NOT SO FAST

Regarding Steve Hochman’s summation of Michael Jackson’s year (Pop Eye, Dec. 24):

My, how determined we in the media are to see Michael Jackson dead and buried. As an artist, he’s survived in show business for 25 years, but we don’t really care about that. Why? Because his personal life is a circus. (As if there is one celebrity on the planet whose personal life isn’t a circus!)

Funny that no one really cared about Dean Martin until his death last week. Then the “appreciations” flowed like the fine wine Dino loved so much.

Today, we’re fortunate to witness the work of some great show-biz icons at their peak: artists like Diana Ross, Madonna, Streisand, Springsteen and, yeah, even Michael Jackson. As a journalist myself, I admit it’s difficult to resist the occasional shot. (After all, they give us so much to work with.) But let’s not forget to appreciate their work a little now and then . . . instead of later when we have to write their obits.

J. RANDY TARABORRELLI Arcadia