WORLD> America
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Jackson's death returns his father to spotlight
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-30 10:35 NEW YORK: At the BET Awards over the weekend, Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, was back in front of the cameras. Wearing a black fedora and oversized sunglasses, he spoke proudly of his son, paid tribute to "a superstar" and promoted his own new record label.
The 79-year-old former steelworker is again fully immersed in the family's dealings since his son's death. The return of Joe Jackson — a controversial, sometimes vilified figure who Michael said abused him as a child — is sure to renew questions about his influence on his troubled son. Since Michael Jackson died Thursday of what his family has said was cardiac arrest, his father has been vocal about his son and the posthumous arrangements being made. Medical examiners in Los Angeles are perhaps weeks away from officially determining the cause of death, though a second autopsy was held Monday at the family's request. The elder Jackson and other relatives have been mostly holed up at the family's compound in Encino. He made an unexpected appearance Sunday night at the BET Awards, which became a tribute to the King of Pop. Joe Jackson said in an emphatic statement at the show that he and his wife, Katherine, have the "personal and legal authority to act, and solely ... have authority for our son and his children."
Also Monday, Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship of the children and is asking to be named their permanent guardian. L. Londell McMillan, the Jacksons' attorney, said the family has not heard from Deborah Rowe, the mother of Jackson's two eldest children, about custody. The youngest son was born to a surrogate mother. In court papers, Jackson's parents said they believe the singer died without a valid will. "This is where they belong," Joe Jackson said a news conference Monday. "We're going to take care of them and we're going to give them an education they're supposed to have." Joseph and Katherine Jackson married in 1949 and settled in Gary, Ind. They have nine children together, Michael being one of the youngest. Jackson, who turns 80 on July 26, was a boxer, a guitarist for a local band and a crane operator at U.S. Steel. When he recognized the musical talents of his children, he organized and trained the Jackson 5, also serving as their manager. "When I was little, it was all work, work, work," Michael Jackson said in a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey. Joe Jackson was a strict father who pushed his children relentlessly in rehearsals and performances. He had them call him not Dad or Father, but "Joseph." |