Word: graceland
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After Presley's body was moved to a new grave on the grounds of his Graceland estate, Carwile bought 1.75 tons of gray marble that lined the rock star's first tomb. Carwile had the marble cut into 44,000 chunks measuring 2 in. by 1 in., and last week, on the anniversary of Presley's death, announced he would sell the fragments for $80 each. The scheme might sound like monumental bad taste to anyone except a Presley fan. Says Carwile: "I'd feel guilty if I didn't share this with the fans...
...pulled into Memphis the city was hot and troubled. Just walking in the sun would leave clothes soaked with perspiration. The hotels and restaurants were overcrowded with pilgrims to Graceland. The policemen and firemen were out on strike, and the National Guard was patrolling the city in jeeps. In Washington, the House Assassinations Committee was hearing testimony on the 1968 slaying in Memphis of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Into Memphis on August 15 rode the Elvis Presley Memorial Bus Tour out of Connecticut and western Massachusetts, uninterested in anything but the visiting hours at Graceland and the lengths...
...arrived outside Graceland the day before the anniversary of Elvis's death, to wait in the sun in a quarter-mile line for hours for a chance to file quickly by Elvis's grave, at the side of his mansion, near his kidney-shaped swimming pool. Along the line volunteers from a county rescue team patrolled, watching for victims of heat exhaustion. And hawkers patrolled, too, selling everything from autographed pictures of The King to silk scarves he wore to color film. Across the street--Elvis Presley Boulevard--there was still more. The shops that have sprung...
...devoted fans, but emotions and good intentions got lost in the shuffle. It was almost hard to believe Elvis was buried there, beneath the pillars and fountains and bouquets. Many almost forgot he was there. One girl from Springfield, Mass. had come intending to pray for Elvis, but at Graceland she was so busy taking pictures that it slipped her mind. And Janey expected to cry when she saw the grave, but she was too numbed by the crowd and the spectacle to even get choked up. It was like seeing Old Faithful or the Statue of Liberty...
Elvis Presley Boulevard, a wide strip of used car lots, fast food restaurants and gas stations, leads to Graceland. By noon the rising temperature is well into the 90s and ambulances are carrying away those who have succumbed to the heat while crowding in front of the ornate plantation-style house. A brick wall on the grounds has turned into a "Wall of Love," covered with scrawled messages from admirers. Some of the fans have patiently endured the three-hour wait every day for a week so they can again and again walk up the shaded driveway, past rows...