I was trying to pinpoint the sense of loss over Lisa Marie dying "just like that." You said "Lisa Marie wasn't royalty: she was too prickly for that." I was 25 when she was born and my sense of loss IS as having lost a member of the royalty. That is the word I needed.
I was almost finished rereading Peter Guralnick's brilliant two volume biography of Elvis Presley when Lisa Marie died. ( I read the books not as a fan of Elvis Presley, but as someone who understood that Elvis's life and art is a way of understanding post war America) Thank you for your sensitive and insightful essay. It's so easy to not take Lisa Marie seriously especially with all that has been written recently about the nepo baby phenomenon. Which I think is true, but we can paint too broad of a brush because not all children of the rich and famous are the same. You bringing in John F. Kennedy Jr in was apt and illuminating, a king (rock n roll) and a President child together. The legacy of both families were made even more intense by their public nature and tragedy. Agree, Lisa Marie lived boldly and honestly and was conscious of the long shadow of her famous family. and quietly cut her own path. As you wrote that is quite an accomplishment.
This was a beautiful read. Thank you. You have definitely captured a mood and emotions that many of us might not have expected to have at this awful and sad news.
She was the daughter of Elvis Presley. She married Michael Jackson and Nicholas Cage. Birthed by any 'normal' woman, she would not have been meant for any of that. That she dealt with any of it poorly is not a surprise. She, like JFK, Jr., was destined to be 'less' than expected from the beginning. I have no idea what that is like, and I'm glad I don't have to find out. Very few are burdened with being the son or daughter of an icon. Even fewer survive the role.
Thank you so much for this. My mom loved Elvis - she was exactly of the age to grow up with his music and he was 100% the soundtrack to my childhood. Lisa Marie and I were born the same year and yes, this one hurts so much. The way you have captured how many of us are feeling is the best thing I have read thus far on why she mattered far and beyond her father's legacy.
I was trying to pinpoint the sense of loss over Lisa Marie dying "just like that." You said "Lisa Marie wasn't royalty: she was too prickly for that." I was 25 when she was born and my sense of loss IS as having lost a member of the royalty. That is the word I needed.
I was almost finished rereading Peter Guralnick's brilliant two volume biography of Elvis Presley when Lisa Marie died. ( I read the books not as a fan of Elvis Presley, but as someone who understood that Elvis's life and art is a way of understanding post war America) Thank you for your sensitive and insightful essay. It's so easy to not take Lisa Marie seriously especially with all that has been written recently about the nepo baby phenomenon. Which I think is true, but we can paint too broad of a brush because not all children of the rich and famous are the same. You bringing in John F. Kennedy Jr in was apt and illuminating, a king (rock n roll) and a President child together. The legacy of both families were made even more intense by their public nature and tragedy. Agree, Lisa Marie lived boldly and honestly and was conscious of the long shadow of her famous family. and quietly cut her own path. As you wrote that is quite an accomplishment.
This was a beautiful read. Thank you. You have definitely captured a mood and emotions that many of us might not have expected to have at this awful and sad news.
She was the daughter of Elvis Presley. She married Michael Jackson and Nicholas Cage. Birthed by any 'normal' woman, she would not have been meant for any of that. That she dealt with any of it poorly is not a surprise. She, like JFK, Jr., was destined to be 'less' than expected from the beginning. I have no idea what that is like, and I'm glad I don't have to find out. Very few are burdened with being the son or daughter of an icon. Even fewer survive the role.
Thank you so much for this. My mom loved Elvis - she was exactly of the age to grow up with his music and he was 100% the soundtrack to my childhood. Lisa Marie and I were born the same year and yes, this one hurts so much. The way you have captured how many of us are feeling is the best thing I have read thus far on why she mattered far and beyond her father's legacy.
Sheila, you've made me teary. :) A beautiful tribute.
Oh Sheila. This is so exquisitely beautiful x
SHEILA
As big a fan of Elvis as I am, I just ignored his daughter all these years. Your tribute/essay makes me wish I hadn’t . . .
NEAL