Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (118 page)

Complicating matters, Michael himself has sometimes opted to camouflage details about his personal life, contributing in the process to the mountains of misinformation that now litter the MJ moonscape. In some cases,
Jacko seems to have done this almost obsessively, despite his protests about
the "lies" (his words) which subsequently appeared about him in the press.

About 30 years ago, I became fascinated by Michael, the Jackson family,
and their collective talents, and consequently began compiling information
pertaining to their metamorphoses into American legends. Since then, a great
number of people-some celebrated, some unknown- provided valuable
insights into what tended to happen whenever The Gloved One removed that
glove. People from all walks of life, from executives to service personnel,
offered information about what was going on behind the carefully guarded
doors of the houses and hotel suites Michael occupied throughout his hectic
life. Members of Michael's domestic and professional staff also presented
intriguing stories to me. Some of them spoke publicly; others preferred the
security of anonymity as if still-long after the termination of their employ ment-they feared retribution.

Lawyers, celebrities, show business executives, friends, enemies, other
reporters, alleged lovers, classmates, teachers, and cultural critics, many with
contradictory opinions, have also weighed in heavily during the compilation
of this biography. In some cases I quoted their words as they appeared in previously published articles; sometimes I quoted them after direct encounters
and interviews with me.

As for bias in the task of documenting Jacko, whenever it was perceived
that a source might be self-serving or deliberately misleading, I quoted that
source directly, so that his or her point of view would be presented merely as
an opinion and not as a definitive conclusion from a historian. Over the years,
based on my perception that they were unreliable, I discarded dozens of "Ihad-a-close-encounter-with-Michael" stories. And as might be expected, the
stories included those who praised and those who damned. Some were brutally and unrelentingly negative; others were phrased like mystical tributes
from life-long fans. Some, including a few from Elizabeth Taylor, were effusive to the point of being suspect in and of themselves.

Since so much of Michael's life has been played out on the world stage,
my researchers, especially Monica Dunn, and I have tried to focus on stories
that had previously not been widespread.

The biographer's role is never easy, and determining the "truth" in matters
of history and the human heart is always, at best, subjective. But within these
pages, I've done my best to portray, as fairly and objectively as possible, the
life, death, and legacy of Michael Jackson.

Darwin Porter

July, 2009