Paul Mitchell

Just to be around us and be a part of a family, Prince played sports he never really played before, like football and baseball, and he was a really good athlete. The thing is, I never knew Prince as the artist he became and truly who he was. I knew him as one of my very best friends during some really challenging and formative years in my life. He was someone amongst a few I could trust.

Prince wasn't perfect (who of us are). He could be mean and hurtful, but it was probably because of the pain he felt. He was always trying to measure up. I wish we all had let him know we loved him just the way he was. We were simply too young and prideful to communicate that. Looking back and working with young men like I do now, I see that. I feel in so many ways I failed both him and Duane, but I have faith in God's plan. I know there is an eternal perspective that I don't see. A perspective that they now know as I write this.

As we grew we lost contact. We reconnected when Prince would be kind enough to gift me back stage passes at his Purple Rain concerts in Los Angeles where I lived. Once he contacted me directly to have me bring my kids to a concert for handicapped children in Santa Monica. But things were never really the same. He had this amazing life, Duane was working for him, and I had my own life raising my beautiful children and building a career.

Later, we reconnected many times at the Glam Slam night club he owned in Los Angeles. I would visit with him and Duane there and it felt like old times. They were kind enough to let my company do some work in the club so we saw each other a lot, especially Duane. I realized how much I missed them both, but everything had changed, and even that was over 20 years ago.

Eventually we all lost touch, and then Duane passed away. That broke my heart. I should have been there for him. We all tried near the end but it just was not enough.

Now Prince has passed in a challenging way as well. Just last week I put in my phone to reach out to people close to him in hopes of finding the best way to reach him. I cried when I read that reminder in my phone the day after his death. God had put him on my heart, and I again learned that when He does that, we should obey those promptings right away, not when they fit in our schedule.

However his death becomes sensationalized, none of it matters to me. I just wish I was there for him and I will always remember and cherish the time we had as friends.

This bible verse resonated with me at Duane's funeral. It makes me feel the same way today, as it is based on a loyalty that comes from a foundation of love that can never be broken.

"Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."(Ruth 1:16,17).

God bless you both Duane and Prince and may you rest in peace.

Saw that in twitter earlier, such a cool picture

I like this because it focuses on him as the person before all the crazy music business genius rock star machinery. Makes me realize that Prince was always still just this hometown boy with friends from his hometown like we all have. Lose touch, regain touch, lose it again but see each other in town later. Real life. Humanizes him more than any other article written imho.

Prince reading Mad Magazine like we all did back in the day.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

Prince reading Mad Magazine like we all did back in the day.

Is that what it is? I tried to make it out before, but now that you say it, I think you're right! I wonder what the fold-in on the back cover was.

Who is Paul Mitchell? I thought Prince lived with Andre? Or is he not being literal? I am not challenging it though because Andre has comments on his page. By the way, the comments humanize him even more.

Strawberrylova123 said:

Paul Mitchell

April 23, 2016

I have been gathering my thoughts since Prince has passed; and God guided me to share about my childhood friend. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am pretty private, strong in my faith, and simply don't post things on Facebook. Well, I am changing that today as I am prompted to do so.

I am not going to speak about the Prince you all know, but the one I grew up with.

Prince came into my life, and his brother Duane's, when he moved to south Minneapolis in junior high. We were always together during the next few years. We played in his aunt's basement, acting as if we were professional wrestlers like Verne Gagne and Mad Dog Vachon. We snuck into the gym to play basketball and got yelled at by our basketball coach every time we got caught. We played and coached basketball at Park Avenue Methodist Church. Sometimes we just hung out and talked about girls. Typical teenage stuff.

We talked a lot about families. And although Duane and I had challenging families, Prince really didn't have one. He lived with his aunt, who was a wonderful woman, but she was older at that time and he spent most of his time at our house's, pretty much living with me his senior year in high school. As my sister liked to complain, "drinking all our koolaid." The three of us were each other's comfort when we were hurting; punching bags when we were angry; and friend when we just wanted to have fun.

My love for Prince is based on a friendship, a companionship that spanned our teenage years until me and Duane went to college for sports and Prince began his very successful music career. Prince and I would have such good talks in my tiny bedroom, and I had a glimpse of how amazing he was~but I never really understood, I just had no perspective.

Just to be around us and be a part of a family, Prince played sports he never really played before, like football and baseball, and he was a really good athlete. The thing is, I never knew Prince as the artist he became and truly who he was. I knew him as one of my very best friends during some really challenging and formative years in my life. He was someone amongst a few I could trust.

Prince wasn't perfect (who of us are). He could be mean and hurtful, but it was probably because of the pain he felt. He was always trying to measure up. I wish we all had let him know we loved him just the way he was. We were simply too young and prideful to communicate that. Looking back and working with young men like I do now, I see that. I feel in so many ways I failed both him and Duane, but I have faith in God's plan. I know there is an eternal perspective that I don't see. A perspective that they now know as I write this.

As we grew we lost contact. We reconnected when Prince would be kind enough to gift me back stage passes at his Purple Rain concerts in Los Angeles where I lived. Once he contacted me directly to have me bring my kids to a concert for handicapped children in Santa Monica. But things were never really the same. He had this amazing life, Duane was working for him, and I had my own life raising my beautiful children and building a career.

Later, we reconnected many times at the Glam Slam night club he owned in Los Angeles. I would visit with him and Duane there and it felt like old times. They were kind enough to let my company do some work in the club so we saw each other a lot, especially Duane. I realized how much I missed them both, but everything had changed, and even that was over 20 years ago.

Eventually we all lost touch, and then Duane passed away. That broke my heart. I should have been there for him. We all tried near the end but it just was not enough.

Now Prince has passed in a challenging way as well. Just last week I put in my phone to reach out to people close to him in hopes of finding the best way to reach him. I cried when I read that reminder in my phone the day after his death. God had put him on my heart, and I again learned that when He does that, we should obey those promptings right away, not when they fit in our schedule.

However his death becomes sensationalized, none of it matters to me. I just wish I was there for him and I will always remember and cherish the time we had as friends.

This bible verse resonated with me at Duane's funeral. It makes me feel the same way today, as it is based on a loyalty that comes from a foundation of love that can never be broken.

"Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."(Ruth 1:16,17).

God bless you both Duane and Prince and may you rest in peace.

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[Edited 8/1/18 0:25am]

so sad, really nice though

I'll have to go reconnect with some friends after reading that

SkipperLove said:

Who is Paul Mitchell? I thought Prince lived with Andre? Or is he not being literal? I am not challenging it though because Andre has comments on his page. By the way, the comments humanize him even more.

Strawberrylova123 said:

Paul Mitchell

April 23, 2016

I have been gathering my thoughts since Prince has passed; and God guided me to share about my childhood friend. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am pretty private, strong in my faith, and simply don't post things on Facebook. Well, I am changing that today as I am prompted to do so.

I am not going to speak about the Prince you all know, but the one I grew up with.

Prince came into my life, and his brother Duane's, when he moved to south Minneapolis in junior high. We were always together during the next few years. We played in his aunt's basement, acting as if we were professional wrestlers like Verne Gagne and Mad Dog Vachon. We snuck into the gym to play basketball and got yelled at by our basketball coach every time we got caught. We played and coached basketball at Park Avenue Methodist Church. Sometimes we just hung out and talked about girls. Typical teenage stuff.

We talked a lot about families. And although Duane and I had challenging families, Prince really didn't have one. He lived with his aunt, who was a wonderful woman, but she was older at that time and he spent most of his time at our house's, pretty much living with me his senior year in high school. As my sister liked to complain, "drinking all our koolaid." The three of us were each other's comfort when we were hurting; punching bags when we were angry; and friend when we just wanted to have fun.

My love for Prince is based on a friendship, a companionship that spanned our teenage years until me and Duane went to college for sports and Prince began his very successful music career. Prince and I would have such good talks in my tiny bedroom, and I had a glimpse of how amazing he was~but I never really understood, I just had no perspective.

Just to be around us and be a part of a family, Prince played sports he never really played before, like football and baseball, and he was a really good athlete. The thing is, I never knew Prince as the artist he became and truly who he was. I knew him as one of my very best friends during some really challenging and formative years in my life. He was someone amongst a few I could trust.

Prince wasn't perfect (who of us are). He could be mean and hurtful, but it was probably because of the pain he felt. He was always trying to measure up. I wish we all had let him know we loved him just the way he was. We were simply too young and prideful to communicate that. Looking back and working with young men like I do now, I see that. I feel in so many ways I failed both him and Duane, but I have faith in God's plan. I know there is an eternal perspective that I don't see. A perspective that they now know as I write this.

As we grew we lost contact. We reconnected when Prince would be kind enough to gift me back stage passes at his Purple Rain concerts in Los Angeles where I lived. Once he contacted me directly to have me bring my kids to a concert for handicapped children in Santa Monica. But things were never really the same. He had this amazing life, Duane was working for him, and I had my own life raising my beautiful children and building a career.

Later, we reconnected many times at the Glam Slam night club he owned in Los Angeles. I would visit with him and Duane there and it felt like old times. They were kind enough to let my company do some work in the club so we saw each other a lot, especially Duane. I realized how much I missed them both, but everything had changed, and even that was over 20 years ago.

Eventually we all lost touch, and then Duane passed away. That broke my heart. I should have been there for him. We all tried near the end but it just was not enough.

Now Prince has passed in a challenging way as well. Just last week I put in my phone to reach out to people close to him in hopes of finding the best way to reach him. I cried when I read that reminder in my phone the day after his death. God had put him on my heart, and I again learned that when He does that, we should obey those promptings right away, not when they fit in our schedule.

However his death becomes sensationalized, none of it matters to me. I just wish I was there for him and I will always remember and cherish the time we had as friends.

This bible verse resonated with me at Duane's funeral. It makes me feel the same way today, as it is based on a loyalty that comes from a foundation of love that can never be broken.

"Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."(Ruth 1:16,17).

God bless you both Duane and Prince and may you rest in peace.

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[Edited 8/1/18 0:25am]

In one of the books, there is a basketball team photo from about 1972/74 that shows the Bryant Junior High Team and Prince is in it. Behind Prince in the back is a light skinned kid with a massive Afro called Paul Mitchell. That is who he is. It is Junior high so Prince is 14 or younger and he already has a moustache. The photo also has two players with the singlets 31 and 21 standing next to each other and believed to be where 3121 comes from.

SkipperLove said:

Who is Paul Mitchell?

.

How 'bout you FRIKKING GOOGLE HIM? https://www.google.com/se...+Mitchell"

Purplegarden said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

Prince reading Mad Magazine like we all did back in the day.

The photo is clearer on Paul's FB page and you can see it is Mad Magazine.

BartVanHemelen said:

SkipperLove said:

Who is Paul Mitchell?

.

How 'bout you FRIKKING GOOGLE HIM? https://www.google.com/se...+Mitchell"

Yet another thread sullied by your immature comments. Grow up. Just don't post if you can't be anything but negative.

BartVanHemelen said:

SkipperLove said:

Who is Paul Mitchell?

.

How 'bout you FRIKKING GOOGLE HIM? https://www.google.com/se...+Mitchell"

I see the picture on Paul Mitchell's FB page, but not the post for April 23, 2016. Are you only able to see the original post if you are his friend?

Paul said he and Duane had families. Did Duane live with Prince's dad? It was so poignant to hear that Prince was always trying to measure up and that he played sports he hadn't played before to be with Paul and Duane. Brought tears to my eyes.

kingricefan said:

Yet another thread sullied by your immature comments. Grow up. Just don't post if you can't be anything but negative.

BartVanHemelen said:

.

How 'bout you FRIKKING GOOGLE HIM? https://www.google.com/se...+Mitchell"

I agree, Bart is an asshat. Why be so flippin' mean? Bart must lead a very sad life to be so negative all.the.time.

And to the OP, thank you for sharing this article, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

This man sounds like a wonderful person from his post. It was so heartfelt and loving.

That coach was a dickhead. What teacher would humiliate a kid like that in front of everyone. If he wasn't going to use him, he should have never let him suit up. I imagine some kids even laughed at the image of an excited prince running out to the field only to swat flies away. I wish Paul hadn't contributed to that book though. But I guess his comment about Prince sometimes being mean due to his trying to "measure up" applies to that story quite well. I don't think we can under-estimate how much it sucks for a small small man to live in a world of 'big' men.

Strawberrylova123 said:

Purplegarden said:

In one of the books, there is a basketball team photo from about 1972/74 that shows the Bryant Junior High Team and Prince is in it. Behind Prince in the back is a light skinned kid with a massive Afro called Paul Mitchell. That is who he is. It is Junior high so Prince is 14 or younger and he already has a moustache. The photo also has two players with the singlets 31 and 21 standing next to each other and believed to be where 3121 comes from.

Alex Hahn book " possessed revamped" paul mitchell tells a story about prince joining the football team but the couch never took him out on the field because of his height. The couch finallly called prince's name but the couch only wanted him to swat mosquitoes from his face, prince quit that day. According to paul prince grew resentful towards duane and paul because they were able to play football because they didn't lack height

[Edited 8/3/18 23:06pm]

I can't imagine what Prince felt when he was 'family-less" but his step brother had his dad's full attention. He and Duane had a complicated relationship later. I wonder if some of the roots of that complications dated to their childhood. At one point, it seems like they were both very fond of one another though.

peggyon said:

Paul said he and Duane had families. Did Duane live with Prince's dad? It was so poignant to hear that Prince was always trying to measure up and that he played sports he hadn't played before to be with Paul and Duane. Brought tears to my eyes.

Rare photo! And extra rare since he seems to be wearing jeans or slacks that were bought at a store.

SkipperLove said:

purplefam99 said:

SkipperLove said:

I can't imagine what Prince felt when he was 'family-less" but his step brother had his dad's full attention. He and Duane had a complicated relationship later. I wonder if some of the roots of that complications dated to their childhood. At one point, it seems like they were both very fond of one another though.

And correct me if I am wrong but it turned out that Duane wasn’t a related to prince by blood. I think that came out when they were determining heirs or I read it.

Right--I think it was originally determined after John L. died, but then they went through eliminating Duane's descendants officially from Prince's heirs as well. I've never spent the time to try to find out when and how the whole story of how (and by whom) Duane was believed to be John's and when the truth came out (and what exactly that truth was).

EddieC said:

onlyforaminute said:

EddieC said:

Right--I think it was originally determined after John L. died, but then they went through eliminating Duane's descendants officially from Prince's heirs as well. I've never spent the time to try to find out when and how the whole story of how (and by whom) Duane was believed to be John's and when the truth came out (and what exactly that truth was).

John L was married to Duane's mother at some point before Prince was born. So she put John L name on the birth certificate but he never legally adopted Duane. [Edited 8/4/18 22:34pm]

John and his 1st wife Vivian had the older Nelson siblings together. Duane was born after Prince and Duane was 2 months younger. John was not the father of Duane...according to Alex Hahn.

PennyPurple said:

onlyforaminute said:

John L was married to Duane's mother at some point before Prince was born. So she put John L name on the birth certificate but he never legally adopted Duane. [Edited 8/4/18 22:34pm]

John and his 1st wife Vivian had the older Nelson siblings together. Duane was born after Prince and Duane was 2 months younger. John was not the father of Duane...according to Alex Hahn.

Well, from what I understand, not according to two rounds of estate wranglings, either. But who believed he was, and for how long? That's what I don't know. Did members of the family believe that Duane was John's?

EddieC said:

PennyPurple said:

John and his 1st wife Vivian had the older Nelson siblings together. Duane was born after Prince and Duane was 2 months younger. John was not the father of Duane...according to Alex Hahn.

Well, from what I understand, not according to two rounds of estate wranglings, either. But who believed he was, and for how long? That's what I don't know. Did members of the family believe that Duane was John's?

Duane's daughter didnt know until John passed away.

However, the rest of the family knew prior to his death.

I tried to clean up the picture some. Here are the two attempts (don't know if they are any clearer):



2nd one:

benni said: