Celebrating Elvis' life - 25th anniversary of
the King's death is mostly parties, parades
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/734172/posts
Excerpt:
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Death anniversaries tend to be somber affairs, as we remember those we loved and admired.
There's no parade in Dallas on Nov. 22. Ceremonies in New York on the day John Lennon was killed, or here in Memphis on the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, are tearful and melancholy.
In the land of Elvis, things are different.
"Sure, it's sad that he's gone," says Fred Chamberlain, a 39-year-old fan. "But we're treating this as a happy occasion. As time goes on, we look at it differently. This is a way of projecting all the happiness he left for us."
Mr. Chamberlain seems to be a good representative of the tens of thousands of people packed into Memphis this week to mark the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death on Aug. 16, 1977. He's come a long way (from London) at considerable personal sacrifice (he's a school caretaker of modest income) and has gone to lengths that probably seem excessive to nonbelievers (a big Elvis tattoo has adorned his arm since age 16).
