FARRAH & MICHAEL

176 – Thursday, June 25, 2009 We were at the home of our dearest friends when Donna first heard the news of the passing of the eighties poster girl, Farrah Fawcett and asked, “Who will be #3, for these tragedies always seem to come in threes?” Donna was making reference to the death of Ed McMahon earlier this week, the consummate co-host of the foremost late-night show for more than 25 years. By the time we had finished dinner and fellowship and arrived home, we discovered the breaking news and that it was to be none other than Michael Jackson. It occurred to me that the face of entertainment is continuing to do as it has always done – transitioning. Nothing stays the same – there was a time when the hottest stars were Bogart and Bacall, Tracey and Hepburn, Astaire and Rodgers – long careers with lots of film credits garnered along the way when celluloid images were captured in black-and-white. Then came the transitions to long-running TV venues which included Fawcett and McMahon in Charlie’s Angels and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson respectively and they became the new icons of their day. Michael Jackson, with his magical moves, the infamous moonwalk, and a following that was even greater overseas than here in America, endeared himself to his music-crazed followers long before he was a teenager. All three of these professionals shared professional fame in an overlapping time-window - but they also held in common egregious personal tragedy. This fact has forced me to again acknowledge that my focus must stay transfixed on the incomparable blessings I have and that the visages of fame and fortune are hollow and totally worthless in the end. All three of these entertainers made more money in a single episode or performance than I made in any year of my career. All of them were recognized by millions yet, in the end, were facing death alone. I must make certain to always keep my priorities in the proper order.

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