My Friend Michael Quotes

“Being a real friend meant being truthful, and I wanted to stand by that principle, no matter what it cost me”
― Frank Cascio, My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man

“How many times can I say that Michael’s children were always his top priority? No matter where he was or what he was doing, the kids always had access to him, and they knew it. If he was in a meeting and one of the kids needed him for something, he’d stop everything, attend to the child, then return. If they made a fuss about going to sleep, he stayed with them, talked to them, explaining why they had to go to sleep and what he was doing or where he would be. He soothed them if they were upset. He never handed off a crying child to Grace or a babysitter. He always had the patience to stay with his children until they were calm. He always took that time, no matter how late for an appointment it would cause him to be. He was never angry or frustrated. His patience was infinite, and the result was that his children were grounded, secure, and open to the world. But now, in their greatest hour of need, when he would have wanted more than anything to soothe and reassure them, he wasn’t there, and there wasn’t much that my family could say to comfort them. We just held them and shared our grief. In this moment, as always in Michael’s life, his children came first. I”
― Frank Cascio, My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man

“For years, he’d been generally avoiding the press, but when he passed a newsstand or caught a glimpse of a magazine that referred to him as “Wacko Jacko,” he was hurt.”
― Frank Cascio, My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man

“AS THE TOUR PROGRESSED, I GOT TO KNOW SOME OF MICHAEL’S other friends and associates. In Santiago, Chile, Michael’s dermatologist paid him a visit. Michael had a skin disease called vitiligo. He had told me about it earlier that year, at Neverland, explaining that it caused patches of his skin to lose their pigmentation. He showed me some pictures of people who had advanced cases of it; those whose skin color was dark had dramatic and disfiguring patches of white all over their bodies. Michael told me how much he hated the disease, but how fortunate he felt to be able to afford the treatment, which involved lightening the rest of his skin to even out the color.”
― Frank Cascio, My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man

“Bashir manipulated viewers for his own ends. His questions were leading, the editing misguiding. As I watched the broadcast, it seemed to me that Bashir’s plan all along had been to expose Michael in whatever way he could in order to win the highest ratings he could for his show.”
― Frank Cascio, My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man

“Whatever you do or say or want the world to see, envision it and it will happen.”
― Frank Cascio, My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man