Michael Jackson

Her name was Natalie, and she was dying of cancer. She was 9 years old, I think, and one of those groups that grants wishes to terminally ill children had offered to make hers come true. Her wish was simple, she wanted a big party for her 10th birthday, but of course it was also heartbreaking because there would not be an 11th. Her doctor knew it, her family knew it and Natalie - because she was close to a boy who was at her same stage of cancer and had recently died - knew it. I thought about Natalie and her sweet, sad party the other day, more than 25 years after I'd written a story about it for the newspaper I was working for back then.

Despite Michael Jackson's efforts to ensure it would not happen, many Americans tuned out long ago. A lot of us stopped watching some time in the 1990s. It's not only that he became too strange and freaky, and even creepy; it's that he became tragic. And if there's one thing we can't bear to watch, it's the transformation of greatness - in this case, that of an extravagantly talented American superstar - into tragedy. A team of psychiatrists might one day conclude that Michael Jackson suffered from a profound mental disorder.

LOS ANGELES - - Los Angeles police completed an "extensive interview" Saturday night with the doctor who was with Michael Jackson when the pop star went into cardiac arrest, and a source close to the investigation said detectives found "no red flag" during discussions about the death. A private pathologist, meanwhile, conducted a second autopsy on Jackson's body, hours after it was released to relatives by the Los Angeles County coroner. Coroner's officials had said that Jackson had been using prescription drugs, and the investigation is focused on whether Jackson overdosed.

We would have remembered him if it was just the songwriting or just the dancing or just the eyebrow-raising fashion. But Michael Jackson dominated each of those artistic avenues - and so many others. You see his influence in every Justin Timberlake who sweats to perfect a signature move. Every movie-esque flourish in a video. Every African-American artist who sits atop the pop charts. His legacy is as enduring as it is multi-faceted. 1. Sound When America first met Jackson, he was a lovable, pint-sized pre-teen with a puffy Afro and an electric voice.

Michael Jackson had it all as a pop star - catchy beats, an unmistakable voice, inimitable dance moves and a distinctive look. But he also had it all when it came to celebrity dysfunction. In his 50 years, he managed to embody virtually all the tropes of weird celebrity that dominate the tabloids. To wit: * Preternatural child stardom. You've got your demanding stage parents and a performer who is at once sweet and innocent and mature beyond his years. Think of him as an early JonBenet Ramsey.

HOLLYWOOD - - Michael Jackson was the first great pop star whose career was shaped by television - not merely showcased by it, like those of Elvis Presley and the Beatles - and inseparable from the medium. He was indebted to it and influenced it in turn. Across his four-decade career, he was often someone to listen to, but he was always - for better and sometimes for worse - something to see. A lifetime of pictures came back into focus Thursday, as cable news outlets ran bits of old videos and Facebook bloomed with links to YouTube clips.

LOS ANGELES - -Michael Jackson, a seminal figure in music, dance and culture whose ever-changing face graced the covers of albums that sold more than a half-billion copies, died Thursday, shortly after going into cardiac arrest at his Holmby Hills chateau. He was 50 years old. He spent much of his life as among the world's most famous people, and to many, his death felt unthinkable and, oddly, inevitable. "For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don't have the words," said Quincy Jones, who produced Thriller.

Early years 1958: Born Aug. 29 in Gary, Ind. He is the seventh child of Joseph and Katherine Esther Jackson. 1969: In Los Angeles, the Jackson 5 debut as Motown's newest act. * In December, the group's single "I Want You Back" hits No. 1 on the Billboard Top 40 Chart. 1970: Jackson 5 hits "ABC," "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" all reach No. 1 on Billboard charts. 1972: First No. 1 solo hit "Ben," a song about a movie rat. 1974: Introduces a dance step called the robot on Soul Train.

* "There was a bit of a flamenco dance step, with the five heads snapping up on 'I Want You Back'; the hands went up over the heads and were clasped together as if in prayer on Jermaine's medley, which began with 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'; and on Sly Stone's 'Thank You,' one arm was flung out to the side, then the hands were brought together and down in a slashing motion diagonally across the chest." - James D. Dilts' Sun review of the Jackson Five's September 26, 1971, concert at the Baltimore Civic Center * "Every floor was packed with [fans]

On December 29, 2008, our beloved ETHEL WORD passed away peacefully, surrounded by family. She leaves to cherish her memory her constant companion over the last 42 years, Jesse Ringo; four daughters, Elicia Jackson (the late Lou Jackson), Patricia Taylor (James), Addie Mitchell (Frederick), Sybil Word Ringo (Damon) and one son-in-law, Christopher Mitchell; six grandchildren, Denise Frederick (Russell), Susan Speed (Aman), Eugene Jackson (Chelle), Michael Jackson (Pamela), Tinaya Mitchell (James)