THE RUM TUM TUGGER IS

“His main contact with the outside world was through the fans. He got tons of fan mail. …Every few days it would arrive in these big sacks. It came from all over the world—Canada, England, Egypt, Japan, India, Ireland, Spain. He read all of it.

Every so often, early on Saturday mornings, we'd take him on long drives and he'd immerse himself in his fan mail. I'd drive. Bill would ride shotgun. We'd load up a few boxes of mail in the vehicle and then we'd head out into the desert and just drive for three, four hours. We'd drive up into the mountains, where there was still snow on the ground. We'd go all the way across the Hoover Dam, into Arizona, then turn around and head home.

Mr. Jackson would sit in the back, classical music playing, the curtains drawn. You could hear him opening envelopes, going letter by letter. Sometimes he'd say, "Hey, listen to this, guys. This is so sweet" And he'd read us something somebody had written. People would write about their children dying of illnesses and how much his music had meant to them. Some of it made him very emotional. You could hear him getting choked up. He'd say, "You guys may not understand, but this is where I get a lot of inspiration to write my songs."”

“...There was so much of it that one of the bedrooms had to be designated as the fan mail room. The walls in there were plastered with handmade cards and letters, and the floor was covered with big stacks. And that was just accumulated ...over a few months' time.” - Javon Beard

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the magical, marvelous, Mr.Mistoffelees!"