Can it be 30 years since Jim Morrison died

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A.� It is�- 3 July�1971 was the day that police found the body of rock star Jim Morrison in the bath at his Paris apartment. No post mortem was carried out, although the cause of death is thought to be a combination of alcohol, drugs, and an asthma attack. Morrison's body was interred in the Pere-Lachaise cemetery within a few days, leading to conspiracy theories that have lasted until today.

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Q.� What theories are those

A.� The favourite is that Morrison is not dead, but disappeared in order to escape the increasing pressure caused by 'The Establishment', his fans, and his increasing dissatisfaction with fame and its effects on his ability to write poetry and songs. The fact that Morrison, who was a known drug-user and who did not have French citizenship, was able to secure a plot in the most famous cemetery in France after living in the country a matter of weeks, without any of the usual mountains of paperwork and bureaucratic processes being completed, created the myth that he disappeared to live out his life in obscurity�- a legend in death, as he was in life.

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Q.� What exactly was the legend of Jim Morrison

A.� Jim Morrison is still the archetypal rebel artist figure,�a stance he created from his days in high school. As a teenager, Morrison chose as an essay subject, the artist Hieronymus�Bosch. Virtually nothing is known of Bosch, other than his birth and death dates and the fact that he painted pictures. Morrison created a detailed biography of the artist entirely out of his own imagination. It was typical of Morrison's behaviour�- unusual, anti-establishment, artistic, and rebellious, in equal measure. From high school Morrison joined the legendary Doors, named after Aldous Huxley's Doors Of Perception. The band went on to create some of the most memorable music in American pop history,�albums which sell in greater quantities today than they did when Morrison was alive.

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Apart from his mesmeric stage presence, Morrison was a writer and poet of genuine vision. He saw himself as a modern-day Byron, a poet who's muse should be allowed to take American culture in which ever direction it chose, a career path that brought him into sharp conflict with 'The Establishment'.

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Musically, Morrison and The Doors swung wildly across the musical spectrum, from songs that became pop standards�such as Light My Fire, to their concert finale The End, which was used to chilling effect in the move soundtrack for Apocalypse Now.

Q.� Is it likely that Morrison is still alive

A.� As likely as it is that Elvis is alive! These rumours begin because no one wants to admit that anyone as famous and on-the-edge as Jim Morrison was could possibly expire in such mindane and undignified circumstances as lying in a bathtub in a Paris apartment. The circumstances surrounding his death are still unclear, but the fact that his body has joined other cultural luminaries such as Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Moli�re, Bizet and Chopin in Pere-Lachaise means that a steady stream of pilgrims have visited his tomb, and continue so to do.

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Q.� Surely the legend must be fading by now

A.� There is a slow, but steady decline in the numbers of visitors to Morrison's resting place, the authorities have banned alcohol and music from the cemetery in deference to the other occupants who's peace and privacy must be respected. Because of the impact of The Doors as a musical influence, there are plenty of new fans who visit�- many of who were not even born when Morrison's life ended�at the age of 27.

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Q.� There must be someone who knows what happened

A.� Morrison's girlfriend Patricia spoke little of the circumstances surrounding Jim Morrison's fatal attempt to escape from the crazy life he was leading, and she herself succumbed to a heroin overdose some years after. The rumours that Morrison's grave is either empty, or occupied by a stranger, remain unproven.

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Q.� What happens now

A.� The grave plot was bought on an original thirty-year lease, which expires this week, so the authorities would be within their rights to exhume the remains and re-lease the plot to the next family on the waiting list. This will be the long-awaited opportunity to prove once and for all if Morrison is indeed interred in the grave that bears his name, although the authorities show no signs of rushing into that particular course of action.

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By Andy Hughes