Everyone who was within earshot of eyeshot of news (or someone who was) heard yesterday (Thursday, June 25th, 2009) of the famed (and oft infamous) pop singer and entertainer Michael Jackson dying:

Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead today after paramedics found him in a coma at his Bel-Air mansion, city and law enforcement sources told The Times.

From Baltimore’s B the Site, who quotes the L.A. Times, the first to report it.

I am a listener to music that is regarded as ‘way before my time’ so I am familiar with the Jackson 5. Of the Motown singers, or – depending on your taste – of the singers of that era, young Mike was probably the best. Arguments arise about later work, and being a child of the 80’s I enjoy greatly Thriller and things like Smooth Criminal, but the man totally lost me at Heal the World.

People can say many bad things about him (for there are many public records to state misdeed) but I would suggest that we respect those who have passed away, and in particular, perhaps offer MJ the one thing that he paradoxically sought in life: to be left alone.

Maybe that makes me a eulogist, but Michael Jackson dying is not yet another circus. If you found this link through search (at the point of this writing Michael Jackson is one of the heaviest-hit search terms on the ‘net) perhaps consider taking a break from TMZ and the endless gossip. Paris Hilton, MJ and others have a strange relationship with celebrity that their fans enable; their livelihood is tied up in fame, and yet fame is also the source of many of their troubles.

I’ll personally recall the best and not the worst: The world has no need for more reminders of what happens when we make mistakes.

Rest in peace, Michael.