More Sad Goodbyes

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

Yesterday Ed McMahon passed away. Today Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett left us. I raise a toast to them and say a sad farewell to them all.

[Jan Van Quirm]

Oh goodness! I knew Farrah Fawcett had been ill for a long time and Ed McMahon was getting on as they say... but Michael Jackson?

May they all find the peace they wanted

[swreader]

RIP - we will miss all of you.

Ed McMahon

Farah Fawcett

Michael Jackson

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

I like to think that Death will show up or at the very least The Death of Rats with his raven has shown up on Binky to bid them a fond, if he had glands, reward. Oooh, would that have been a good spot for two Dashes??

[chris.ph]

rip all

[Tiffany]

There have been threads on most forums about Michael Jackson's untimely death.
Can't say I was a fan, but I liked his music.

R.I.P to him & the others.

[WannabeAngua]

Can't really say I cared much for MJ, but I hope all three of them are at peace now

[Batty]

Can't really say I cared much for MJ, but I hope all three of them are at peace now

I'm glad you said that, as I was beginning to think that I was alone in thinking that!
Unfortunately, MJ has knocked Farrah Fawcett off the news, which is a shame. I do feel sorry for Ryan O'Neil and the family.

[swreader]

Batty you are certainly not alone in your reaction to MJ--and many of us (like Pat, for example) have considered him "dead" for years. On the Hookton board, I quoted another member, and went on to make this fuller comment on the lives and deaths of Jackson & Seeger.

He was one of the greatest of the pop singers. I think you have to separate the private life from the professional. He was a musical genius but on a personal level he seemed to be a rather disturbed "young" man---hard to believe he was 50. In a way it seems that he never grew up.

I admire Farah Facett for the courageous way she faced her cancer. It has to remind us that we are all mortal!

I agree, Lts. And while I may not have been a great fan of his musically, he certainly was a major influence on pop music in the 70s and 80s. Too bad he couldn't keep control of himself. I was amazed at the proposed concerts in London, but apparently lots of people still wanted to hear him. I find myself comparing him to Elvis--both of them had tremendous musical impact and really sick, sad lives. And both died relatively young--without ever redeeming themselves.

By way of contrast--Pete Seeger has contributed throughout his long, colorful life in spite of controversy and harassment. For example, his music and actions are probably the most important reason why the Hudson River is now a clean, alive river. And the use of music as a means of political protest and unification owe a great deal to the man who was responsible (in as much as any one person is for folk music) for We Shall Overcome, Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, Turn, Turn. Turn--and countless other wonderful songs. I count myself lucky to have heard him live while I was in college. (He was touring after being barred from Radio and TV for 17 years because of refusal to answer improper questions by Congress, as the Courts eventually held.)

And although I didn't follow Farah Fawcett's career, her long battle with cancer and her attempts to help others through going public are commendable.

[Tonyblack]

Of course, Pete Seeger is still alive.

[poohbcarrot]

I refuse to be hypocritical and say what a loss Michael Jackson is to the world. I didn't like his music and didn't like him as a person.

He was a has-been popstar and a suspected paedophile.

There are more important things happening in the world.

[Jan Van Quirm]

You're right about the hullaboo now. I was sick of hearing about it all the bloody time from around 9:30 yesterday - but then I was about that when Princess Diana died too. Something really horrible about such a gross outpouring of hysterical mourning over somebody you only knew because they were 'famous' and so didn't really know at all.

Mourning should be a private thing left to the family and the close friends - I felt very sorry for Uri Geller (who I normally don't have any time for) and Mark Lester (whom I do) yesterday trying to give intrusive 'off the cuff' interviews to the magazine pariah dogs when they were both looking pretty wiped out by it all. And of course now there's endless speculation about all the flaming drugs he was on Like Elvis and Monroe he was an non-accidental death waiting to happen but at least his music has some relevance 'historically' whether or not you care for it and a far better legacy than his private life which was hardly that of course and pretty warped and shot to pieces before he'd even left home.

He was 2 months younger than me and part of my adolescence the Jacksons were much better than the Osmonds come on! Like Elvis again he was a spent force professionally although he at least didn't do the Las Vegas route, so overall I'm very sad for a mostly marred life and the people he's left behind who did love him rationally. We'll never know the truth about the paedophilia side of things because of the pay-offs and deals, but having some knowledge of that in a past life working in the courts, he'd surely been pretty damaged himself in some way very early on and then the fame and the sycophants did the rest and led to all the weirdness and warped narcissism. Fame costs as they say...

[Batty]

The media hype concerning MJ is really annoying me.
During and after the court case his 'friends', celebrities and media personalities distanced themselves from him as quickly as they could.
His career effectively ended then. Now, though, these same people are crying to the media how sadly he will be missed, and how much they loved him.
Pure unadulterated hypocracy!

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

The media hype concerning MJ is really annoying me.
During and after the court case his 'friends', celebrities and media personalities distanced themselves from him as quickly as they could.
His career effectively ended then. Now, though, these same people are crying to the media how sadly he will be missed, and how much they loved him.
Pure unadulterated hypocracy!

/\/\/\/\/\ I agree 100%!!!!! His true friend was Elizabeth Taylor, she stuck with him through it all.

[Jan Van Quirm]

Mark Lester did too - he's not in front of the camera anymore and so not newsworthy, but he was one of the very few people who spoke up for Jackson before, during and after the trial. They were godfathers to each other's children and they played together when they were visiting in Cali and the UK. He was one of the few people who was genuinely close to Jackson and certainly not there to grab a piece of the spotlight for himself...

Geller too seems to have been a friend and tried to be down to earth with him (can you imagine that! ) in that he warned him about not trusting all the parasites that surrounded him. This is what I mean about the real 'truth' never being known about poor b*stard because there always so much hype and mindless hysteria surrounding the public-facing side of his life. I dread to think what his private life was about, but hearing from people like Lester and even Lisa Marie Presley, has all the hallmarks of someone who would never find true happiness because he no longer had any faith in who or what he was and even his early family life seems to have been completely bogus behind all the promise and glitz he shared with his brothers - there's no way to truly judge people like him as they're walking myths, even to themselves...