Jacko/Farrah: A Historical Note
All the entertainment folk today are analyzing the issue: “Michael Jackson‘s Death One Year Later.” But let’s not forget that someone else died exactly one year ago: Farrah Fawcett. There have been many significant same-day deaths throughout history: Shakespeare/Cervantes; John Adams/Thomas Jefferson; Ingmar Bergman/Michelangelo Antonioni. The Jackson/Fawcett coincidence, however, is more like that of Stalin and Prokofiev, with one person (Jackson/Stalin) overwhelming the other (Fawcett/Prokofiev). Stalin and Prokofiev died on March 5, 1953. For three days the throngs gathered to mourn Stalin in Moscow, making it impossible to carry Prokofiev’s body out for the funeral service at the headquarters of the Soviet Composer’s Union. Paper flowers and a taped recording of the funeral march from Romeo and Juliet had to be used, as all real flowers and musicians were reserved for Stalin’s funeral.
