No one was supposed to be gathering outside Graceland to say goodbye. Elvis Presley was supposed to be packing for the road. Another tour was waiting, his musicians were preparing, and thousands of fans already held tickets for concerts they assumed would happen. He was scheduled to fly to Portland, Maine, ahead of his next performance. Then everything changed. Within hours, the gates of Graceland became the place where people came not to catch a glimpse of Elvis, but to mourn him.
The crowds grew with astonishing speed. Thousands traveled to Memphis, standing for hours beneath the summer heat just for the chance to pass through Graceland. Elvis’s coffin was placed in…