"In retrospect, so much of what Michael Jackson achieved seems baldly symbolic. This was the black kid from Gary, IN, who ended up marrying Elvis’s daughter, setting up Neverland in place of Graceland and buying the Beatles’ song catalog – bold acts of appropriation and mastery, if not outright aggression … He made trademarks of the very emblems of his remoteness: his moonwalk dance and his jeweled glove – noli me tangere and vice versa. He morphed relentlessly from the most adorable of kiddie performers … to the most sinister of superstars … He performed his dance of death as a central figure in America’s long racial horror show."

So writes David Gates in the new Newsweek. I was particularly taken by the following statement, which I don’t recall ever seeing before: "One shrink concluded at the time – 2005 – that he was not a pedophile, but merely a case of arrested development."

***

And here is something I wrote in my syndicated column back in June, 2005: "He has not been found innocent. He has been found not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Michael Jackson – and the rest of us – have been spared the horror of a prison sentence.

"To many who have watched this wretched spectacle, he is guilty and will wear the mantle of child-abuser-set-free for the rest of his life. The prison he made of his existence prior to this, is nothing compared to what is to come."

I added: "That Michael has not committed suicide has been the great press disappointment. The drumbeat for him to take his own life began in 1993 and never really let up."

OK, that was then; this is now. At the time, I took a dim view of Michael Jackson’s ever really redeeming himself in the mind of the public. Boy, was I wrong!! His sheer impressive, incredible, unique talent has taken over public opinion since his untimely death the other day.

Maybe this kind of tragic catharsis is a good thing. We can simply erase all the bad, weirdo, wacko things we felt at the end of that trial and go back to embracing the creative Michael.

***

And, what do you know? Here in my office, in a limp little file, I find a handwritten letter from Debbie Rowe, which came to me in April 1997 right after she had produced a first baby for Michael.

I had met Debbie in the offices of Dr. Arnie Klein, dermatologist to the stars. She was always sweet and charming and I’d frequently heard about her through a mutual friend. Sometime in April 1997, I wrote something positive about her in The Los Angeles Times. I can’t remember what this item was but it seems to be irretrievable.

Here’s Debbie Rowe in her own words: "Dear Ms. Smith. I stay away from most articles written about me and/or my husband and child. Dr. Klein brought me your article from today’s L.A. Times. I just wanted to let you know how I appreciate your comment. I just wish the rest of the world would back off and just believe the truth that we tell them. Thanks again. Debbie Rowe Jackson."

I see some people are already casting Debbie as a bad woman who will harass the Jackson estate over custody. Well, I hope that’s not true. She was well paid by Michael for being a surrogate. But if she is watching Joe Jackson as he and Rev. Al Sharpton preen and pose and discuss how they are going to cash in on Michael’s legend, she may wonder if she wants any children anywhere near old Joe, who Michael always said had abused him as a child. Michael’s mother, Katherine, no longer lives with his father, but Joe is front and center taking charge these days. Let’s hope they find a will that sets this all out better.