What's REALLY Going ON Volume 1, June 2014 Issue #6 | Page 11

FEATURED FAN ART
Francie Gannon

Michael first came into my life, in a very big
and real way, with the advent of his album Off
The Wall. I thought “who is this beautiful boy?”
His charisma and essence just leaped off the
album cover and he had me, hook, line and
sinker. Both his music and his photo had me
right there, with my heart in the cross hairs.
After that I knew who Michael was and followed his thrilling career. As I grew up and life
took hold he receded to the background, yet I
was aware of him, his enormous successes
and the trials and tribulations he endured. I
also was deeply appreciative of the legacy he
was crafting: the greatest entertainer of my
generation.

As his life was gathering momentum on the
world stage my life was taking shape in the
form of career and family. It was a heady time
of tumult and change as our generation exerted it’s influence. It was against this background that I earned my BA and MA and built a
career. There was even a time, from the late
90s until 2005, that my focus was purely on
career and family and Michael dropped from
view. I heard about the trial during 2005. It
was painful to me that he had to experience
such a galling, soul destroying experience. I
knew he was innocent, period. Then he was

found not guilty and life continued . . . until
June 25, 2009.

When
Michael
transitioned
he
blazed a path
straight
through
my heart and soul.
He rocked my
world. Never ever
had I experienced
anything this profound or sacred.
Words continue to
defy an adequate
expression. I was
the one who coined the phrase “Lightening
Bolt” experience. All I could think of was how
that lightening bolt had rearranged the cells,
atoms, molecules, nucleus, protons, and neutrons in the fabric of my essential being. I was
altered. I would never be the same. I was creating art prior to Michael’s passing. I had started sculpting in the mid-90s and migrated to
watercolor in the
mid 2000s. When
he died I quit creating art. I cannot
explain the reason
for this. It took me
three years to pick
up the paint brush
again, this time
painting Michael.

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