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Thread: Saturday July 11 LA Times Calendar section

  1. #1
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    Saturday July 11 LA Times Calendar section

    Happy with the article, waiting the backlash for calling the Jackson fans "mental".


    Fans Stay Moonstruck Over Graves of Stars
    By Scott Collins and Susan King
    Los Angeles Times
    Posted Jul 10, 2009 @ 11:31 PM
    LOS ANGELES ??


    This summer at Dearly Departed Tours, business has never been better -- and that was before Michael Jackson??s sudden death.

    In the days since, the company that drives tour buses to spots where celebrities have met their end has added a stop at the rented Los Angeles mansion where the pop star collapsed.

    People are so fascinated with Hollywood??s history of death and crime that Dearly Departed has added 100 tours a month compared with a year ago, said owner Scott Michaels.

    His clientele always wants to see where the murders by the Manson family took place, where Marilyn Monroe lived.

    These days, Michaels said, the first thing people ask about is the Jackson site.

    That leads to the inevitable speculation about the final disposition of Jackson??s remains.

    ??If he??s buried somewhere where the public has access to it, it??s going to be Graceland West,? Michaels said.

    At the real Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., Elvis Presley??s world-famous mansion attracts 600,000 visitors annually and is one of the top home tours in the country. A ??VIP tour? that includes a swing past Presley??s grave in Meditation Garden on the grounds of Graceland costs $69 per adult.

    Assuming Jackson??s body ends up in a grave or tomb that fans can visit, the spot could become a shrine, akin to the grave of The Doors?? singer Jim Morrison in Paris, which has become a mecca for rock pilgrims, a magnet for makeshift memorials and an eternal nuisance to French authorities.

    Wonder why there are no pilgrimages to the tombs of rock stars John Lennon of the Beatles and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana? Their families had their remains cremated with ashes either scattered or given to a survivor, leaving no shrine for posterity, no scene for the hordes of fans.

    On the other hand, visit reggae singer-songwriter Bob Marley??s mausoleum in Jamaica, said to be sacred to Rastafarians, and you can buy souvenirs of the late star at the adjoining tourist center.

    A steady stream of visitors treks to Monroe??s grave at Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, and for those who can??t make the trip there are video tours on YouTube.

    After Jackson??s death on June 25, the street adjacent to his home was immediately crammed with mourners and lookie loos. Michaels waited five or six days to start busing in his tour customers, after ??the mental people started leaving.?

    Some might object to such a description of celebrity-death worshippers, the kind of devotees who imbue these grave sites with the hushed reverence accorded saints?? tombs. But even academic research suggests that celebrity-death fixation can get a little, well, crazy.

    In a recent study (??Elvis: Dead and Loving It -- the Influence of Attraction, Nostalgia, and Risk in Dead Celebrity Attitude Formation?), four researchers at the University of Memphis noted that ??celebrity worship is often associated with poor mental health, such as social dysfunction, depression, and anxiety? as well as a ??lack of education.?

    Yet ours is a celebrity-obsessed culture, and even for the sane among us, that obsession does not necessarily end with a celebrity??s death. Before Jackson??s passing, the university researchers polled 161 college students and discovered the most popular dead celebrity among the students was comedian Chris Farley, followed by actor Heath Ledger, comedian Bernie Mac, Bob Marley, rapper Tupac Shakur and Elvis Presley. Monroe was No. 9; Morrison did not make the list.

    ??There??s a thread running there,? said Leo Braudy, a professor at the University of Southern California who has studied celebrity culture.

    Braudy argues that show business is a ??secular religion,? and certain dead celebrities are seen as ??secular martyrs? worthy of elaborate displays of devotion.

    ??It??s someone who??s committed suicide or has died before his time,? Braudy said. ??Someone cut off, a person of lost potential.?

    This results in posthumous cults for Cobain, Lennon and actor James Dean, all of whom died unexpectedly (and violently) and who, perhaps as a consequence, ranked highly in the dead-celebrities survey.

    The phenomenon of the celebrity martyr, Braudy said, can be traced to silent-movie star Rudolph Valentino, whose death in 1926 following an appendicitis operation sparked a riot at the New York funeral home where the service was held.

    But fame is relative, and memories can be short. Today, Valentino??s crypt in in Hollywood attracts scant attention beyond film buffs. On a recent visit, the crypt was bedecked with vases containing lifeless flowers. Three tourists snapped a picture, but left to look at the crypt of actor Peter Finch.

    As Braudy said, ??Once the generation passes that had an emotional connection? to the dead celebrity, the worship phenomenon is ??more of a historical interest.?

    But as long as a VIP??s memory remains fresh, his or her grave site can become a major problem for the living.

    Celebrity graves make tempting targets for criminals. A few months after his 1977 death, the remains of silent-film star Charlie Chaplin were stolen from the cemetery at Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland (they were later recovered and reburied).

    Dean, killed in a 1955 car crash, was born in Marion, Ind., and buried at Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Ind. His headstone has been chipped away by fans and was even stolen, only to be found and returned.

    Morrison??s grave is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris but an ongoing nightmare for French officials. An early grave marker was filched in 1973. In 1981, a new gravestone and bust were erected in honor of the 10th anniversary of his death. That statue was defaced, then disappeared in 1988. Morrison??s family recently placed a flat stone on the grave and the site is under surveillance by security guards.

    This may explain why many families of deceased celebrities cremate the remains or keep their final resting spots away from prying eyes and hands. At Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks cemetery in Glendale, the remains of stars locked in vaults inaccessible to the public include actor Humphrey Bogart, songwriter and performer Sam Cooke and entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.

    But celebrity graves can be big business. At least three Web sites tell fans where stars rest, findadeath.com, www.findagrave.com and www.beneathlosangeles.com.

    And it??s a job for people like Benny Hill. The veteran limousine driver runs a ??graveline? tour service that shepherds tourists to graves of celebrities such as Farrah Fawcett, who was recently buried in the same cemetery that houses Monroe, as well as actors Natalie Wood, Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Burt Lancaster.

    ??They want to see where people get killed or died, murdered or buried,? Hill said.

    Even in star-packed Westwood Memorial cemetery, there??s no doubt which dead celebrity has the most sought-after grave. Rumor has it that other celebrities have bid top dollar for the plot adjacent to Monroe??s, Hill said.

    And then there??s the physical evidence.

    Monroe??s grave marker is ??the dirtiest one there,? Hill said. ??You look at the wall and there is lipstick, fingerprints, handprints.?

    Times staff writer Yvonne Villarreal contributed to this report.
    Hero Worship - They Deserve it. I preserve it.

  2. #2
    Impatience Guest
    600,000 visitors at $69 -- you would thing Priscilla would be able to buy a better face than the wonky one she has now.

    p.s. glad business is going well tho!

  3. #3
    guardmom2008 Guest
    The article is wonderful.

  4. #4
    SenorMuerto Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    Happy with the article, waiting the backlash for calling the Jackson fans "mental".
    They're still too busy on the Michael Jackson thread to even notice this one.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by SenorMuerto View Post
    They're still too busy on the Michael Jackson thread to even notice this one.
    We've noticed! LOL

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by SenorMuerto View Post
    They're still too busy on the Michael Jackson thread to even notice this one.
    wrong. LOL.
    this isn't telling me anything new. mental issues run in the family. ha ha.
    "I'm not great at the advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?"



  7. 07-11-2009, 12:39 AM
    Reason
    I am tired and saying dumb things.

  8. #7
    rjbrasher Guest
    Not mental, just admiring the beauty of a human being that touched us through his music and soul. (too bad it stops there lmao)

  9. #8
    heartbreakdj00 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by SenorMuerto View Post
    They're still too busy on the Michael Jackson thread to even notice this one.
    Nope...We've noticed.

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    Happy with the article, waiting the backlash for calling the Jackson fans "mental".
    .
    This from the man who has a collection of bricks and rocks and various other momentos from his dead idols.....just sayin'..... Everyone, it was nice knowing yah...I will likely be booted for daring to mock Scott!!

  11. #10
    Moonbaby515 Guest
    Yep...we noticed.

  12. #11
    ChargerBill Guest
    Shouldn't the thread read Saturday JULY 11??????

  13. #12
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    Nice article Scott. You're getting some good press these days! It's been a busy June.


  14. #13
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    Wink

    Quote Originally Posted by tamiele View Post
    This from the man who has a collection of bricks and rocks and various other momentos from his dead idols.....just sayin'..... Everyone, it was nice knowing yah...I will likely be booted for daring to mock Scott!!
    heh. Well, true I'm odd, but I made it work for me. It's my job now. Oh, and it's mementos, not momentos. Again, a slam deserves a spell check. You don't have to like me to be here.

    I liked MJ but I look at the big picture - and see about 30% genuine grief out there, and 70% media hoopla and people feeding into the drama and wanting to be on tv.
    Hero Worship - They Deserve it. I preserve it.

  15. #14
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    Nice article. Fandom is a church I don't go to. I am sad when someone famous I liked passes away but not devastated. I only feel that way for "some" family and bff's. Celebrity's never truly leave us. Their movies, song, etc. will be around forever.
    Stay in Drugs. Eat your School. Don't do Vegetables.

  16. #15
    ChargerBill Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by tamiele View Post
    This from the man who has a collection of bricks and rocks and various other momentos from his dead idols.....just sayin'..... Everyone, it was nice knowing yah...I will likely be booted for daring to mock Scott!!
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    heh. Well, true I'm odd, but I made it work for me. It's my job now. Oh, and it's mementos, not momentos. Again, a slam deserves a spell check. You don't have to like me to be here.

    I liked MJ but I look at the big picture - and see about 30% genuine grief out there, and 70% media hoopla and people feeding into the drama and wanting to be on tv.
    How bout shown-up

  17. #16
    ChargerBill Guest
    Didn't make the Calendar section, but the National news section:
    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,2666342.story

    Way to go, Scott

  18. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    heh. Well, true I'm odd, but I made it work for me. It's my job now. Oh, and it's mementos, not momentos. Again, a slam deserves a spell check. You don't have to like me to be here.

    I liked MJ but I look at the big picture - and see about 30% genuine grief out there, and 70% media hoopla and people feeding into the drama and wanting to be on tv.
    Oh I like you Scott!! Most of the time we are in complete agreement. And my spell-checker has stopped working due to over use...must be that "mental" block....

  19. #18
    WriterDude Guest
    Excellent press, Scott. Unlike many others, the LA Times has treated you well.

  20. #19
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    Jeez, I sure wasn't expecting the front page of the paper today. Crazy. Mental, even.
    Hero Worship - They Deserve it. I preserve it.

  21. #20
    heartbreakdj00 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    heh. Well, true I'm odd, but I made it work for me. It's my job now. Oh, and it's mementos, not momentos. Again, a slam deserves a spell check. You don't have to like me to be here.

    I liked MJ but I look at the big picture - and see about 30% genuine grief out there, and 70% media hoopla and people feeding into the drama and wanting to be on tv.
    I like you scott! I have many mementos myself. I think this whole situation is sad.. For not only his kids but for the rest of the family left behind.i hope they dont turn neverland into a "graceland west". Course i think joe jackson would do anything for a quick buck.

  22. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    I liked MJ but I look at the big picture - and see about 30% genuine grief out there, and 70% media hoopla and people feeding into the drama and wanting to be on tv.
    That's what I think too.
    .

  23. 07-11-2009, 06:04 PM

  24. #22
    the corpse bride Guest

    Thumbs down

    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    Happy with the article, waiting the backlash for calling the Jackson fans "mental".


    Fans Stay Moonstruck Over Graves of Stars
    By Scott Collins and Susan King
    Los Angeles Times
    Posted Jul 10, 2009 @ 11:31 PM
    LOS ANGELES ??


    This summer at Dearly Departed Tours, business has never been better -- and that was before Michael Jackson??s sudden death.

    In the days since, the company that drives tour buses to spots where celebrities have met their end has added a stop at the rented Los Angeles mansion where the pop star collapsed.

    People are so fascinated with Hollywood??s history of death and crime that Dearly Departed has added 100 tours a month compared with a year ago, said owner Scott Michaels.

    His clientele always wants to see where the murders by the Manson family took place, where Marilyn Monroe lived.

    These days, Michaels said, the first thing people ask about is the Jackson site.

    That leads to the inevitable speculation about the final disposition of Jackson??s remains.

    ??If he??s buried somewhere where the public has access to it, it??s going to be Graceland West,? Michaels said.

    At the real Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., Elvis Presley??s world-famous mansion attracts 600,000 visitors annually and is one of the top home tours in the country. A ??VIP tour? that includes a swing past Presley??s grave in Meditation Garden on the grounds of Graceland costs $69 per adult.

    Assuming Jackson??s body ends up in a grave or tomb that fans can visit, the spot could become a shrine, akin to the grave of The Doors?? singer Jim Morrison in Paris, which has become a mecca for rock pilgrims, a magnet for makeshift memorials and an eternal nuisance to French authorities.

    Wonder why there are no pilgrimages to the tombs of rock stars John Lennon of the Beatles and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana? Their families had their remains cremated with ashes either scattered or given to a survivor, leaving no shrine for posterity, no scene for the hordes of fans.

    On the other hand, visit reggae singer-songwriter Bob Marley??s mausoleum in Jamaica, said to be sacred to Rastafarians, and you can buy souvenirs of the late star at the adjoining tourist center.

    A steady stream of visitors treks to Monroe??s grave at Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, and for those who can??t make the trip there are video tours on YouTube.

    After Jackson??s death on June 25, the street adjacent to his home was immediately crammed with mourners and lookie loos. Michaels waited five or six days to start busing in his tour customers, after ??the mental people started leaving.?

    Some might object to such a description of celebrity-death worshippers, the kind of devotees who imbue these grave sites with the hushed reverence accorded saints?? tombs. But even academic research suggests that celebrity-death fixation can get a little, well, crazy.

    In a recent study (??Elvis: Dead and Loving It -- the Influence of Attraction, Nostalgia, and Risk in Dead Celebrity Attitude Formation?), four researchers at the University of Memphis noted that ??celebrity worship is often associated with poor mental health, such as social dysfunction, depression, and anxiety? as well as a ??lack of education.?

    Yet ours is a celebrity-obsessed culture, and even for the sane among us, that obsession does not necessarily end with a celebrity??s death. Before Jackson??s passing, the university researchers polled 161 college students and discovered the most popular dead celebrity among the students was comedian Chris Farley, followed by actor Heath Ledger, comedian Bernie Mac, Bob Marley, rapper Tupac Shakur and Elvis Presley. Monroe was No. 9; Morrison did not make the list.

    ??There??s a thread running there,? said Leo Braudy, a professor at the University of Southern California who has studied celebrity culture.

    Braudy argues that show business is a ??secular religion,? and certain dead celebrities are seen as ??secular martyrs? worthy of elaborate displays of devotion.

    ??It??s someone who??s committed suicide or has died before his time,? Braudy said. ??Someone cut off, a person of lost potential.?

    This results in posthumous cults for Cobain, Lennon and actor James Dean, all of whom died unexpectedly (and violently) and who, perhaps as a consequence, ranked highly in the dead-celebrities survey.

    The phenomenon of the celebrity martyr, Braudy said, can be traced to silent-movie star Rudolph Valentino, whose death in 1926 following an appendicitis operation sparked a riot at the New York funeral home where the service was held.

    But fame is relative, and memories can be short. Today, Valentino??s crypt in in Hollywood attracts scant attention beyond film buffs. On a recent visit, the crypt was bedecked with vases containing lifeless flowers. Three tourists snapped a picture, but left to look at the crypt of actor Peter Finch.

    As Braudy said, ??Once the generation passes that had an emotional connection? to the dead celebrity, the worship phenomenon is ??more of a historical interest.?

    But as long as a VIP??s memory remains fresh, his or her grave site can become a major problem for the living.

    Celebrity graves make tempting targets for criminals. A few months after his 1977 death, the remains of silent-film star Charlie Chaplin were stolen from the cemetery at Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland (they were later recovered and reburied).

    Dean, killed in a 1955 car crash, was born in Marion, Ind., and buried at Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Ind. His headstone has been chipped away by fans and was even stolen, only to be found and returned.

    Morrison??s grave is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris but an ongoing nightmare for French officials. An early grave marker was filched in 1973. In 1981, a new gravestone and bust were erected in honor of the 10th anniversary of his death. That statue was defaced, then disappeared in 1988. Morrison??s family recently placed a flat stone on the grave and the site is under surveillance by security guards.

    This may explain why many families of deceased celebrities cremate the remains or keep their final resting spots away from prying eyes and hands. At Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks cemetery in Glendale, the remains of stars locked in vaults inaccessible to the public include actor Humphrey Bogart, songwriter and performer Sam Cooke and entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.

    But celebrity graves can be big business. At least three Web sites tell fans where stars rest, findadeath.com, www.findagrave.com and www.beneathlosangeles.com.

    And it??s a job for people like Benny Hill. The veteran limousine driver runs a ??graveline? tour service that shepherds tourists to graves of celebrities such as Farrah Fawcett, who was recently buried in the same cemetery that houses Monroe, as well as actors Natalie Wood, Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Burt Lancaster.

    ??They want to see where people get killed or died, murdered or buried,? Hill said.

    Even in star-packed Westwood Memorial cemetery, there??s no doubt which dead celebrity has the most sought-after grave. Rumor has it that other celebrities have bid top dollar for the plot adjacent to Monroe??s, Hill said.

    And then there??s the physical evidence.

    Monroe??s grave marker is ??the dirtiest one there,? Hill said. ??You look at the wall and there is lipstick, fingerprints, handprints.?

    Times staff writer Yvonne Villarreal contributed to this report.
    Just because I have a natural curiousity about celeb's deaths does not make me mental.

  25. #23
    Long Gone Day Guest
    I think the article is great. That is quite an increase in tours you have going there and you had some good quotes on the statistics and the industry in general. Very nice article.

    I especially like the other term from the same paragraph where you call some of the M.J.fans mental, and that is "lookie loos". LMAO

    I never knew there was a riot at Rudolph Valentino's funeral....interesting about fans being more obsessed with suicides and early demises....just reminds the common folk how short life is and it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, successful or not.....it can happen.....death, the big mystery. But then, so is life.

    I'm sure I don't know what they are talking about, says the woman with the trauma and compromised mental state who thinks the ghost of Layne Staley saved her from suicide..... LMAO at myself....I'm thinking that as I get better, Layne will have someone else to move on to and save.
    Last edited by Long Gone Day; 07-11-2009 at 06:42 PM.

  26. #24
    radiojane Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    h a slam deserves a spell check. You don't have to like me to be here.
    .

    Love it..

  27. #25
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    "well...my uncle thought he was Saint Jerome..."

  28. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by the corpse bride View Post
    Just because I have a natural curiousity about celeb's deaths does not make me mental.
    You are absolutely right.
    Hero Worship - They Deserve it. I preserve it.

  29. #27
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    We are all mental on this bus. Just read some the other threads.
    Stay in Drugs. Eat your School. Don't do Vegetables.

  30. #28
    cubbiecatz Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by the corpse bride View Post
    Just because I have a natural curiousity about celeb's deaths does not make me mental.

    I don't think he's calling everyone here mental. We are all here because we have a curiosity about death. That would be kind of hypocritical if he was, since he started this site. I think he is talking about the peeps that are so obsessed with the deceased that they can't function outside of their obsession. That was how I took it.

  31. #29
    beatlebaby4 Guest
    Great article! Scott you rock!!!

  32. #30
    alexmack Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Michaels View Post
    heh. Well, true I'm odd, but I made it work for me. It's my job now. Oh, and it's mementos, not momentos. Again, a slam deserves a spell check. You don't have to like me to be here.

    I liked MJ but I look at the big picture - and see about 30% genuine grief out there, and 70% media hoopla and people feeding into the drama and wanting to be on tv.
    Well I guess most of us are odd then Scott. I enjoyed seeing all of your "mementos" when I visited last March. As for the genuine grief, of the 70% you mentioned, his own father is leading the parade!!!

  33. #31
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    OMG Granny Dead Eye. I'm dyin here.
    Hero Worship - They Deserve it. I preserve it.

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