SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Ä Lady Day lost her legs to a pair of scissors, and that caused a big-time case of the blues for Mick Gannon.
The lifelong jazz musician initially was glad to lend his jazz memorabilia collection for a Black History Month display. That feeling soon turned to despair, for some of the irreplaceable photographs Ä including several autographed to him personally Ä were cut up to make a collage.
Someone sheared the signature off a photo of saxophonist Charlie Parker. Trumpeter Miles Davis was cropped. Lady Day, the legendary Billie Holiday, had her legs amputated.
''These were my heroes Ä they are a lot of people's heroes who are into jazz,'' he said yesterday. ''These people paved the way for jazz in America.''
The University of California at Santa Cruz, some 75 miles south of San Francisco, has apologized and asked Gannon what kind of compensation he wants. But he said he can't put a price on what has been such an important part of his life.
(AP) Ä Arson specialists girded for a tedious, technical and lengthy investigation yesterday, with no clear signs that a catalyst accelerated the fire that ravaged Old Tucson Studios.
Capt. Larry Seligman, criminal investigations commander for the Pima County Sheriff's Department, said a team of 11 arson investigators pinpointed where and how Monday night's blaze began.
The fire, which destroyed much of the famed outdoor movie studio and western theme park, started in a prop building resembling a saloon in the compound's northwest corner.
Seligman said the investigators, including seven specialists from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, aren't disclosing the fire's ignition source.
''We are not ruling out arson by any stretch ... We have chosen not to discuss publicly the dynamics or the detail of what the investigators believe to have occurred,'' he said.
Samples from fire remains will be tested to determine if there was an accelerant.
''I don't believe it was obvious that an accelerant was used in this case,'' Seligman said.
But investigators have ruled out common accidental fire causes, such as electrical malfunctions, burning cigarettes or spontaneous combustion.