Ultimately, Lee County Chancellor Talmadge Littlejohn ordered the bus put up for sale and Michael won the bid. Throughout, Kinard — who sued as Legacy Hall of Fame Inc., a celebrity memorabilia facility — argued he never intended to sell the bus and that he was under medication when he agreed to do so. Kinard said he wanted to keep the bus and take it on tour to make a living away from his Legacy Hall of Fame museum in Tupelo.
On Dec. 12, 2011 all sides apparently agreed to a court-filed compromise to put the bus up for sale. The auction was held in March 2012 and Michael was the only bidder. Four months later, Legacy Hall sued to set-aside the agreement. Legacy Hall argued in court documents that Kinard under a doctor's care and should not have signed anything.
Littlejohn in November 2012 ruled against Legacy Hall. The Appeals Court, in its unanimous decisions Tuesday, ruled Legacy Hall failed to prove Kinard was incompetent when he signed the agreement.
The 40-foot long, eight-foot wide 1976 vehicle had Elvis Presley's trademark "TCB" logo. The initials TCB stand for Taking Care of Business, which is what Presley called his band. He incorporated the letters into an emblem flanked by lightning bolts. This emblem was used in several pieces of Elvis' custom jewelry.
Kinard eventually backed off a bit from his certainty that the King of Rock 'n' Roll actually owned the bus, saying instead that Elvis gave its purchase money to music colleague J.D. Sumner to tour with his Stamps Quartet.
Peter Guralnick Confirms New Elvis Movie
The Elvis Information Website's LA roving reporter Joan Gansky was at the recent Grammy Museum lecture with Peter Guralnick. She reports that Guralnick was an excellent speaker - and talked about many of the famous people in the music industry he has met - some of whom he has also written books about. He is so down to earth and so passionate and knowledgeable on his subject: music!
It was interesting that when he took questions from the audience, they all seemed to be about Elvis! He mentioned he was working on a new book about Sam Phillips, due for release next year. Afterwards I asked him what was happening about the rumored movie of his Last Train to Memphis book. Guralnick smiled and assured me that everything was on schedule and moving right along! Lisa Marie has also noted that the new movie was in pre-production.
The director is Kevin MacDonald who also directed The Last King of Scotland and Touching the Void.
Edward Hookstratten
Attorney Edward Hookstratten, who represented Elvis and many major TV and sports media personalities, is dead at the age of 83. He died Wednesday at his Beverly Hills home, and is best known for representing Elvis during his divorce in 1973. In fact, he was the Presley Family’s lawyer for a total of 23 years. “The Hook” was a known as a something of a maverick, but also as someone who could work both sides of the table.
(Source: WTVA / ElvisMatters)