Jim Morrison's Grave Controversy  

Jim Morrison's grave, in the Right Bank of Paris, draws thousands of visitors each 
year. But do the French like it? The Wolf files speaks with Doors keyboardist Ray 
Manzarek.  

By Buck Wolf 
ABCNEWS.com 
                           Jim Morrison is still dead, but his permanent address might change. The French have never been all that happy that the Lizard King's tie-dyed hippie-dippy followers have been turning their most famous cemetery, Pere-Lachaise, into a never-ending Woodstock. 
And some folks want it stopped. 
                      Each day, dozens of revelers forge a trail of beer cans,candles, panties, and whiskey bottles to Morrison's final resting place. Scrawled across a nearby monument: "We came. We laughed. We left." Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek tells the Wolf Files, 
                 "Jim would have loved it. Thousands of people each year enjoying themselves - in his honor." 
                      But the party-hardy scene revolts relatives of the deceased, who regularly sandblast graffiti off their loved ones' tombstones. They've petitioned to have Morrison's body removed when the 30-year lease on the plot expires on June 6, 2001. 
                      You might think Doors fans would be up in arms at the notion that their hero might be exhumed, and many are. But  the fanatic wing - a small few, to be sure - are overjoyed. Once and for all, the most important question in their little universe might be answered - Is Jim Morrison really dead? 
                      Oh, there might be just as good a chance that Elvis is doing Teletubbie voice-overs. But old rock conspiracy theories die hard. Many people still aren't sure Paul McCartney is alive, especially if they've heard his recent albums.  

                 The Great Escape?  
                 Morrison had retired from rock in 1971 and moved to Paris to concentrate on his poetry, when he succumbed to heart failure in his bathtub. But few people saw the corpse, no autopsy was performed, and believers say it was all a hoax to allow him to escape the trappings of fame. 
                      "The only thing buried in Jim's grave is his fame," says Marty Dennis, a 47-year-old plumber from Naples, Fla.,who frequently posts on Doors-related Web sites and message boards. "This was his great escape." 
                      Rumors began spreading in recent weeks that cemetery officials are moving closer to renewing Morrison's lease, after an anonymous source pledged $1 million for maintenance. 
                      Manzarek and Kerry Humpherys, publisher of Doors Collectors Magazine, speculate that members of the Morrison family are putting up the money.  
Still, Dennis and other believers are convinced this is the singer-poet himself, covering his tracks. 
                      "It's the perfect end to the perfect crime," he says. "As long as the coffin remains closed, Jim's secret stands."  
                      Cemetery officials won't comment on this matter. And for now, the merriment continues.  

                 Nose Robbers  
                 Since the 1991 release of film director Oliver Stone's film The Doors, thousands more fans have made the pilgrimage. At times, riot police have guarded the 
commemorations. Now, no more than 100 visitors at a time were allowed near the unlikely shrine to self-indulgence.Certainly, Morrison loved a good controversy. He caused a near riot at a 1969 concert in Miami when he allegedly flashed his manhood to 14,000 concertgoers.  
                      In his new book, Light My Fire (Putnam), Manzarek dismisses the event as a "mass hallucination." But a judge found Morrison guilty of indecent exposure and profanity and the rock star was facing a six-month sentence at the time of his death. 
                      But if Morrison were indeed alive, it would be interesting to know what he thought of some graveside antics. The tombstone was once adorned with a marble bust. But it was removed after tourists chipped away at it to keep as souvenirs. 
                      Says Humphreys: "You could go on eBay and bid for little chunks of Jim's head and nose." 
                      To quote the man himself, "People are strange."  

                 Buck Wolf is a producer at ABCNEWS.com. The Wolf Files is a weekly feature. 

Thanks, Don for forwarding this!