Death of the King of Pop brings tears

Brenda Anderson has all of Michael Jackson's albums vinyl, from the time he sang his ABC's with the Jackson 5 to his heyday when he was "Bad" and "Dangerous."

She still has the ticket stubs from when Jackson and his brothers performed in Jacksonville for their 1984 Victory Tour. Anderson also kept the Jackson-style jacket and lone sparkly glove her children wore to the show.

So when she learned the King of Pop died Thursday of cardiac arrest, her first thought was, "Michael's gone."

"You want to cry," said Anderson, 59, of Tampa. "I did shed tears today. Michael Jackson should not be dead."

Grief, shock, disbelief - that's what fans felt today when they heard of Jackson's death.

"I'm only 19, but, God, I can remember listening to Michael Jackson as long as I can remember," Chelsea Criner said. "Even us younger people - we recognized he was a really, really big music legend."

Criner, an aspiring singer, said Jackson's death was tragic and unexpected.

"Nobody saw that coming," she said.

Tony Zappone, who wrote for The Tampa Times, said he remembers sitting in the dining room of the Sheraton hotel on Cass Street in 1969 when he heard a soft-spoken voice. Jackson and the rest of his brothers in the Jackson 5 were sitting a few tables from his.

"He was a tiny, tiny, thin little thing," Zappone said. "He was very well-behaved. None of that gaudy stuff."

At the time, Zappone said, he thought the Jackson 5 were a novelty act.

"If I had any inkling that maybe 20, 15 feet from me was the iconic figure he would become, I would've been all over him," Zappone said. "They were very approachable. They had no security."

Michael Kilgore, a former Tampa Tribune features editor, sent reporters and photographers at the height of Jackson mania to cover the Victory Tour when it had a three-day stand at Jacksonville's old Gator Bowl.

"He was that generation's Elvis," Kilgore said, "larger than life and moving from the sweet earnestness of 'I'll Be There' to the more urban dance music like 'Thriller' and 'Bad.' I never saw him live, but he was a great entertainer."

Jackson was a phenomenal talent the likes of which may not be seen again, Anderson said.

"The beauty in his dance, the beauty in his voice - this is absolutely crazy to know that this man is gone," she said. "Michael Jackson should not be dead."