# 3. TAKAHACHI, East Village, December 26, 2006

        We walked  to Takahachi the night after Christmas.  When we arrived, the usual warm buzz was punctuated with a funky beat.

    Then we saw the day’s special: the James Brown Rest-in-Peace Roll. 

    My husband Tom talked about how popular James Brown was in Asia.  I didn’t know.  But I knew I loved his music.
 
    We ate our Rest-in-Peace Roll.

    For a few days Brown rested  in peace at the Apollo -- and  we on East 9th Street.  It would be the last peaceful rest James Brown or I would have for 7 years.

    I missed most of the early James Brown events -- the competing factions on the Larry King Live Show; the drama at the gates of Brown’s Beech Island mansion; the  press release about the 5-man legal team companion Tommie Rae had assembled.

    Then one of Tommie Rae’s attorneys - a professor and friend - called. Judge Doyet “Jack” Early, presiding over James Brown’s case in Aiken County, was going to appoint a special administrator for Brown’s Estate. Could he submit my name?
   
    Why not?

    But I had one hesitation. Another mansion in tiny Beech Island, SC – now a State Park – was the home of my great, great grandfather  – also James -- an outspoken slaveholder. 

    I decided that was my ancestor’s problem.  Not mine. I told him yes. 

    Bob was nominated by attorneys for Brown’s original trustees, David Cannon, Buddy Dallas and Al Bradley. (I later learned they opposed my appointment.)

    After a telephone interview with Judge Early and  counsel, Judge Early appointed Bob and me limited, non-fiduciary SAs in a March 7, 2007 order. Our role: to keep an eye on the assets.

    We invited all to meet with us on March 19 to share concerns.  Atlanta attorney Louis Levenson and others came.  They had lots to say about the Cannon Group. 
       
    The Cannon Group didn’t come.  But they had been busy.  By March 26:

        1.  David had bought a $200,000 lot for his retirement home on Roatan Island.
        2.  Powell Goldstein was hired to advise them about “all Schedules B;” and
        3. Grandson Forlando had fired Levenson and aligned himself with the Cannon Group.

Next Post: March 26, 2007. Red-Faced and Banging on the Table