| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
|
05/15/2002
Greetings all Jaco fans, and to whom it may concern,
This is John F. Pastorius IV, eldest son of Jaco Pastorius and president of JPI.
I am writing this on behalf of my entire family and myself because there are issues
that need to be addressed in reference to our Discussion Forum here at Jaco Pastorius.com.
When we originally created this forum it was with the intention for it to be a gathering
spot where Jaco fans worldwide could share, discuss, and unite in their common bond-
a love for my father and his music. We never intended it to be used for advancing
personal agendas or launching bitter attacks. Unfortunately, as many of you are well
aware of, this is exactly what has been going on. From the very beginning there were
occasional negative comments but it wasn't until the negative posts became more
frequent and increasingly negative that we noticed the dark undercurrent existing
on the discussion board. We became so discouraged we didn't even want to deal with
anything pertaining to the site for a while. It was just SO disappointing. But slowly
we started to rise above it, and started to investigate. Initially, we couldn't
understand how people who supposedly loved our father could be so uncaring, and cruel
towards his own children!! But after we began to monitor the board more closely, it
became pretty clear to us what was really going on. We held a meeting in this regard
but decided to temporarily dismiss the negative posts, and redirect our energy toward
the upcoming release of "Portrait of Jaco." The consensus was that if we just waited
for this amazing release, everything would surely change for the better.
Since the incorporation of JPI and the creation of Jacopastorius.com we have attempted
to move in a positive direction dedicated to raising our father's legacy. Also working
very closely with us, Bob Bobbing has been very instrumental in helping to accomplish
our goals and has dedicated a tremendous amount of his time and energy to bring about
several opportunities for JPI. We feel that the Fender endorsement was a great first
step at putting Jaco's legacy up where it rightfully belongs. And arranging for the
Hal Leonard music books that are out now was another major step in the right direction.
With all that in place, we then directed our attention towards the upcoming "POJ' release.
We were finally making progress and should not have been receiving any negative resistance.
But strangely enough, the negative posts were actually beginning to increase. Several
anonymous posts were made in an attempt to undermine the integrity of 'Portrait of Jaco.'
There were also bogus personal attacks directed at Bob for adding spoken word interviews
and some even accused him of intentionally delaying its release. There were several that
even expressed anger about the media coverage, and of course there was the continual
criticism of our website. Things were getting totally out of hand. By this time, there
were blatant references to the buying of bootleg recordings and various promotions about
where to find them. Then we started noticing a unified theme and similar patterns throughout
the supposedly "different" users. But it was only when we traced specific "leaks" of
information about "Portrait of Jaco" that only certain people knew, that we understood
the exact nature of our problem. It's at this time that we found it necessary to react.
Without revealing too much information at this time, it is important for you all to know
that we had an independent company conduct research in this regard and the results
indicated that the negative posts were the actions of only five individuals, posting
under different anonymous names, and acting as if they were different people. One
individual posted under 19 different user names. Our first response upon getting these
results was one of relief; it was very comforting to learn that the disturbing messages
were not coming from our father's fans. In regard to who was responsible for these
activities, it's quite clear after looking at the results of the research that the negative
posts were inspired by a common goal and sent by a small-interrelated group whose mission
was to undermine JPI. We are now in the process of dealing with this problem and are
asking for your support. Hopefully we can get back to being productive once this
dysfunctional stuff is behind us. In fact, in the future we will be utilizingthe services
of a major web development and marketing company to help us better manage the site
Again, I must apologize to the true fans out there that had to endure all of this
ugliness right along with us. I ASSURE you that this "embarrassment" is over and that
we will NEVER allow this to happen again. JacoPastorius.com will no longer tolerate
anonymous attacks, profanity, or any other form of destructive posting that we deem
to be impacting negatively on our site, corporation, or father's legacy. So, working
towards that end, we are now requiring everyone to register before posting on the
discussion board. We would also appreciate it if, in the future, that all visitors who
come to this site do so with love in their hearts and a respect for others. Any diversion
from this philosophy will result in the negative post being immediately deleted from
the discussion board. And if it is repeated by the same person, they will be banned
from the board so that the rest of us can enjoy the discussions how they were intended.
So stay positive, and be grateful that there is some wonderful new music to look forward to!
Thank you for your cooperation, and WELCOME to the new board!
John F. Pastorius, IV
Also speaking on behalf of the Pastorius family including:
Mary Pastorius (and family)
Julius Pastorius
Felix Pastorius
Gregory Pastorius - my Dad's brother
Rory Pastorius - my Dad's other brother
Jack Pastorius - my Grandpa
David Pastorius (and family) - my Dad's nephew
April Pastorius Closson (and family) - my Dad's niece
Tracy Lee - my Mom (and family)
B A C K
Email: JacoFamilySite@aol.com
| HOME | ROOTS | PICS | RELICS | Y'ALL | LORE | RAP | MIND | IDEAS | NEWS | GOODS | LINKS | FAQ | LIVE | BOOK |
Website Created by Julius, Felix, and Ingrid Pastorius