MJ: The Life of An Icon Ends….Or Can It Continue With His London Concerts

Reflecting on the Life of Michael Jackson is bittersweet experience. On the one hand, his music is full of life and vitality, yet you have an artist whose life becomes increasingly isolated and tormented.

We can look at his life in decades:

60s Talented and adorable singer of the Jackson 5

70s Raw energy and vitality

80s Creative and innovative peak, earning the title “the King of Pop”

90s Increasing isolation and media sensationalism

00s Legal and financial controversies overshadowed his music

10s Tragic because he dies in 2009 never making it to the next decade or having a comeback as so many artists do in their later years…..though the music lives on.

The controversies may also live on given our obsession with rumours but I hope the music is what is remembered most and we leave aside looking at a life gone suddenly as voyeurs.

One idea that I’ve had given the debt Michael has supposedly accumulated along with the fact that MJ never got to do the planned comeback tour. I suggest that the tour continue as a remembrance of the King of Pop with performances by musicians who have a connection with him and want to honour him. Some or most of the proceeds can pay the debts, set a fund for his children and help pay for the cost of the concerts.

I have no idea how plausible this idea is but if Band Aid can be done, then maybe this is also possible with enough committed people who want to do it.

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To Admit or Not To Admit, “I’m A Writer!”

Our journey of writing “Nexus” began during a seminar led by Richard G. Green. We didn’t know it then but Richard would become our writing mentor.

The seminar was about Native story-telling but you anyone was welcome to attend, Native and non-Native. During the seminar, Richard talked about the importance of finding your voice and how writing can be therapeutic. All interesting stuff but what really got us was when he described the eccentric fixtures of a writer’s mind.

While at a bus stop, most people are too busy with their own concerns. But not the writer who is busy checking everyone waiting at the bus-stop. She would create a whole story about each person from just watching them. Amazing Richard was completely describing us our innate curiosity for people and the world.

Most writers are in denial of the fact that they are writers. So, during the break, 6′2″ Richard stood over 5′2″ Deborah and firmly asked: “Are you a writer?”

She hesitantly answered “yes” not knowing what she was getting into. We felt an excitement from admitting that we’re writers. It’s amazing how much energy we put into not admitting something to yourself and when you do then you feel a release.

We had bought Richard’s book on writing, The Writing Experience, an Iroquois guide to written storytelling and used it as our guide to the fascinating world of story-telling………And that’s how our journey began as writers and it led to “Nexus.”

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