Growing up I met and became friends with Michael Jackson. I can't believe that he's dead. When I knew him the success of Thriller was a few years in the future, but he was already a huge star. Going to the mall, or the bowling alley by my house, people would obviously stare. But he wasn't full of himself, or pretentious. Michael was a shy person, and a good friend. I haven't seen him in something like 15 years, before the plastic surgeries, the scandals, and the waning years of financial troubles. I thought of writing him, to see how he was doing. But, other things, I guess, were more important -- and part of me thought it would be a bother to him. Good-bye my friend, rest in peace.