STAMPING OUT MICHAEL

The Virgin Islands—a colony of Great Britain— have prepared and printed a series of eight postage stamps honoring Michael Jackson...only to discover that there's a long-standing policy that the only living persons to appear on British colony stamps are members of the British monarchy. But these are the Virgin Islands—couldn't an exception be made?

Not to worry, crossover philatelists—the stamps will be issued by St. Vincent (who recently released stamps honoring the reliably-deceased Elvis Presley) and possibly other Caribbean airstrips as well. The complete set of Mikey stamps are running $8.06 in the U.S.; the Elvis collection is deservedly lower-priced at $6.52.

Michael was further honored by Larry Harmon—the original Bozo the Clown—by being named "Bozo Of The Year" for 1985. Harmon gave lovable "Webster'"s pal a lifetime achievement award for "single-handedly reviving the glove industry." We get it.

R.I.P.: Big Joe Turner, the 300-pound rock �n� roll pioneer who performed such classics as �Shake, Rattle And Roll,�� �Honey Hush,� and �Chains Of Love,� died at the age of 74 in Inglewood, California.