Before she died at 54 last year, Lisa Marie Presley was working on her memoir with her eldest daughter Riley Keough.
Elvis Prelsey’s daughter may have had fame and fortune, but her life was plagued by tragedy.
From the death of her father at just nine years old, through her four divorces (including Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage) to her son’s death at just 27, Lisa Marie suffered a lot.
On top of it all, in her posthumous memoir From Here to the Great Unknown, she alleged that her mother Priscilla Presley’s ex-boyfriend, molested her when she was a teenager.
The 80-year-old actor Michael Edwards, who played adult John Connor in Terminator 2, told The Independent that he strongly denies the allegations, which he called “fabrications”, and said: “These claims are absolutely untrue. I never molested Lisa Marie and am shocked at the suggestion that I did.”
In a 2003 Playboy interview, Lisa Marie called Edwards “sick” when referencing a passage in his 1988 memoir Priscilla, Elvis and Me in which he wrote: “I’d had to put an end to our swimming together after one disturbing afternoon in the pool,” he wrote. “Lisa had innocently thrown her arms around me, and we were jumping up and down. I became aroused. A sick feeling crept slowly into the pit of my stomach. I was craving Lisa sexually.” On this passage, Edwards said: “I was encouraged to embellish a harmless anecdote about Lisa Marie in my memoir from the 1980s and now regret that I did. I understand that these stories sell books, but the notion that I molested Lisa Marie is just a fabrication.”
Elvis Presley’s old flame Linda Thompson, who lived at Graceland with Lisa Marie and the King from 1972-6, has finished Lisa Marie’s new memoir and shared an emotional reaction to it on social media.
The 74-year-old wrote: “FROM HERE TO THE GREAT UNKNOWN by Riley Keough and Lisa Marie Presley was probably the most gut-wrenching memoir I’ve ever read. Probably because I so deeply loved Lisa Marie, and I was so distressed to read some of the unspeakable offenses committed against her. I actually had to pause and take a break to process it all.
“I have finished listening to the audiobook, which I highly recommend. I wanted to dive into the pages and scoop Lisa Marie up in my arms and try to save her from some of the things she endured. That the perpetrator, whose name does not even deserve to be mentioned, went unpunished for allegedly subjecting her to sexual abuse, and spankings that bruised her bottom is inexcusable and really unforgivable. I was outraged as I read that. And as deep as that anger went, a sense of sorrow carved even deeper into my heart. That a child’s innocent spirit was broken like that… incomprehensible!”
Linda added: “There are many moments in this memoir that will break your heart. When I read that Riley buried her yellow tennis shoes with her adored brother Benjamin because he loved them, I cried out loud. I have been both brokenhearted for and in awe of the strength and resilience the brilliant Riley has exhibited. She (and her beautiful little sisters) have been through more than anyone should yet she still stands tall in her beauty, dignity, emotional intelligence and grace. My heart hurts for the tortured, but oh so sweet Benjamin – for the shattered Lisa Marie – the inconsolable pain and grief of losing her son so tragically… For Riley’s profound loss of her brother and mother.
“And I have extraordinary respect for the loving loyalty of Danny Keough throughout all. Thank God Lisa Marie had him – his consistency, strength, and unwavering devotion for her to lean on. There are so many more things to reflect on in this memoir -you’ll just have to read for yourself. But keep a tissue nearby. I can feel Elvis’s soul weeping that he broke his darling daughter’s heart by leaving her too soon and therefore could not protect her. Elvis always said this was the saddest song he ever heard. It seemed fitting for a memoir so deeply moving and so very sad. My heart is with Riley, Harper, Finley and Danny.”