George Orwell and Michael Jackson: two eccentrics who…
What you need to know:
History tells us that one ‘George Orwell, a British Novelist, Essayist and Critic,’ was born on a date like today’s, June 25, in the Year of Our Lord 1903 – and died on Jan. 21, 1950.
History tells us that one ‘George Orwell, a British Novelist, Essayist and Critic,’ was born on a date like today’s, June 25, in the Year of Our Lord 1903 – and died on Jan. 21, 1950.
You never heard of the fellow, you say? Neither had I... Well, not until in the late 1950s, anyway! That was when I was at Secondary School, trying my hand (or is it my head/mind?) at English Literature as a subject for the Cambridge University Syndicated Examinations across the British Empire upon which (we were told) the Sun never set!
But, that’s a tale fit to be told another day... So, back to History... We’re also told than one ‘Michael Jackson, an American Singer-Songwriter, Producer, Dancer and Actor’ who was born in 1958, died on a date like today’s, June 25, 2009! Weeeeell... Seems that Michael of ‘The Jackson-5’ family of entertainers is/was better-known worldwide than George Orwell was – and will ever be known! But, for both gentlemen, it’s all water under the bridge now – and the only thing which the two share is the date June 25, when the one was born, and the other passed away!
Suffice it here to note that ‘George Orwell’ was really the pseudonym adopted by one Eric Blair as a penname behind which he hid as an author. Thus, while the World of Literature had ‘George Orwell’ to contend with, the World of Flesh and Blood knew of the same fellow as Eric Arthur Blair... Sheesh!
I said herein-above that the two mortals shared the date June 25 – albeit in different years, and for different reasons. What was George’s birth-date was Michael’s death-date!
Never mind that the two died relatively young: George at 46 years;
Michael at 51! But – in My Book of Things, anyway – the two also seemed to have the same sexual orientation in common!
How I wish/hope I’m wrong, but – in all fairness, and without prejudice – History has it that Orwell/Blair was homophobic, imbued with fear and/or hatred of homosexuals, calling them ‘Nancy,’ ‘Pansy,’ etc, as terms of abuse!
On the other hand, Michael Jackson allegedly shared a bed with a chimp he called ‘Bubbles– and ‘married’ the daughter of another pop culture giant in a lifetime spent in the public eye…’ ( June 26, 2009).
But then again, ‘our’ Michael Jackson wasn’t without eccentricities! For example, according to the Almanac Book of Facts, Michael cancelled the remainder of his worldwide concert tour on Nov. 12, 1993 in order – he said in a taped statement – to seek treatment for drug addiction.
However, his lawyer, Bertram Fields, ‘diluted’ that on Nov, 15 as
‘addiction to painkillers which Michael was taking!’ At the time, Michael was also accused of ‘molesting’ a 13-year old boy. Despite denials, the entertainment maestro finally agreed to a cash settlement of anything between US$10m and 20m to bury the hatchet… Sorry; to ‘bury’ the scandal!
Oh, I don’t know… But, we’re told, the fellow came to be known in the tabloid press as ‘Wacko-Jacko’ from his often wildly-eccentric behaviour! Here’s to June 25th!
