Remember the Time
It was a blow to hear that Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest yesterday, and the remembrances and analyses (some of which are neither desired or required) are too many to count. I can't think of one friend under the age of 60 who can't sing at least one line from any Jackson 5 or Michael Jackson tune. I have to admit that I was much more sad than I thought I would be—after all, I didn't know him personally. But when I think of how he touched so many people's worlds with his music—my dear friend John, who is a deejay, told me that he would never be able to count how many times he played MJ's music at weddings and birthdays and sweet sixteens for people of all races, cultures, religions, and socioeconomic levels, that Michael made his career possible in a big way. At 7 I was going to marry Michael (this was in 1969 when the Jackson 5 came out with "I Want You Back"). I declared it just as all my fellow female classmates declared that they wer...