A HEARTTHROB:

"As a little girl, my cousins and I lip synced, kicked, and spun, trying to follow the studded bell bottoms of Michael and his brothers. In secret I wrote him letters by the dozens and sat in my room, daydreaming of our fairytale love story.

Just call my name and I’ll be there

Later, I ‘shook my body to the ground’ and grew into adolescence as Michael, the wide eyed cutie with the magical voice, eased out of the Afro on his way to the jheri curl and a solo career." -- Stephane Dunn

A BRAND:

"Jackson almost singlehandedly made MTV a national fixture. In the mid-1980's, young people all over the world adopted his jacketed look and pipestem jeans. "The [King] of Pop" was innovative, seemingly sensitive, and had a keen eye for often unlikely collaborations (such as w/ Paul McCartney). He and the music video grew in tandem. He also fought for Little Richard to be paid fairly for his songwriting royalties, and was a major figure in U.S.A. For Africa ("We Are The World"), long before Madonna and Brangelina's adoptions and Bono's charity work." -- Bijan C. Bayne

A HERO:

I can’t stop crying over the sad news. I have always admired Michael Jackson. The world has lost one of the greats, but his music will live on forever! My heart goes out to his three children and other members of his family. God bless.” -- Madonna (People.com)

A WORLD FIGURE:

"It was 1989. I was traveling through Cairo during a college semester abroad. I had been mugged near the Pyramids and was having a generally rotten day. From a distance, someone called out, "Hey, soul sister!" I cringed reflexively, prepared to stare down the cat-caller. It was a smiling 12 year-old boy named Mohammed, who grabbed my hand and invited me to his home. I should not have gone. I had just been robbed. But he was a sweet child, and he grinned as he told me he had a horse that he wanted me to see. His home was as modest as they come, a dusty shack with an enclosure on the side that held a dusty brown horse. Mohammed's boyish grin brightened to a full beam. "Michael Jackson!" he exclaimed proudly.

Everything bad that had happened that day receded. I saw no evidence that Mohammed owned anything on which play music, or any posters, or any fan buttons or t-shirts. But that horse was clearly the center of his world, and he wanted desperately for me to know that. Michael Jackson was, quite simply, the most famous black person in the world. And his impact prompted a poor Egyptian boy to take a "soul sister's" hand and make her day. It remains one of my favorite memories of Cairo. One of my favorite travel memories, period." -- Lynette Clemetson