support written by Michael, one of them reading “I am hurting inside”; Michael’s Aviator Glasses; early photographs; drawings; industry awards; Michael’s Billie Jean and Thriller Awards; religious and motivational materials; Michael’s Ambi skin tone cream found in one of his touring trunks; an Off the Wall platinum single award; the Jacksons’ We Are The World awards; Michael Jackson's Note & "Three Stooges" Collection; signed sheet music; some old records from his sexual molestation hearings; Michaels skin lightener, ELDOPAQUE-Forte, and Michael’s Key To The City of Pontiac.

   Things were rolling along swell when our boss, a spirited young Italian from Astoria, Queens decided to quit a few weeks before the auction. I believe she wanted more money but after she

received what she asked for, she walked out on principle. C was installed as chief and was tasked with writing the introduction to the catalog. So there we were: a graphic designer, a photographer, C (a holder of a Masters Degree in Medieval Studies) and myself, working in a cold warehouse in Harlem, trying to make sense of the Jacksons and the people who wanted to profit from their carelessness.

   A week or two before the auction, Michael Jackson got a court order barring the auction in Vegas. He contended he was the rightful owner of the items. Richard Altomare flipped and gave an interview to Page 6 of the NY Post, a paper I was contributing writing to but knew nothing about my involvement with the auction. Altomare said he was doing Michael a favor by not exposing certain items for auction including paintings of nude children and skin bleaching cream. Altomare also claimed that he was being offered 50 million for the stuff privately but was hoping to rake in at least 100 million at auction. A deal was reached between Michael Jackson and Altomare and the auction went ahead. I didn’t make it to Vegas but I watched the auction online. Guess how much it raised? Less than 1 million dollars. (This despite the international and domestic press coverage). I remember some local TV stations reported on the auction as well as the BBC but there wasn’t much interest in Michael Jackson outside the Japanese market. Several months earlier, wealthy Japanese fans were shelling out thousands of dollars just to spend a few minutes with the superstar. If Guernsey’s had exploited that market, the auction would have performed well, I believed.

   A little while after the auction ended, Richard Altomare was brought up on charges he raided his company’s coffers. He was fired then indicted. Guernsey’s is still auctioning off the things of famous people. Last time I visited their warehouse, I helped unload trucks

C and Co. had spent several weeks combing through ridiculous hills of paper, cloth, wood, metal, glitter, plastic, nylon, polyester, leather, and sequins; I would do the same.

   The first week I catalogued dozens of magazines, tour programs, awards and proclamations featuring the Jacksons. Magazines like Right On!, Ebony, People, and now defunct trade music publications from the 1980s. After cataloguing those I moved onto Tito Jackson’s things. Tito was the opening act and emerging personality of this auction for me. He was a jock, interested in sex, music, sports, and spiritual elevation, according to his correspondence and his collection of baseball jackets. Tito’s love letters and communiqués to his ex-wife Dee-Dee were sweet. High school sweethearts in the 60’s, they married in 1972 and had three kids: Toriano, Taryll and Tito, formerly known as The 3 T’s, a new generation of Jackson performers. Dee-Dee and Tito divorced in 1988, after 16 years of marriage. Six years after their divorce, she was murdered by an ex-boyfriend in 1994. The LA Coroner’s office determined that she was beaten then asphyxiated by drowning.

   One day I held Dee-Dee’s report card from her Junior High School days in NYC: Straight A’s, described as intelligent, communicative and a leader. Soon after I held Dee-Dee’s report card, I came across the birth announcements and hospital recordings of one of her sons’ birth. It was a booklet or an album with the kid’s name, weight and his dried umbilical cord. Who would be interested in buying this, I wondered. It was absurd that something so personal should end up in the hands of strangers just because your brother-in-law and his brothers were famous. These were things Tito’s kids should have to remember their mother. It was concluded, by C and her boss, that anything with a social security number or an address, anything deeply personal, would be struck from the auction. I spent many days wondering about fame and privacy; as I pored over albums of photographs of the Jacksons. I also read a letter written by a fan in the Philippines praising Katherine Jackson for her mothering skills. I read declarations of love,promises, wishes, praise,

you name it addressed to Katherine Jackson and her children. I even held the original deed to the Jackson’s first home in Gary, Indiana.

   When I finally got around to Michael’s stuff I found a note that we attributed to him during the height of his fame. It was a handwritten list, in pencil, of all he wanted to accomplish. Michael wanted to own a basketball team, a hotel, and a clothing line. Among his things I processed was a 1984 letter from Ed Koch; his black fedora; his white fedora; one of his bank books; his wireless microphone; notes on how to make his glove; tons of fan art; mock up covers for Remember The Time; a Bad album cut-out; a Paul MaCartney and Michael Jackson Video Production note; a letter from Jermaine to Michael; personal notes about child

Inventory

10. Jackson's boots

11. Micheal / Scooby Doo cell

12. Picture and letter to Micheal