RAKE, IA - Thousands of people are in Los Angeles, remembering a pop icon. But in a small North Iowa community, one woman is honoring her hero with a quiet song... and what was originally a simple website.
"It started out as an AOL free site. But I got a lot of hits, so I got my own domain, mjsite.com," explained Shari Hemsworth.
Shari started collecting Michael Jackson memorabilia after hearing him sing "Rockin' Robin." And when "Thriller" came out, Shari's hobby turned into her passion.
"Posters, books, you name it. If I could get it, I got it," said Shari.
Of course, not everyone shares her love of all things MJ. Shari's husband is definitely not a fan. So about ten years ago, she created a virtual place to obsess over the King of Pop.
Shari told KIMT News 3, "I don't know very many Michael Jackson fans out there, so these are the people I go to, and they can relate to me and I can relate to them."
Shari thought she might get a couple visitors to her website. She never expected to get more than one million hits after Michael Jackson died.
She said, "it's been mobbed. It's so slow I can barely get on it myself."
It seems Michael's death is drawing Shari's on-line community closer together.
"They're in a sense crying. Writing poems, just talking about... they can't believe he's gone," she said.
But in Shari's mind, Michael is never truly gone. She and millions of his fans will be celebrating his life, long after his death.
