"LMP – Karma 2010: A Genesis Of Rebel DNA / Elvis – Through My Eyes” is an A5 format soft cover written in memory of Mr. Vernon Elvis and Mrs. Gladys Love Presley. As you will realize early on in the pages of this forthcoming soft cover, somebody noticed.
This project is dedicated to the daughter who dreams of redemption for a father that worshipped the ground she walked on and with whom she shares a magical connection; who dreams about dignity being restored to the Presley family name and has never lost faith that some day it would happen. LMP has identified a media campaign to demean her. In fact, the campaign has spanned 4 decades and targets not only Lisa and Elvis, but unbelievably – Vernon and Gladys. The “3-D Treatment” (demean, discredit and destroy) dates back many, many moons.
The 1976 Rolling Stone Illustrated History Of Rock & Roll features a 16-page essay by noted blues writer/historian Peter Guralnick. In his essay (and a revamped version in Lost Highway), Elvis and Gladys are alternately labeled with dignity-protecting adjectives like “fat,” “bloated,” “depressed,” having the “starch-fed appearance of so many poor Southern whites and blacks,” and lastly: “grotesque… like some aging whore.” In 2010, Peter Guralnick is widely hailed as “scholarly” and “sympathetic” – the hands-down definitive Presley biographer. Doncha’ wonder if LMP agrees?
You can catch up with Mr. Guralnick’s latest Elvis essay – a 6,000 word piece – in the crown jewel of RCA/Legacy’s ‘Elvis 75’ campaign a.k.a. The Complete Elvis Presley Masters. Skirting difficult issues doesn’t give us power over them or make them go away. It’s useful knowledge & workable solutions that are needed to break the cycle that generations of Presleys are trapped in. Under-stand, nobody in the Presley lineage is off limits – today, tomorrow or in the distant future. What’s goin’ on is not a fait accompli, unless Elvis’ pride and joy permits it.
Unbeknownst to Lisa Marie, I have dedicated much of the last 10 years of my life to researching and meticulously documenting salient truths about her dad. Against considerable odds, a path to higher awareness was forged with useful knowledge acquired in spades. As Michael J. Fox said so eloquently: “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked. But cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered.” Presleys don’t surrender. They prevail."
Oh no, not him again! Who can take an author writing that Elvis wasn't fat and didn't slur in 1977 seriously? Looking at the phrase on Guralnick, this will go in the same direction again... my oh my.
Oh my. As we all know, the Elvis World is vast, and Darrin Lee is probably the foremost Elvis conspiracy theory nut. He has earlier written a couple of books blatantly denying that Elvis ever had a drug problem. And now it seems that he is stating that neither Gladys had a drinking problem, nor that she or Elvis ever was overweight. Well, well, well.
However, I'm still going to buy Darrins book just so my personal Elvis library is complete and up to date. "LMP - Karma 2010: A Genesis Of Rebel DNA" will be filed together with the rest of Darrins books - in the Elvis religion/Conspiracy section. There is appearantly no limit to how confused some die hard Elvis fans are able to become. So strictly sociologically this book may be interesting. But with regards to Elvis as a historical and cultural figure, Peter Guralnick has more credibility and knowledge of Elvis in his left pinky toe nail than Darrin Lee will ever be able to produce.
This isn't about Lee or Guralnick or whether one is a true author & the other one isn't. It's about the indignities this family has had to endure. And don't get all hot & bothered about that statement, since we all know that any celebrity, dead or alive, is fair game. But, in all honesty, this family has suffered much more crass treatment than even poor Marilyn Monroe or JFK. And it will never end, due in part to the fact that so many "fans" for some reason cannot get enough dirt in their lives to satisfy them. As for Guralnick being a "scholar", that must come with the titles behind his name because he doesn't write like one. I have read his books, his writing is not that good, and terribly hard to follow. And no true "scholar" uses words like grotesque & others that Lee pointed out. In that regard, he is right. I have had the privilege of meeting Lisa Marie on a couple occasions & she is very business like but cordial, friendly but guarded, and she has to be because she never knows what will happen after an encounter with fans or the press. And there is only so much she can do - if she complains & tries to stop certain ads or behavior by the press, she is considered a spoiled brat turned adult brat. If she does little or nothing, she is accused of not caring. It's a no win situation.
Ruthie, I fully agree with your assesment of the situation around the Elvis family. Nobody can deny certain realities, but this has been over-exposed to such an extend that most people think of Elvis only as the man displayed by most of the media and press. Not the man he was for most pf his life. They focus on one thing only. It would be great to counteract that by showing the better part. The other part we know by now, world wide. How would it be if one small portion of our life is ALWAYS exposed? Well I know by personal experience how bad and dishonest that is!
