"Siddons was efficient, and on Wednesday [July 7th] afternoon the coffin was lowered into the ground at Pere La
Chaise, a cemetery Jim [Morrison] had recently visited as a sightseer, seeking the graves of Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde,
Balzac, Bizet, and Chopin. Five mourners were present: Pamela, Siddons, Alan Ronay [Morrison's French-American
friend since film school, in 1963], Agnes Varda [celebrated French film director], and Robin Wertle [Robyn was
Morrison's secretary - he had employed her since early June 1971 to put some order to his affairs and papers]. They
threw flowers on the grave and said their goodbyes."
[No One Here Gets Out Alive, Hopkins & Sugerman, 1980]
[My graphic of the five mourners. The pictures of Robyn Wertle and Bill Siddons, are from 1972: the pictures of Ronay
and Courson are from June 1971. Only the picture of Varda is a little later, but reflects how she appeared in the early
1970s. The image of Wertle is of poor quality, but there are few pictures of her to be found. But even from this shot
we can see that she bore a striking resemblance to Courson]
[Here I have added Courson's photo of the grave seen just after Morrison was buried]
Cemetery Cold & Quiet
Nine years after Jim Morrison's death, this was the most detailed description of Jim Morrison's funeral available then.
The main author, Jerry Hopkins [a contributor to 'Rolling Stone' magazine, and the author of a biography of Elvis
Presley] had interviewed Morrison a few times before the latter's passing, and had travelled with the Doors as an
embedded journalist. He gathered the materials for the book between 1971 and 1975, although it was only published
in 1980 thanks to the involvement of Doors staffer Danny Sugerman. The book's 'Acknowledgements' states:
"The year following Jim Morrison's alleged death Jerry Hopkins was sent to Europe as Rolling Stone's roving
correspondent. This made it a simple matter for him to research the details of Jim and the other Door's only European
tour and of Jim's final months in Paris...."
[ib. p 381]
The 'Acknowledgements' also claim that Hopkins had interviewed Pamela Courson, Bill Siddons, and Robin Wertle, as
well as a host of others. However, absent from the two page list of contributors are Alan Ronay and Agnes Varda - two
of the only five people at Morrison's funeral, and two people who were at Morrison's apartment on the day of his
death. It is hardly surprising then, that the information in this "long awaited biography" is so sketchy when it comes to
this pivotal moment: Morrison's death and interment.
We are told above that "Funeral arrangements were quickly and secretly confirmed" - what does that really mean? - it
sounds like waffle. And, "the coffin was lowered into the ground at Pere La Chaise..." - Just like that - so quickly and secretly, so 'efficiently' and 'confirmedly'. The authors even refer to Morrison's "alleged" death: not only do they tell us
little, but what they do tell us seems slightly dubious.
While the Morrison and Courson families had been locked in legal combat along with the Doors management over the
control and inheritance of Jim Morrison's estate in a long saga, arching over the 1970s and 1980s, a British based
American investigative writer, called Bob Seymore, who was not linked to the families or the Doors, sought to do
independent research in Paris in order to find out what really happened there in July 1971.
He had received no
response from Bill Siddons, while Agnes Varda, Alan Ronay and Robyn Wertle had all been incommunicado on the
subject of Jim Morrison's death throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and of course, Pamela Courson had died in 1974,
without making any kind of verifiable statement beyond what she had told the police on the day of Morrison's death,
notwithstanding the largely unfruitful contributions she and Wertle are supposed to have made to Hopkins' book.
In his The End: The Death of Jim Morrison, [1990] the aforementioned Bob Seymore describes a visit he made to the
offices of Pere Lachaise cemetery when he was seeking information on Morrison's burial there.
He had previously phoned the cemetery, who said they could only answer questions if they were in written form. To
that end he faxed over a series of questions to the office, asking when exactly the Morrison grave plot was bought, and
who bought it, and other such questions, but no answers had been forthcoming. After a month of waiting, and being given
the run-around [the faxed reply had been sent - hadn't been sent, etc., etc.,], he was then told his questions couldn't be
answered as the matter was "confidential".
Making further phone calls, Pere La Chaise relented and told him the grave was purchased on July 2nd [the day before
Morrison's death]; they then changed their minds and said it was actually bought on July 7th [the day of the funeral].
They corrected this once more to give their final version: the grave was purchased on July 6th [the day before the
funeral, and three days after Morrison's death] and they would fax him a photocopy of the register entry.
Not satisfied with this, in his persistence, Seymore went to Pere Lachaise to ask them the rest of his questions in
person. While at the cemetery office, the clerk acknowledged the original list of questions Seymore had faxed to them,
and set out to answer the questions there and then - faxing the replies, so that Seymore would have them on record.
As this was going on, Seymore's French speaking companion, Nadine, noticed that one of the notes the clerk was
working from stated that Pamela Susan Courson was Morrison's "cousin". This of course, wasn't true, and contradicts
what Pam Courson's report to the police and the American Embassy had always stated: that she was only Jim
Morrison 'girl-friend'.
Seymore indicates the contents of the note, which stated next that Ms Courson's lawyers had requested that 'cousin'
be changed to 'wife' in 1977. This was three years after Courson's death, and was also not true, even though Pam was
buried as Pamela Courson-Morrison. She never legally married Jim Morrison and at most, could only be viewed as his
common-law wife, when he died. The next note following this on the sheet referred to the sculptured bust which was
placed on the grave in 1981, to which Seymore also alludes.
Finding this description of Pamela as 'cousin' - and therefore as a Morrison blood relative, startling, Seymore asked the
clerk to stamp the sheet, photo-copy and then fax it with the replies to his questions. Unfortunately, for what ever
reason, Seymore did not include a facsimile of this sheet in his book, just as he didn't reproduce all the documents he
gathered in Paris. No doubt this was due to limits placed upon him by the authorities and his own publisher.
However, a copy of this sheet of notes - along with other documents that Seymore didn't reproduce has turned up,
and it is quite revealing. For it suggests strongly that in order to purchase a grave plot for Jim Morrison, Pam Courson
[not being married to him] had to pretend that she was a member of the Morrison family, calling herself his 'cousin'.
She must have had help in order to convince Pere-Lachaise that this was the case, since she spoke no French.
"They [Pere Lachaise] discovered that the grave was purchased on July 6 and the burial took place the following day."
[Seymore 1980]
The Unanswered Question
But how was it that Jim Morrison [who was being touted only as 'a dead unknown American writer' by Courson] was
able to get a double grave plot at such short notice in Pere-Lachaise - and why has this never drawn much suspicion?
That Pamela Courson bought the plot from Pere Lachaise on July 6th 1971 became the accepted wisdom and has been
reported uncritically ever since, despite the puzzlement as to how this was possible, for even in 1971, the applications
to get buried in Pere-Lachaise were exceeding the spaces available. How was the cousin of an unknown American able
to get a plot so quickly? Consider that since the 1950s, Pere Lachaise has been fully booked.
To be sure of getting a plot at Pere-Lachaise, one needed to 'plan ahead', and make an application in advance, as plots
could become available when already acquired graves fell into disuse, and stopped being maintained - or stopped
being paid for. Leases ran out on some plots, and if not renewed, any bones could be removed and put into the
ossuary, and a new body and grave put into its place.
How was Pam Courson - a non-French speaker as I've said, able
to get a plot a day before the funeral?
The answer to this question - which has never before been properly asked - is there in the Pere-Lachaise notes mentioned by
Seymore. So interested was he in the false use of the 'cousin' relationship by Pam Courson, he failed to notice the date
when Courson 'acquired' the grave. It was not the 6th of July 1971, the day before the funeral, but the 6th of January
1971 - six months before the funeral, and therefore also a good six months before Morrison died.
Looking at the date '6.1.1971' on the notes, and after being told that the grave was purchased on the 6th of July,
Seymore failed to notice that what he thought was a seven, was in fact a one: it is clearly the 6th of January.
%20clear.jpg){kind=spacer}
[The Pere-Lachaise note: The first two lines refer to the date and place of Morrison's death and to the date of his
burial. The third line describes the grave plot and its position in the cemetery, while the fourth line refers to
acquisition of the grave by his 'cousin'[cousine], Pamela Susan Courson on 6.1.1971. The next two lines indicate that
the Courson family's legal team in 1977 request that 'cousin' be changed to 'wife' [epouse]. The remainder of the note,
starting with a reference to Rebillon marble, details the bust of Jim Morrison sculpted by Mikulin Mladan and its
placing on the grave in 1981]
%20first%20section%20-%20Copy.jpg)
[The first section of the note - the word cousin (cousine) I've underlined, and the date, 6.1.1971, encircled in red]
%20first%20section%20-%20date%20alone.jpg)
[The date 6.1.1971 is blown up and compared with other uses of 7s and 1s on the same sheet to show that the 1 is a 1,
and that the writer will cross a seven (French 7) to avoid any ambiguity in certain cases]
This immediately makes more sense and would allow 'cousin' Courson to acquire the plot in advance by putting herself
on the waiting list, so to speak. A grave plot could become available any time within that six months. Courson was
constantly flying to Europe during 1970-1, as she had a relationship with the wealthy Parisian aristocrat, Jean de
Breteuil, know as the 'Count'. She also had the excuse to go on frequent buying missions, to obtain clothing and
materials for her boutique 'Themis', which Morrison had bought for her to run in Los Angeles, and which specialised in
expensively exotic clothes, and was patronised by the rich and famous.
There was also the Parisian couple Agnes Varda, and Jacques Demy - well known new wave film makers, both friends
of Courson and Morrison, while Morrison's friend since his college days - the French-American Alain Ronay - was a
useful go-between as he was a photographer and film technician who, while living near Courson and Morrison in Los
Angeles, often visited Europe and even stayed at times with Varda in Paris.
Anecdotal evidence says that Courson was in Paris from October 1970, returning to the US in December for Christmas,
and then jetting back to Paris for the new year. She had been repeatedly telling Morrison that he must move to Paris
and live there with her permanently, as the Doors recording contract was up, the Miami obscenity conviction loomed,
and Morrison needed to strike out as a poet, and stop "wasting his time", as she saw it, with music. She had reportedly
made the ultimatum that she would relocate to Paris herself even if he didn't join her. Returning again to the US briefly,
she then left for Paris on the 14th of February 1971 to find an apartment: Morrison had finally agreed to go and live in
Paris with her - he would follow her out there in a few weeks.
Using her network of the wealthy and influential, Courson got the luxury apartment at 17 Rue Beautreillis - near to
Pere-Lachaise - for the time being, as its owner, a model friend, was going to be away for the summer. Jim would rent
it for 3,000 francs a month. Eventually they planned to convert a derelict church in the south of France into a home.
So we can establish that on the 6th of January 1971, Courson, calling herself a 'cousin' of Morrison, and a Paris
resident, was able to apply for a grave plot in Pere-Lachaise.
Interestingly, back in Los Angeles, and the day before this - on the 5th of January - Max Fink, the lawyer of the Doors,
and the man who had kept Jim Morrison out of jail despite the best efforts of the Miami courts and the FBI
[subsequently FBI files have been released showing that there was a near 100 page dossier on Morrison], formalised the
Doors Partnership Agreement. Previously this was a word of mouth understanding between the four members of the
group. Now it was set down and legally binding. Ultimately the agreement would make it possible for the Doors to
continue as the Doors should one of the group die. This clause would be finalised and authorised by the group the day
Morrison left for Paris, on the 11th March 1971. Fink had also warned Morrison that, as he was now appealing his
Miami conviction for obscenity, and out on a substantial bond of $50, 000, he needed to move quickly as the
authorities were ready to confiscate his passport: Fink was always one step ahead of Jim Morrison's persecutors.
So we are left with this: Pamela Courson, claiming to be a Morrison cousin, had bought a plot for the Morrison family
in the celebrated cemetery Pere-Lachaise, Paris. She had also acquired an apartment near Pere Lachaise, and Morrison himself would visit Pere
Lachaise only a week before his death, telling his friend Alain Ronay that he would like to be buried there. While we
might speculate as to why this plot was bought in advance, we cannot get away from the evidence that it was, and that
Courson lied about her relationship to the Morrison clan in order to buy it. We know that the grave plot belonged to
the Morrison family as they had to be asked permission for the marble bust to be placed on it in 1981. We also know
that the grave plot was originally bought on a 30 year lease. In 2001, when the lease expired, the Morrison family
bought the plot in perpetuity.
Notes:
1) first edition page 367 - my editorial explanatory additions to the quote are in square brackets. Contrary to what is
said here, Rear Admiral George S. Morrison is listed as being Jim Morrison's father on the US Embassy Death of an American
Citizen certificate. Also, the funeral did not take place in the afternoon, but in the morning, starting at 8:30am. Documents have come to light since 1980 to show this. However, it still isn't certain on what day the American Embassy in Paris was notified of Jim's death - the first certificate [called a 'preliminary'] from the Embassy is dated 17th July 1971. My point here is that in 1980, Hopkin's book was the 'gospel' in regards to Jim Morrison. It wasn't until Seymore's book of 1990 that many assumptions were challenged.]
2) page 20
3) thanks to Lilith McGregor for finding this.
Bibliography:
No One Here Gets Out Alive, Jerry Hopkins & Danny Sugerman, Plexus Books, 1980
The End: The Death of Jim Morrison, Bob Seymore, Omnibus Press, 1980
