#Giveaway: #43: Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson

Hounded by the tabloid media, driven from his self-made sanctuary at Neverland, Michael Jackson spent his final years moving from city to city, living with his three children in virtual seclusion—a futile attempt to escape a world that wouldn’t leave him alone. During that time, two men served as the singer’s personal security team: Bill Whitfield, a former cop and veteran of the security profession, and Javon Beard, a brash, untested rookie, both single fathers themselves.

Stationed at his side nearly 24/7, their job was to see and hear everything that transpired, and to keep everyone else out, making them the only two men who know what 60 million fans around the world still want to know: What really happened to the King of Pop?

Driven by a desire to show the world who Michael Jackson truly was, Whitfield and Beard have produced the only definitive, first-person account of Michael Jackson’s last years: the extreme measures necessary to protect Jackson and his family, the simple moments of happiness they managed to share in a time of great stress, the special relationship Jackson shared with his fans, and the tragic events that culminated in the singer’s ill-fated comeback, This Is It. The truth is far more compelling than anything you’ve yet heard.

An indispensable piece of pop-culture history, Remember the Time is the story of a man struggling to live a normal life under extraordinary circumstances, the story of a father fighting to protect and provide for his children. Remember the Time is the book that dismantles the tabloid myths once and for all to give Michael Jackson back his humanity.

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Random House Canada (June 3 2014)
• ISBN: 9780345812483

AMAZON US   |   AMAZON CA   |  AMAZON UK

AUTHOR BIOS:

BILL WHITFIELD, a New York native, and JAVON BEARD, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles, served for two and a half years as the personal security team for Michael Jackson. They have appeared on Nightline, and Good Morning America, and have worked with numerous other high-profile clients, including Sean "Diddy" Combs, Andre Harrell and Shaquille O'Neal. 

TANNER COLBY is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts, Belushi: A Biography, and Some of My Best Friends Are Black: The Strange Story of Integration in America, which was nominated for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non-Fiction by the American Library Association. He is also a frequent contributor to Slate magazine.

REVIEW:

What a tortured soul Michael Jackson was. We all knew it to some extent, watching from the outside. Though if living his high-profile life, it would be hard not to be tortured in some ways. 

I feel like I understand and empathize Michael a lot more. Not only that, but instead of feeling he is a weirdo, or as he was labelled 'whacko', I actually get why he did or said some of the things that happened over the years. What an incredibly hard life he lived. From the start. All while living isolated and sheltered. The ones he was most grateful for turned out to be the ones who hurt him most. As is often the case.

He loved his fans. They did bombard him into that solitary life, but he still appreciated that each and every one of those fans put him in that wonderful spotlight. Imagine, having to watch your children play from a distance, in a truck with blackened windows, or shut down local museums after hours to give your children a taste of normalcy. I can only think it would have been a little hellish.

I cried in real life the day Michael died. I am still stunned today, and sometimes get choked up when I hear certain songs like 'The Earth Song'. I will always be a big fan. I also cried at the end of this book when I had to re-live it again. Bring tissues if you read this one.

I appreciate Bill and Javon keeping the family secrets and still letting us inside a little bit more. They did right by Michael and the kids, which is what they intended, but I'm so glad they told their story. Fan or not this is a great book that gives you a real look at what life was like for the king of pop.

4/5

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