Michael Jackson, The Steelworker's Son

I was surprised to learn from CNN that the father of Michael Jackson, the man who drove them to music, is a retired steel worker. And when it was further revealed that he was born in Gary, Indiana, wow, I said to myself, there goes Michael Jackson's steelconnect.

I could easily surmised that Joe Jackson, the father, had worked in US Steel, Gary Works. Fifteen miles from Gary Works is Bethlehem Steel, Burns Harbor Plant. This is where we stayed and trained from February 28 to May 9, 1986 in the operation of Blaw Knox 5 Std cold rolling mill which our company. In fact, days before our training ended, some of our co-trainees from the production group were allowed to visit the Gary Steel plant. When I learned that I was not included on the list to go there, I decided to visit my relatives in New Jersey. I took a Greyhound bus from Howard Johnson in Portage for a short trip to Chicago's O'Hare airport. I could not forget that ride, for I rode alone, and I remember too well where we made a one city stopover: Gary, Indiana.

Gary, Indiana is a steel city near the border of Illinois (near Chicago) and Indiana. It is in fact a city built by steel. It was named after Elbert H. Gary, then the president of US Steel who in 1900's, built this steel mill along the sand dunes of Lake Michigan. Soon after, four other big integrated steel mills, namely, US Steel, Bethlehem Steel, Inland Steel, LTV, and National Steel were built along the shoreline of Lake Michigan stretching 50 miles between the Illinois Stateline and Portage.



I have fond memories of this tiny county, Portage. During our stay there, our official address was 164 Oak Tree Park, Portage, Indiana, a subdivision of mobile houses where mostly retired and old Americans live.


In those early years of steelmaking, steel was king in Indiana. In its heyday, Gary Works accounts for a little more than half of US Steel group total operating production. For many years, it was also the center of automobile industry, not Detroit, Michigan whom we knew is home to the Big 3 auto companies.



I don't know if these steel mills are still there and operating. Starting in the 80's, US steel industry has declined and until now, it has not yet recovered to its once lofty position as one of the world's greatest steel manufacturer.

MJ's father, Joe Jackson, may have seen the writings on the wall early; just as we also experienced and felt in our days the downfall of National Steel Corporation. So he jumped ship and dedicated his time and effort to developing his children and making one of them, Michael Jackson, a music icon, a pop legend. How he pushed his son(s) to stardom is another story.