Post by sliderocker on Nov 23, 2023 19:04:09 GMT -5
From "The Showbiz Cheat Sheet" (I don't take too much stock in all of this because I think Nesmith's family had money ... but here it is ) --
Mike Nesmith Said Linda Ronstadt Heard ‘Different Drum’ and ‘Made Us All Rich’
Michael's mom, Bette, invented Liquid Paper. Prior to her invention, she was a secretary who kept making mistakes and came up with White Out to correct her mistakes. She thought it was something her fellow secretaries could use so she made it straight from her kitchen. Michael's family was by no means wealthy, although the Gillette Company would buy her invention and make her a wealthy woman, paying her millions for her invention and also giving her a royalty on every bottle of Liquid Paper they sold. Michael was already a member of the Monkees by the time this happened and he was becoming wealthy in his own right. Later on, Bette would invest some of her millions to help Michael start Pacific Arts. When she passed away, in 1979 or 1980, Michael inherited $35,000,000, as well as the royalties on Liquid Paper and like-minded products. He would also win a $45,000,000 lawsuit against PBS after PBS welched on a deal in which Michael's company set up kiosks for PBS videos in stores and through his own company's mail order division, resulting in the bankruptcy of Nesmith's video and record companies. PBS had their providers send in cancellation notices to Pacific Arts so PBS could pursue a deal with Disney, I believe. PBS took possession of the kiosks Pacific Arts had created for them but didn't pay them.