Here's a question for you: What do James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and others like them have in common?

The answer … Despite their deaths decades ago, they continue to live on in the minds of faithful fans who, for whatever reason, just don't want to let them go.

Many devoted (and maybe a little demented) fans have actually convinced themselves that their favorite star is still alive and that their death was part of a huge cover-up.

I was reminded of this today when the Associated Press reported that a Mississippi man recently forked out $8,300 on eBay to buy the complete collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia from the now defunct "Elvis is Alive Museum" in Wright City, Mo. The items included photographs, books, FBI files and DNA reports that supposedly point to the "King" still being alive, according to the story.

The owner of the museum, 81-year-old Bill Beeny, decided to close the museum and auction the items.

Andy Key, 38, of Mississippi, is reported to have bought the collection with the intent of opening his own museum in or near Hattiesburg. He said he doesn't necessarily believe Elvis is still alive, but he plans to profit from those who do -- presumably by charging them an admission fee.

My question out of all this is: Why do people continue to believe that Elvis is still alive?

Do they honestly and truly believe this to be fact or does it just help them cope with his death or deny the actual cause?

The way I see it -- and I came into this world about the time Elvis left it -- someone started this silly rumor because they saw it as a way to make money, just like the guy from Mississippi buying the memorabilia this week.

It's perfectly OK to love the guy, his music, the whole shebang, but accept that he is dead and move on. He overdosed and that was the end -- extremely sad, but unfortunately true.

With that said, I don't think our society has done enough to investigate what happens to a person who becomes famous early in life and how this can lead them to things like drugs and crime.

None of us, unless we are of Hollywood or Nashville fame, can understand the mental stress that goes along with this type of lifestyle.

Take Michael Jackson for instance. It has been widely reported that his father is alleged to have pushed his sons really, really hard into show business -- to the point of possible abuse. I'm not so sure that some of Jackson's peculiar mannerisms and behaviors today cannot be directly linked to his childhood.

There's not room to list them all, but other names that come to mind are Winona Ryder (Shoplifter Queen), Britney Spears and Robert Downey Jr. (both drug and alcohol abusers)

If anything can be learned from these examples, it's that actors and entertainers are just normal human beings like everyone else, despite the fact that they may have two or three homes and carry more money in their pocket than the average American makes in an entire year. And yes they are capable of doing bad things.

The take-away from all of this is:

1. Elvis is dead.

2. Movie stars shouldn't be idolized but should be held accountable like everyone else.

3. Elvis is dead.

P.S. Did I mention that Elvis is dead?