) it was a last-ditch effort to salvage the case, by establishing on Michael’s part a “past history” of sexual child abuse. The prosecution felt that even though the Arvizo boys’ testimonies had proven to be full of holes, they could still manage to convince the jury that Michael had a history, thus casting a shade of reasonable doubt in regards to the present case. Of course, all of these witnesses would eventually be discredited, and a very heated cross examination of the Chandler’s attorney Larry Feldman by Mesereau would also pretty much “prove” to the jury that the 1993 Chandler case had been full of every bit as many holes as the present case, and was for all practical purposes an extortion-an extortion that succeeded, unfortunatly.

Now, having established that fact just to give you some background on how and why the Chandler case was being discussed, here is something very interesting that Jones states next. This is from page 162 of Conspiracy:

Feldman was forced to admit that in a contingency fee case, there was an incentive for the attorney to obtain the largest settlement possible.  As he asked pointed questions, Mesereau looked down at two documents signed by Jordie Chandler’s parents, who had each consented to Feldman’s contingecy fee agreement. Without going into the exact dollar amounts of the settlement, Mesereau established that both of Jordie’s parents, who divorced long before 1993, had received settlement money from Michael Jackson. Having Evan and June Chandler each collect their own seprate monies was Jordie Chandler’s idea-according to Feldman’s testimony.

Mesereau brought out details about Evan Chandler’s criminal defense, because Evan Chandler was being sued for allegedly trying to extort money from Michael Jackson. As the two attorneys bantered back and forth, testomony would show that, not only did Jordie’s parents receive separate payments, but June Chandler’s new husband at the time, David Schwartz, decided to file his own suit against Michael Jackson-seeking his own monetary damages as well.

http://jetzi-mjvideo.com/books3-jetzi/con/con162.html

Now this is the moment where one goes, “Whoa, back up! Did I just hear that right?” Jordan Chandler was not David Schwartz’s son, and even if-let’s just say speaking hypothetically, worst case scenario-an actual case of molestation had occurred, that still would not entitle him to a penny. Yet, in some twisted way, this family’s sense of monetary entitlement when it came to Michael Jackson had somehow extended itself to stepdad David Schwartz as well, who felt he was owed  his own “monetary damages.”

Damages for what, exactly?

Well, apparently, for starters, Schwartz may have been miffed over the four million dollars he had requested as a loan from Michael to pay off one of his own, personal business debts (as if it was Michael’s place to go around bailing this family out of their own, personal debts!). Awhile back, when Dave Edwards was sending me his excerpts from All That Glitters, I was struck by this passage lifted from pages 75-76, which recounts how on June 9th, 1993, David Schwartz had asked June to ask Michael to loan him four million:

Dave Schwartz had become a wealthy man since founding the world’s first discount car rental agency.  Wealthy enough to be featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.  But by July of 1993 he was heavily leveraged in a depressed Los Angeles real estate market and his fortune was precarious.

A day or so before Evan went to Dave’s office to seek his help, Dave approached June with a request.  One of his creditors was demanding payment of a five million dollar note but was willing to settle for a lump sum of four million.  Dave asked June to present a proposition to Michael in which the star would loan him four million as part of a business deal.  June agreed to pass the request on to Michael. 

Survival Mode.  Dave was starved for cash and waiting for Michael Jackson to feed him.  According to his own testimony, Dave already suspected that the relationship between Jordie and Michael was sexual.  But rather than help Evan get rid of Michael, he helped Michael get rid of Evan.

Follow the money. June was living the life of a fairy princess and did not want the dream to end.  Dave was waiting for Michael’s word on the four million.  And Fields and Pellicano were being paid huge sums, pail and shovel in hand, to trail behind the circus elephant that was Michael Jackson. 

Following that passage (I am quoting directly from the email here), this is what Dave Edwards had to say, and I agree:

“The book doesn’t specifically say if MJ loaned him the money, but based on the fact that Dave asked Feldman for $4 million from any settlement money received, it’s presumed that MJ didn’t loan him the money. Who knows? Maybe this could be the reason he and June joined Evan’s lawsuit. They figured they would get money from MJ one way or the other!”-Dave Edwards.

But that, too, turned out to be a plan that didn’t quite go as Schwartz had hoped. I’ll quote again from Dave’s email since he was the one who, as I said, had the stomach to wade through Ray Chandler’s book to find these nuggets:

“Beginning on page 167, Ray begins to discuss a meeting at Feldman’s office with Jordie, Evan, Monique, Dave and a few other attorneys.  This is where they decide to hire Feldman and drop Gloria Allred because she has the audacity to want to seek justice first, instead of suing MJ.  The nerve of her! Because she was dropped, she didn’t get a percentage of the settlement, and I think that’s why she’s held a grudge against MJ to this very day!  She lost out on millions! This probably explains why she represented Daniel Kapon in his civil suit against MJ.

“By the conclusion of the meeting, June and Dave, like Evan before them, had no doubts about switching from Gloria Allred to Larry Feldman.  The choice came down to either waging an all-out media campaign to pressure the DA to seek a Grand Jury indictment, or conducting subtle, behind-the-scenes negotiations toward a quick, quiet and highly profitable settlement.  Avoiding the trauma that a lengthy criminal or civil lawsuit would bring to the entire family, especially Jordie, was a no-brainer.

As the meeting came to a close, all that was left was to sign the retainer agreement with Larry.  Anticipating a huge settlement, Dave assumed that Larry would take less than the standard 25 percent rather than pass up the opportunity, so he began negotiating for a smaller fee.

Larry politely explained that his fee was not out of the ordinary and tired to impart to Dave some idea of the amount of work involved should the case go to trial.  But Dave was intractable.  He became loud and pushy, demanding that Larry negotiate.  Dave was also pissed off at all of the lawyers because they told him that if there was settlement he could not be included.

Larry remained calm.  He informed Dave, once again, that because he was neither Jordie’s natural or adoptive father he had no legal claims that could be included in Jordie’s complaint.  But Dave became increasing belligerent each time the lawyers explained why it was not possible.  He didn’t give a damn about legalities and kept demanding money.  Four million dollars, to be exact.  The same amount, according to June, that he attempted to borrow from Michael.

The pressure from public exposure had already soared beyond anyone’s imagination.  It was, as Monique had to put it, “A nightmare!” With Gloria Allred fanning the flames it would get even worse.  No one needed that.

Allred meant well; no one doubted her sincerity and concern.  And had the defendant been other than Michael Jackson, her strategy might have been more appealing.  But Larry and Bob’s insights made a lot of sense.  Getting a conviction against Michael would be near impossible without a second victim.

It may be said that Gloria was more concerned with the larger issue of child abuse, and that bringing the truth to light via a criminal trial was a nobler goal than getting a lot of money and sweeping the entire affair under the rug.  But as Evan commented months later, “The overriding consideration in every decision had to be what was best for Jordie, and Larry’s way was more consistent with that goal.  Doing anything that might bring additional fear and anxiety was the last thing Jordie needed.  Or any of us.”

Eliminating the horror of worldwide exposure from a protracted trial was not only the best thing for Jordie, it was best for Michael as well.  The money it would cost him to settle with his accuser was incidental.  Keeping his career intact was what really mattered.  Shapiro knew all this from the start.  By steering Evan and June toward Larry Feldman and away from Gloria Allred, he was doing everyone a mitzvah, including Michael Jackson. 

Gee, where do I start? First of all, it’s amazing how they claim that they want to avoid a criminal trial in order to stay out of the media and not be cross-examined, but had MJ’s insurance carrier not forced him to settle, they would have had to testify in the civil trial (including Jordie), and it would have gotten just as much media attention! 

…If they felt that Michael really molested Jordie, then why do they give a damn what is best for Michael? Why do they care about keeping his career intact?  Why do they care about doing Michael “a mitzvah”? (Mitzvah is defined as “an act of kindness performed by or to a Jew.) And why did Shapiro “know from the start” that keeping MJ’s career intact was what really mattered?  Why would he even care?

Lastly, you see how greedy Dave Schwartz is when he asked Feldman to reduce his commission fee, and then got pissed off when he realized he wasn’t entitled to ANY money!!!”

I've Recycled This Pic Of June Chandler From Her 2005 Testimony Before, But What The Heck...There's Not Too Many Pics Of Her Floating Around To Choose From. But It's Important To See What Michael May Have Seen In Her....Because It Just May Be The Key To This Whole Mess

June Chandler lied about this in her 2005 testimony, by the way.  She denied asking Michael about the loan (unless, in fact, it’s true that she never followed through on the request from Schwartz, which could be a possibility, I suppose); however, she also denied any knowledge of Schwartz’s five million dollar debt:

Q. Do you recall asking Michael Jackson if he would loan David Schwartz four million dollars?
A. Never.
Q. You say you never did that?
A. Never did that.
Q. Okay. Do you recall your ex-husband David Schwartz asking you to do that?
A. Never.
Q. Do you recall him being five million dollars in debt around the time you were associating with Michael Jackson?

 A. No.
Q. Don’t recall that at all?
A. Not at all.
Q. Okay. When you sued Michael Jackson, you sued through Larry Feldman, true?
A. I did not sue Michael Jackson. Jordan Chandler and his family were — that was his family. We did not sue Michael Jackson.
Q. Okay. So you never sued him yourself, you’re saying?
A. I don’t believe that’s how it was worded.

What I would like to get back to, though, is just exactly how and why David Schwartz ended up with this sense of wrongful entitlement. I think to really understand that, we have to understand-again-the dynamics of this family relationship and especially how those dynamics changed with Michael’s entry into the picture. Evan and June had been married once, and we have to presume that where two people have been married and borne a child together, there must have been love or at least a strong bond. But things go sour and they divorce. June remarries. Suddenly there is a new presence in the family dynamic, competing with Evan for Jordan’s affection and role as a father figure. Then, into the picture comes Michael Jackson. Both son and mom are swept off their feet, probably for very different reasons, but with the end result being the same. The situation put both Evan and Dave in the uncomfortable position of being rivals, sometimes pitted against each other; other times coming together as allies, depending on what the current status of the “Michael situation” called for. Both men would, by turns, court friendship with Michael; both would eventually demand financial favors that were thwarted. Both felt helpless as they saw June and Jordie slipping further and further away, into Michael’s world.

I still think it is June, rather than Jordie, that we have to look at as the key figure here. It’s already been stated that June’s visits to Neverland increased during a period in which she and Dave Schwartz were separated. Why were they separated? That’s a good question. I don’t know the answer. But even Evan Chandler said, after seeing the tickets to Monaco Michael had bought her and other expensive gifts, that he entertained the brief hope that June might divorce Schwartz and hook up with Michael (this, of course, was before his own relationship with Michael went south, for reasons already well noted).

Now here is something else interesting. Do you guys recall when I mentioned long ago that I had read somewhere that a Neverland employee had mentioned seeing Michael and June in his bedroom, and that Jordie once caught them, but that I couldn’t find the link to the source? Well, bingo! Guess what I also ran across while going back through Conspiracy! It was the testimony of ex-employee Adrian McManus, who testified that she had “repeatedly” seen June in Michael’s bedroom (p. 178).

http://jetzi-mjvideo.com/books3-jetzi/con/con178.html

Of course, for what it’s worth, McManus also ended up being one of the prosecution’s discredited witnesses. If her tales of seeing Michael allegedly caressing and touching young boys in an inappropriate manner were discredited, then it also brings into question if anything else she had to say can be believed.

June and Michael in 1993

However, it definitely seemed there was enough going on between Michael and June to rouse at least a few suspicions. Certainly both Dave Schwartz and Evan Chandler seemed to be feeling threatened and emasculated (even though, by the same token, neither could resist the lure of wealth and what they could achieve for themselves courtesy of Michael’s money). One almost gets the impression that either of these two would have willingly sacrificed their families-if only Michael had been willing to pay up the cost. It’s interesting to note that things only turned ugly when Michael refused to pay up.

I still think it is one of the saddest chapters in Michael’s life that he ever got himself messed up with this dysfunctional family. He may have been lonely for love and a real family, but there were plenty of women who would have gladly given him both, without all the baggage that June Chandler brought with her (if that’s the case, and I’m convinced more than ever it was). It all goes back to what he told LaToya when he said he would only marry a woman who already had her own money and her own career. June Chandler unfortunately was nothing but a  gold digger who came ready-attached with two other gold diggeres besides, in the form of her hubbie dearest and ex (and her son probably isn’t much better, though when you look at what Jordan came from, you can’t help but feel some degree of pity for him). What’s worse is that, as we know, Michael’s experience with the Chandlers set the stage for other grifter families like the Arvizos to make him an easy target. For Michael, it would be a never-ending cry of “Feed me!” for the rest of his life.

ETA: The name in the first sentence of the Aphrodite Jones excerpt from p. 162 was supposed to read “Feldman.” I apologize for the error; sometimes I don’t always catch all my typos right away. But it should read correctly now.

Photo From Michael's Last Visit To Gary In 2003. This Was His Last Glimpse Of "The Little House" on 2300 Jackson Street.

In early June, I made the announcement here that I had been among those selected by the Fanvention committee to have VIP media access to the guests who will be in attendance. Many of you guys had questions you wanted me to try to ask, especially of Aphrodite Jones. Since the time is drawing nearer (we leave this coming Wednesday, in fact!) and I now have my full media itenary, as well as a better idea of exactly who is confirmed to be there, I thought it might be a good idea to revist the topic and give you guys another opportunity to get in any additional last-minute questions. I’ll be preparing my interviews on Monday the 23rd (as Murray heads to court again, ironocally enough) so that will be pretty much the cut-off date for being able to add additional questions.

It struck me as I was thinking on this the last few days that there is some irony in this. I’m on my way to a Michael Jackson event, not just as a fan, but wearing the title of “Media.” The irony is in how much time and  energy we spend bashing the media and thinking of media as “the enemy.” But, of course, “media” is and of itself simply a collective term made up of many individuals-all of us human beings, some good, some with agendas not so honorable. We are simply the intermediaries between the subjects and the readers/viewers at home. We have a responsibility to be honest and fair; some choose to bend and slant the truth. Wearing that title has suddenly made me feel like an apple that’s been sitting in a putrid barrel for too long. Throughout his life, the media was both friend and foe to Michael, but more often foe. The media tore him down, and in the end, ripped him to shreds.

It is also now the media’s responsibility to right that wrong-and only we  have the power to do it. It’s all in the power of words. As Jim Morrison said in one of his poems on the subject of words, “Plant them, they will grow; watch them waver so.”

Aphrodite Jones Winessed First Hand Michael's Courage, Fear And Inner Turmoil Each Day Of The 2005 Trial

This is one reason I’m looking especially forward to my sit-down time with Aphrodite Jones. For the last few days, I have immersed myself in Conspiracy, re-reading it and taking notes on the things I want to ask. Reading her book with fresh eyes is a grim reminder of the day-by-day ordeal of the 2005 trial and the toll it took on Michael. Ms. Jones was in a unique position, as a more or less neutral eyewitness, to observe and remark upon how the trial affected Michael on a day-by-day basis. It’s been heartwrenching to go back through some of those passages (Michael looking sick to his stomach as Gavin testified; the time he sat trembling, holding a tissue to his face, struggling not to cry in the courtroom); occasionally funny (Michael rolling his eyes at parts of Gavin’s testimony) and not surpisingly, inspiring (how he still managed to hold himself proud amidst the circus and hoopla all around him). It was difficult to read about Martin Bashir’s day in court-Bashir the Betrayer, who refused to answer any cross examination questions and refused to even look at Michael as he took the stand. As Ms. Jones says, it was clear that Bashir was under the impression he would never have to see Michael Jackson again after having gotten what he wanted-the footage for his documentary. How unnerving it must have been for Mr. Bashir to have to sit there that day, in the same room with Michael, knowing what he was guilty of!

As a reminder, these are some of the questions you guys had said you would like for me to ask Aphrodite Jones: Why she had said Michael had bedsores after the trial (which has not been substantiated elsewhere); if she has spoken with Judith Regan about Ray Chandler approaching her, shopping his book before the settlement was signed; her thoughts on the two jurors who were offered book deals (when she couldn’t get one for her own pro-Jackson book); about Martin Bashir “coaxing” Gavin Arvizo to hold Michael’s hand and lay his head on his shoulder; did she get a sense that other journalists were aware of Michael’s physical decline during the trial, and, of course, the status of her book being reprinted. I also have a lot of questions about things that have been occurring to me as I’ve read through Conspiracy again. I’m finding a lot of odd parallels with the Chandler case. For instance, that David Arvizo (much as Evan Chandler) was initially jealous of Janet Arvizo and Michael, though unlike my suspicions about June, I do not think IN A MILLION YEARS Michael had any designs on Janet Arvizo. BUT…that isn’t to say Janet may not have had designs on him. (Why not, she would have had the ideal “sugar daddy” to look out for her and her kids!). But unlike Evan, David simply threw up his hands and walked out of the entire picture. Also, the fact that the Arvizo’s resenment of Michael seemed to come about when he withdrew himself from the family and didn’t turn out to be quite the “daddy” figure they had hoped (Translation: From Michael’s point of view, if it looked like a rat and smelled like a rat, it probably was).

Anyway, the good news is that it looks as though all guests will be pretty much available for interviews. We will get a private room with the guests following each workshop or presentation. Sessions will be a question-and-answer format with the general public, then media people will be able to sit with them afterward. I still don’t know if there will be time limits on the interviews, but I have to assume there will be. But I’ll try to get in as many questions as I can.

Omer Bhatti. Whether He Is Or Isn't (You All Know The Question To Which I Refer) His Close Ties To Michael Are Undeniable.

As for Jackson family members in attendance, that has been touch and go from the beginning. I do know that Keith Jackson, a cousin of Michael’s, and Randy’s daughter Genevieve are supposed to be there. Some reports are saying Genevieve isn’t going to be there, but she is still listed as among the “Individual Events” on the registration page, as is Omer Bhatti (remember, when I did my previous update, I was under the impression Omer had backed out). There “may” be other family memebers in attendance, but if so, they are keeping a low profile on the names right now. I really think it’s going to be touch and go as far as who shows up (and the Jacksons, God love ‘em, are one notoriously unpredictable bunch). But the good news: People with media passes can request interviews with family members in attendance, same as all the other guests. I’m working on a list of questions for Omer just in case we get some face time, and if you have anything you’d like for me to add, feel free. I know there are probably a lot of personal and “sensitive” areas regarding Omer it might be best not to delve into-or at least to tread lightly (for example, asking him outright if he’s Michael’s son might not be a good idea, lol!) but as always in these situations, I’ll just play it by ear according to the overall vibe I get from Omer; what he’s comfortable discussing, and not. I will never push someone into something they don’t want to discuss; that’s not my style. But if I can get him to open up about his relationship with Michael…well, who knows where it can lead.

Michael and "Big Hair" Jennifer

Jennifer Batten…Oh my gosh, I am SO looking forward to sitting down with her! I am so in awe of her; I hope I’ll be able to keep my composure! That’s as much as I can say about her right now. Maybe I can get some interesting stories on “life on the road” with Michael, though if you’re looking for the really juicy stuff, Jennifer will probably be the least to deliver the goods, so don’t expect anything too “earth shattering.” Jennifer, from my understanding, is very protective of Michael’s cleancut image, so tales of groupies and fanfic fantasies…I doubt it. But it should still be quite interesting to have a conversation with the guitarist who perfomed with Michael for three world tours. We have a private joke about Jennifer in our house. We call her “Big Hair Jennifer” because of those enormous hairpieces she wore.

Now speaking of “groupies,” Theresa Gonsalves is one of the guests and I’m sure most of you know her story. She claims to be the real Billie Jean and has written two books about her realtionship with Michael, Obsessions: The Shocking True Story Of The Real Billie Jean In Michael Jackson’s Life (a book that Michael supported, she says) and the upcoming Remember The Time (the promotion of which is partly the reason for her being at the Fanvention), which is said to be a more strightforward account of their friendship/relationship than the first book. (The first book was written as if it were a novel; Remember The Time is written as a series of letters directly to Michael). Theresa, who is suffering from a life-threatening liver ailment, has said it was important for her to get her story out there while she’s able to do it. Fans are divided as to whether her story is believable or not. She claims that she and Michael only “did it” twice; for the most part, it was more friendship than sex. Their two times came about by accident; being caught up in the moment, as the old saying goes. But there were never any strings attached. Personally, I have not read either of Ms. Gonsalves’ books, only just a few excerpts that have been made availbale here and there. From what I have read, I think there is a ring of truth to her story but with some possible embellishments. However, in all fairness, I’m keeping an open mind until I’ve actually talked to her. I never bought into the idea of Michael as some goody-goody virgin anyhow, but that doesn’t automatically mean I’m also willing to swallow every would-be lover’ s story, either. However, it may be worth noting that at least one detail she let slip was also confirmed by Lisa Marie…any guesses as to what? (I ain’t telling; not yet anyway! I gotta keep you baited so you’ll come back, right?). Anyway, I can’t help but find a bit of humor in the idea that of all the guests attending this convention, she’s the only one claiming, “I slept with him.” Anybody want to make a bet that her session will be the most packed of all?

Old Pic Of Michael And Theresa Gonsalves. They Were Obviously Friends. But Lovers Too? Theresa Says Yes...Twice, To Be Exact.

Speaking of LMP and Michael, there’s one guest who got a unique perspective on their relationship: artist David Nordahl, who painted most of the portraits Michael commissioned (including some of the most “controversial” pieces, such as the semi-nude “David” portrait of Michael surrounded by cherubs, featured prominently in the Bashir special) and did the painting “Camelot” for Michael and Lisa. When we first considered attending the Fanvention, it was up in the air as to whether we would be able to stay through Sunday, which is the day Mr. Nordhal will be present and available for interviews. Now that I know for sure we will be there through Sunday, I’m coming up with a list of questions for David. Many of the paintings he did for Michael have, as stated, been quite controversial. Ignorant reporters have referred to them as everything from “pedo art” to evidence of Michael as an egomaniac, despite the fact that most of them are simply whimsical, romantic, fairty-tale like, and quite humorous. I plan to ask David some very detailed questions about the whole artistic process of working with Michael, from conception to creation to finished product (most of the concepts were Michael’s ideas; Nordhal was simply the executioner).

The painting that David Nordahl did for Michael and Lisa Marie, Camelot, can be seen here:

http://www.mj-777.com/?p=4517

David Nordahl's Portraits Often Depict Michael In Romantic Or Fairy-Tale Like Settings

Among the other now confirmed guests: Evelyn LaHaie, one of the first people to ever book The Jackson 5 (and who allegedly came up with the name) and Scott Thompson (weapons specialist for the Smooth Criminal video). I had heard, previously, that one of Michael’s elementary school teachers was supposed to be there on Friday, but her name isn’t listed on the website now. Hmmm. That seems to be the way of it with a lot of the “guests”…touch and go, as I said. I’m sure a lot of it is beyond the organizers’ control. All they can do is book the guests, but as always, there’s no guarantee of who will follow through. I’m sure it’s as frustrating for them as it is for us. Oh well. This teacher would have to be in her 70′s or 80′s at the very least. With the elderly, as we know, every day is touch and go.

We will be leaving late Wednesday night (bummer, but I can’t get out of work that evening; it’s part of the trade off for being able to take the following Monday off).  We’ll be arriving in Gary late Thursday afternoon, and I’ve been promised that I’ll get to attend a special VIP media dinner along with whatever Jackson family members are in attendance. Friday will be mostly the day for family members and the ONLY day Aphrodite Jones will be available. The day’s festivities will cap with what’s being touted as a huge dance party (if only I hadn’t let myself get so out of shape…sigh. I’ll be too embarrassed now to bust a move!). Saturday is the day I’ll get to meet Jennifer Batten and Theresa Gonsalves, and will visit 2300 Jackson Street for the first time. I can’t wait to see the little house in person! They are promising tours but I don’t know if they will actually take us inside (I doubt it. I’ve heard there is a mirror house across the street that they usually take the tourists through). But just seeing the yard Michael played in as a child (when he had time to play) will be fascinating. Saturday night is the big tribute concert featuring Jennifer along with Melba Moore and Ed Moss (quite frankly, one of the few guests I’m not thrilled about, after his distasteful -and not even funny-portrayal of Michael in Scary Movie 3. But I’ll try not to be a party pooper). On Sunday, I’ll be meeting David Nordhal and taking part in a tree planting ceremony at Roosevelt High School. Michael’s birthday will culminate with a birthday cake contest and a baseball game that afternoon, which I may or may not stick around for, since I’m not a sports enthusiast nor do I relish the idea of sitting in the hot August sun for three hours, but who knows? I’ll play it by ear. If that’s where the fun is, I’ll probably be there. We will leave on Monday morning and should be home by very late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, but I would say don’t expect any updates till Tuesday, as I’m sure I’ll be totally exhausted from thirteen hours on the road Monday. I won’t be able to update here between Thursday the 26th and Tuesday the 31st, but I may be able to post short updates to the FB page, depending on how good our Internet connection is. But I promise you, come Tuesday the 31st, it will be worth the wait! I should have at least a weeks’ worth of material when I get back!

Overall, I’m very thrilled and honored that I’ll be spending Michael’s birthday in the town where his life began. Seems appropriate somehow. When I think of LA and June 25th, I think of how things ended. When I think of Gary, Indiana and August 29th, I am reminded of beginnings, and the innocence of those beginnings. I am reminded that this was where Michael first dared to dream, when his path was still wide open before him and could have taken him wherever he wished to go. I know it’s going to be a very special time. But I don’t know yet how it’s going to affect me until I’m actually there. I guess that remains to be seen.

Anyway, don’t forget, whatever additional or last-minute questions you may have for any of the guests, please post them here by Monday if at all possible!

UPDATE: Check out this neat wall mural that’s going to be presented by Monica Lynn Manoski along with David Nordahl’s work! I just found out about it this morning!

http://www.positivelymichael.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11810

http://www.post-trib.com/lifestyles/2614744,new-mjsculpt-820.article