Michael and Rick

Monday, 3 October 1988
Meadowlands Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey

The drawing we are holding was one that Michael commissioned from me. He wanted me to draw him from his six videos, at that time. Unfortunately, the flash from the camera reflected on the drawing. The other drawing, behind, is another one I did of him, which he autographed for me.

Michael had hired me to do a children's coloring book based on his video "Moonwalker." This was during his "BAD" tour, and the height of his career. The project took about a year, because it took time for him to see what I was doing and get back with his comments on my drawings.

After he came back from the European leg of the tour, he was going to be in New Jersey. My wife and I got VIP tickets for the concert. At the arena, I was brought back to his large dressing room, with a smaller private dressing room for him. There were a lot of people milling around. All of a sudden, Michael came out of his dressing room, in his "BAD" outfit, buckles and belts. He shut the door and just stood there.

When Michael Jackson said he was very shy, he wasn't kidding. The look on his face, to me, was pure fear. I felt he was just looking around the room to find someone, anyone, he knew. After a couple of seconds, he walked into the crowd. This would be the only time I would meet him, and I figured I better do it. So, I walked up to him and tapped him on his shoulder. I thought to myself, "I am tapping Michael Jackson on his shoulder!" He turned to me, and since it was quite noisy I leaned to whisper in his ear, thinking "I am whispering into Michael Jackson's ear!!" I introduced myself and told him that I was the guy doing his coloring book. The second he knew who I was you would have thought we had known each other for years. He was gracious and extremely friendly. He told me that he was really liking the coloring book drawings that I was doing for him.

I brought him over to my drawings and he burst out laughing when he saw them. We chatted for a little bit and he couldn't have been nicer. Needless to say, it was one of the most exciting celebrity meetings I ever had.