Bob, now a 36-year-old machine operator from Dover, said when he first met Jackson at the hotel in Orlando during the Sunday News trip, he didn't know who he was. It was 1979, and Jackson, while a famous person, wasn't the massive celebrity he has become.
Bob was 11 years old, and Jackson was about 21. They played video games in a hotel arcade together. No bodyguards or entourage. Just him and the yet-to-be-coronated King of Pop.
Jackson later said that it was one of the best times he ever had, just playing video games without worrying about bodyguards or hangers-on, according to Bob.
They were walking through the lobby, and the D.J. in the hotel bar was playing a song off Jackson's "Off the Wall" record. Jackson started singing along.
Good thought his new friend sounded pretty good. In fact, he said, he sounded just like the record. Then, it dawned on him.
"You're him," he said to his new friend.
Yes, he was.
Jackson got Bob's phone number and promised to keep in touch. Bob remembers paging through Jackson's phone book to write his number down. His number resided among those of Quincy Jones and Diana Ross.
Bob thought he'd never hear from Jackson again.
But Jackson kept in touch. He'd call now and then. He'd send albums
and other gifts. Once, he called and asked Bob whether he had seen the "Making of Thriller" TV show. Bob said he had, and Jackson asked
whether he'd like to have a videotape of it. Bob said his family
didn't have a VCR, those devices being fairly new and fairly expensive back then. A few days later, the Goods had a VCR.
When Bob was 14, Jackson called and asked whether he wanted to go to Disney World. He said sure, and they went. They rode speedboats around a lake and took a hot-air balloon ride. Bob met Jackson's sister, Janet. His parents didn't have a problem with it. They thought it was pretty neat, Bob said.
He has pictures of the trip, which, along with other photos of him and Jackson, now adorn the wall in Bob's rec room.
Later that year, shortly after he returned to York from Disney World,
Bob was hit by a car and broke his leg. Jackson didn't know, and when he called Bob's house, Bob's mother told him her son was in the hospital. Jackson called every day, Bob said. He offered to send the best doctors in the world if Bob should develop any complications. Bob was afraid, and he appreciated that.
Jackson also told him a gift would be waiting when he got home.
And there was, an arcade game called Phoenix, the same game he and Jackson played in Florida when they first met. There was a story about it, and his friendship with Jackson, in the Sunday News.
Jackson called him, perhaps, hundreds of times, Bob said. He'd call
right before going on stage. He'd call to invite him to shows.
In 1987, Bob was in the Army, stationed in Germany. He saw Jackson was playing nearby and went to see him. He convinced the security guard to tell Jackson that Bob Good was there, and a few minutes later, he was escorted to Jackson's dressing room. The security guard pushed German Chancellor Helmut Kohl out of the way to take Bob to see Jackson.
In the early '90s, they lost touch. The last time he saw Jackson was
at a show in Philly, where he had a photo taken of him with Jackson
and Bruce Springsteen.
And then, the allegations about Jackson surfaced, that Bob's friend
from his childhood was a pedophile.
Bob doesn't believe a word of it. He has e-mailed Jackson's attorney
to offer himself as a character witness. He doesn't believe the
Michael Jackson he knew would do something like what's being described
almost daily on Court TV and CNN and the rest.
"He has childlike qualities," Bob said, "that's no crime."
He said the allegations probably arose because Jackson likes kids, and
he has a lot of money. His accusers, he believes, are in it for the
money.
"Michael Jackson was one of the best friends I ever had," said Bob,
who works at Graham Packaging and lives in Dover with his wife and two step-kids. "He's the greatest person I've ever met."
Bob was 11 years old, and Jackson was about 21. They played video games in a hotel arcade together. No bodyguards or entourage. Just him and the yet-to-be-coronated King of Pop.
Jackson later said that it was one of the best times he ever had, just playing video games without worrying about bodyguards or hangers-on, according to Bob.
They were walking through the lobby, and the D.J. in the hotel bar was playing a song off Jackson's "Off the Wall" record. Jackson started singing along.
Good thought his new friend sounded pretty good. In fact, he said, he sounded just like the record. Then, it dawned on him.
"You're him," he said to his new friend.
Yes, he was.
Jackson got Bob's phone number and promised to keep in touch. Bob remembers paging through Jackson's phone book to write his number down. His number resided among those of Quincy Jones and Diana Ross.
Bob thought he'd never hear from Jackson again.
But Jackson kept in touch. He'd call now and then. He'd send albums
and other gifts. Once, he called and asked Bob whether he had seen the "Making of Thriller" TV show. Bob said he had, and Jackson asked
whether he'd like to have a videotape of it. Bob said his family
didn't have a VCR, those devices being fairly new and fairly expensive back then. A few days later, the Goods had a VCR.
When Bob was 14, Jackson called and asked whether he wanted to go to Disney World. He said sure, and they went. They rode speedboats around a lake and took a hot-air balloon ride. Bob met Jackson's sister, Janet. His parents didn't have a problem with it. They thought it was pretty neat, Bob said.
He has pictures of the trip, which, along with other photos of him and Jackson, now adorn the wall in Bob's rec room.
Later that year, shortly after he returned to York from Disney World,
Bob was hit by a car and broke his leg. Jackson didn't know, and when he called Bob's house, Bob's mother told him her son was in the hospital. Jackson called every day, Bob said. He offered to send the best doctors in the world if Bob should develop any complications. Bob was afraid, and he appreciated that.
Jackson also told him a gift would be waiting when he got home.
And there was, an arcade game called Phoenix, the same game he and Jackson played in Florida when they first met. There was a story about it, and his friendship with Jackson, in the Sunday News.
Jackson called him, perhaps, hundreds of times, Bob said. He'd call
right before going on stage. He'd call to invite him to shows.
In 1987, Bob was in the Army, stationed in Germany. He saw Jackson was playing nearby and went to see him. He convinced the security guard to tell Jackson that Bob Good was there, and a few minutes later, he was escorted to Jackson's dressing room. The security guard pushed German Chancellor Helmut Kohl out of the way to take Bob to see Jackson.
In the early '90s, they lost touch. The last time he saw Jackson was
at a show in Philly, where he had a photo taken of him with Jackson
and Bruce Springsteen.
And then, the allegations about Jackson surfaced, that Bob's friend
from his childhood was a pedophile.
Bob doesn't believe a word of it. He has e-mailed Jackson's attorney
to offer himself as a character witness. He doesn't believe the
Michael Jackson he knew would do something like what's being described
almost daily on Court TV and CNN and the rest.
"He has childlike qualities," Bob said, "that's no crime."
He said the allegations probably arose because Jackson likes kids, and
he has a lot of money. His accusers, he believes, are in it for the
money.
"Michael Jackson was one of the best friends I ever had," said Bob,
who works at Graham Packaging and lives in Dover with his wife and two step-kids. "He's the greatest person I've ever met."
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