He Loved Her Madly, Now She’s Mad About Morrison’s Pardon
- by David Itzkoff
One of Jim Morrison’s final companions (on this plane of existence, anyway) is among those criticizing the state of Florida for its recent pardon of the singer, calling it “politically motivated” and “the final act” of a “pointless passion play.”
Patricia Kennealy Morrison, an author who identifies herself as the widow of Morrison, The Doors’ front man, said in an e-mail to The New York Times that the singer “would utterly spurn even the thought of being pardoned for something he didn’t do, and he would be furious at this ridiculous, cheap, politically motivated ploy.”
Florida’s clemency board voted unanimously on Dec. 9 to pardon Morrison for profanity and indecent exposure convictions he received in 1970, after a raucous Miami concert a year earlier where some witnesses said they saw him expose himself.
Ms. Morrison wrote that at that concert: “Jim was drunk, yes. Jim was profane, yes. Jim was Dionysianly provocative, also yes. Jim was not, however, provocative in the sense of which he was later accused.”
