Keith and Tourettes

Tue May 2 22:35:35 CDT 2006

A few more important thoughts about Keith.

  Many great and wonderful, intelligent people from Abraham LIncoln to Mozart to Keith Moon have had their lives written about and documented from people who knew them, studied them and cared about them enough to want to tell of their lives.  Part of documenting their lives for historical purposes is writing about all the aspects, including their mental health.  

  It is well documented the ups and downs of Keith's life from his childhood, to his death.  We certainly aren't just looking at snapshots of him, but of personal recollections made from people who knew him, including his family and loved ones as well as what was caught on film.

  I am not saying Keith has or doesn't have tourettes.  However, I need only spend a few moments talking with a person and if they have tourettes, it is very obvious to me. Maybe not to all, but certainly to someone who lives with someone who has tourettes it is.  I have never sat in a room with Keith and watched him in person.  But, I'd say from watching him in many different settings and reading about him there is a fair possibility he could of had tourettes.

  Is that slandering him?  Hell no!  

  I think it is silly to sit here, after all the shit that has been hashed about Keith, Roger, John and especially Pete, to get all high and mighty that one should all the sudden feel like they might of said something in a public thread that wasn't proper or was *gasp* disrespectful.  We've all went out on a limb about the guys in the Who.  Pete would/could probably be the most offended with what we have debated and contemplated, especially during the time of his arrest.  So, to all of the sudden try and lay a guilt trip because of a benign thread simply discussing personality traits of a celebrity that let's face it, we'd all give our shirt off our back to help if we had a chance because we care so damn much about them, is well, taking things a bit too far, in my opinion.  We are talking about Keith Moon from the 'orrible 'Oo!  These guys were wild and even one might say "crazy" guys, on purpose!!!  They weren't a bunch of shirts watching their p's and q's at work so
 everyone would think they were stable and professional so they could move up another notch on the corporate ladder.

  Plus, I don't feel that mental illness is something the family or his *estate* should feel ashamed of, if he in fact suffered from it.  It is a disease like many others, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, etc.  If we thought maybe he might of suffered from those diseases, would it be slanderous or "unethical" to discuss it on an internet fan e-mail list?  I don't think so and that is all anyone was doing.

  Again, these people on this list, including his family are the people that cared about him the most.  He is OUR beloved Moon the Loon, for better for worse.

  That is what I mean by saying let's live in reality.  Maybe he had a mental illness or "brain disease" or maybe he didn't, no one here claims to know for sure.  We love Keith.  We love The Who.  We care about how they go down in history.  The facts of his life, are the facts.  All the rest is just opinion, given by people who care enough to give it careful consideration which is all anyone was doing.  No harm was meant and certainly no harm was done.  Every sentence in our heads, someone else has said.  

Johanna Johnson <jmljohnson3 at yahoo.com> wrote:
  Everything I wrote was written with the thought that Keith's loved ones were reading it. Reality. Let's live in it. Denial is for wimps.

Kevin O'Neal wrote: >L. Bird pkeets at hotmail.com
>Previous message: Keith and Tourettes
>
>>I think his problem was most BPD:
>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_Personality_Disorder
>
>Looks to be a good fit.

Looks to be a good fit ???
Those are very few words, for you, Ms. Keets, so I can only assume that this 
discussion makes you feel a bit uncomfortable too.
Sounds like a quick cut off.
Good.

I don't think it's fair or ethical, and am more than "a bit" uncomfortable, 
for us to sit back in our Monday morning quarterback chairs and speculate 
about a persons mental condition, in writing, on such an open and very 
public and permanent forum. Labeling people with any diagnosis, but 
particularly Behavioral Health diagnoses will get you in trouble (not you 
specifically Keets). It is a touchy thing, to say the least, and can be 
*very* damaging to a person, their career, and their family.
This sort of speculation is plain wrong, in my book.

Here's some food for thought....
We *all* have dual personalities to certain extents.
I, for one, am *very* professional at work. White collar, tie, present in 
front of entire facility medical staffs in an average month.
In that same average month, when I'm off work, I can go to NY and rip up the 
town with my Who buds (ok, not an *average* month...but you get the point.).
We all can act differently when at work.

How can one judge a person only from footage of a man who was at work? If 
anyone has footage of Keith where he doesn't know he's on camera and is 
"on", please share.
The man had a work persona...a character.
He was "Moon The Loon!" for crying out loud.
All actors and celebrities do.
It's all "character" in front of the cameras, and ball-scratching like other 
humans when the camera is off.

Maybe Keith was just not comfortable in front of the camera? Not everyone 
is.
I always thought of Keith as uncomfortably shy, and nothing more. Think of 
the TKAA interview with Ringo having to constantly turn Keith's head to face 
the camera.
Or think of the Smother's Brother's segment, where Keith looks *painfully* 
uncomfortable.
Add alcohol and other drugs and you get a deepened sense of insecurity.

If I represented Keith Moon's estate, and got wind of this thread, I'd be 
coming after the perpetrators.

Let's use the Golden Rule, aye?

Kevin in VT 

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