Michael Jackson

A lot has been written about Michael Jackson's death. I've been listening to his music since I was in junior high and high school. I never bought any of his albums or attended any of his concerts. I did enjoy watching his videos on MTV. I didn't read the many tributes that have been posted.

Save for one, and that was by the British magazine The Economist. Obituaries in The Economist are beautifully written, eclectic in their profiles, poignant and insightful. The one for Michael Jackson was a very understanding tribute.

Oddness overshadowed his real, hard-won achievements: world adulation for a black pop star, the birth of video celebrity, and millions of dollars given to black causes. If the press stayed on his weird story, he believed, his records would sell. The risk was that the weirdness would multiply until he was hardly human.

His last public appearance, before his death of apparent cardiac arrest, was to announce a series of 50 sold-out concerts in London. Hours before his death he was rehearsing for them, exuding joy, energy and sharp judgment. His glitter jackets, the tabloids claimed later, hid a body that was half-starved, subsisting on painkillers. Though he was worth $1.3 billion, said the Sun, he died with debts of $300m.

But he had sold 750m albums and, from Riga to Rio, children danced like him. Source: The Economist July 2, 2009 http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13941042

After reading this tribute, I could appreciate, the beauty, the accomplishments and the sadness of Michael Jackson's life and death.

Capitano Tedeschi

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