Bashir's Got His Freaking Nerve

I'm watching Night Line and they are doing a tribute to all the people who have died this summer. Tributes are appropriate for this long, hot summer of loss. So many have left us, young and old. But for that snake Martin Bashir to be sitting there looking all sad about those who died makes me queasy. " He spent eight months following MJ around and the end result "Living with Michael Jackson" twisted the public's viewpoint. Bashir started the downspiral into accusations of molestations for MJ. It made your American career, didn't it Martin? Turned you into a bigger than life talking head anchor. As surely as the doctor who shot him up, you pulled the trigger on Michael Jackson. How well do you sleep, anchorman? When I used to be a journalist, it was to report the news, not twist it to suit your fancy. Be careful should the tide of public opinion turn against you. Look closer Bashear there's a lot of people like me jeering. I'm Ruth Adkins Robinson.

Thinking About Bob Jones

When I got back to a computer after a week in the desert, there were hundreds of emails and almost a thousand spam entries. Slipped in the mail I actually read were a few chain letters and they made me think of Bob Jones. After he was uncermoniously fired from the Michael Jackson organization, Bob had a lot of time on his hands and started sending out chain letters. There are few things I hate about the Internet as much as the cyber version of chain letters. They make me crazy, but I was also crazy about Bob, so what I would do instead of sending them on to other people who would hate me for doing so, I'd just send it to myself with a copy to Bob and only Bob. He didn't know what I was doing and it was harmless, didn't hurt anyone. I thought Bob had been hurt enough anyway. I never quite got over the way he was dumped by MJ. Bob loved Michael like a son and had devoted his life to MJ for more than 20 years. Mike never fired anyone personally, so one day, without notice, some thugs delivered a pink slip and took everything with MJ's name on it out of Bob's house. Bob could have really told the dirt in a book, because he was the only one around without a confidentially agreement. I think he might have wanted to, I think he might have even tried, but he couldn't do it. He'd been protecting Michael for too long, Bob just couldn't hurt him in print. Three weeks ago when I learned of Michael's death was the first time I was glad Bob was no longer around. It would have broken his heart. I'm Bob Jones' friend, Ruth Adkins Robinson

Just one photo

I thought about it and decided to post just one photo of me and Michael. I'm doing this because of the story behind the photo. It was March or April, 1983. Suzanne de Passe had hired me to write on an as yet untitled Motown tv special. Since the show became such a triumph, everybody likes to tell their own version of how it came to be so brilliant. Lies, mostly. Especially the part about how everybody wanted to do the show. That was a real struggle. de Passe can sell anything, but she had a full tilt boogie ahead of her. Nobody much thought the anniversary of Motown was so important. There was no giant buzz goin' on. Anyway, the talent exec making the initial reach out was not getting anywhere with Michael's management who failed to see why he should do anything for his FORMER record label. Suzanne wondered if anybody had even told Michael about the show. So when I got a call to come to Walter Yetnikoff's, then president of CBS Records, I asked the girl on the other end of the phone who was coming and she rattled off a list of the label's artists. Among them, Michael. There were half a dozen mock-ups around with various versions of Motown 25, not even the rest of the title had been decided. I told Suzanne where I was going and that I was going to take a mock-up and paste it to the back of a binder and take it with me. If you look in the bag that I'm holding, you can see the folder. What I did was take it out, hold it in my arms like a schoolbook and go stand next to Michael. I never said a word to him. He looked at the folder a couple of times and finally said, "That's my old record label." I seized the moment. "No, it's not, it's a television special that Suzanne is producing and she is wondering why your people haven't called back. You know, she doesn't want to just use that audition tape." He laughed that great laugh of his and said "Ok, I get it." He knew de Passe and what she could pull off, so he did get it even if he didn't know what the 'it' was going to be. She, and the team she put together, pulled off a show that stands up, 26 years later. The civilized world has seen a tiny excerpt of it a million times over the last few days, because Michael tossed that hat, pulled up his trousers and slid backwards into history. Now, I cannot tell you how he actually was convinced to do the show, multiple versions exist, but I do like to take credit for opening up the door a little and letting some light shine in. That's my story of me telling MJ about a show that would change his life and the life of Ruth Adkins Robinson

Talking About Michael

I tried not to do any interviews about Michael Jackson, but couldn't turn down Karen Slade at KJLH and then when I got on the phone with Kevin Nash, I couldn't shut up. Instead of one short pithy comment about Michael, I talked for seven minutes. My phone rang and rang and rang when it was over. I was told I sounded great and not weepy. That's good. Hard not to be weepy and fearful of how people are going to be acting soon--Ruth Adkins Robinson