Sunday, November 15, 2009

Angela McGowan


When did someone steal an item off of a Beatle and ended up getting a kiss from one? During the 1964 North American Tour. In a crowd of fans, Ringo's prized St. Christopher Medal gets ripped off his neck by a fan named Angela McGowan. Ringo asks for WABC radio to help get his necklace back, saying that the fan who returns the necklace will get to meet him and get a kiss. I guess Angela decided that meeting a Beatle was a bigger deal than having a stolen Beatle necklace, because she fessed up and got to meet more than just Ringo. This short article first was published in the Long Island Press.


Girl Trades Beatle Kiss for Medal

A teen-aged Manhattan girl who inadvertently stole Ringo Starr's religious medal returned it yesterday and her reward was paid off in kisses.


"I've had it a long time," Starr said as he retrieved his St. Christopher medal from Angie McGowan, 16. The medal is a Catholic religious symbol denoting protection form danger while traveling.


"My auntie gave it to me, " Starr explained. "It's very small, but it means a lot to me."


Angie said she was trying to steal a kiss from Ringo in an early morning crush, was jolted back by the crowd and came away with the medal.


When Starr proffered a kiss of gratitude on Angie's cheek, photographers prevailed upon him to repeat it a score of times. Angie acquiesced gracefully.


The Beatle Paul McCartney happened into the room and added his own kiss on Angie's cheek.


"It was just wonderful," sighed the blissful teenager. "Gee, I wish I could have met the other two."

16 comments:

  1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoQBi38C0dU

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's funny, just this past Friday, at a friend's dinner party I mentioned to Gary that Angelina McGowan had removed Ringo's medalion and been invited to see him in return for the medalion. Angelina and I were sweethearts, but we broke up in the summer of 1963. We went to Charles Evans Hughes High School. I remember my friends telling me that they heard her name mentioned on the radio.
    Angelina is Cuban (mother) & Irish (father) and I loved her freckles and brown eyes. Angelina always reminded me of Bess Myerson, Miss America of 1945. She lived on 50th street near 10th Avenue in Manhattan. I heard she moved to England.
    I wish her the best.
    John
    jdachilles@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John and I have since communicated...Ang

      Delete
  3. How amazing to read this after almost 50 years! I am "Angelina". How well I remember you John and your twin brother James. I did move to
    England, but I came back.....thank you for the compliments and the good
    wishes. I hope you are also doing well.......Angie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Angie
      Do you remember way back in 1965 you lived at 459 West 50th Street, New York. I was a young lad of 18 years from England working on The Queen Mary. I met you sitting on steps outside your apartment.
      I remember you taking me down to the river (Hudson I quess)
      I remember you telling me that you wanted to be an airline hostess
      I remember kissing you on the top of the steps outside your door but you were worried your father would come out to the door
      I remember you writing to my home address in England telling me to bring more mony and not to wear sneakers !!! the next time I was in New York

      Incidently My mother who died only a couple of months ago was Irish, her maiden name being Mccconnell.

      I didn't stay in the merchant navy too long after I met you. Infact for many years I worked for Coty Inc in the UK selling their cosmetics and fragrances.

      I do hope you remember me

      Will you reply to email address john@stantonharcourt.com

      My website is www.hambledencottage.com


      Best wishes

      John Wheeler

      Delete
    2. I did respond in an email, John, a few years ago, but did not receive an answer...hope you are well...Ang

      Delete
  4. I remember that I wrote her shortly after she met Ringo and asking what it was like. She wrote back with details which I kept in my Beatle scrap book for many years. Not sure where the book ended up but I'd kill to have it back now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whoever you are, I probably still have your letter...I kept them all.

      Delete
  5. Hello Angie
    Did you live @ 459 west 50th Street New York if so do you remember a date with a english seaman working on Queen Mary?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did indeed live there until I escaped from NYC....lol! I met several very nice guys from both Queens....easy to experience in that neighborhood...

      Delete
  6. Hi everybody! I haven't checked back on this blog for ages! I can hardly believe what I'm reading! Lol! John Wheeler.....I do remember that name. I'm going to check with my cousin, who was part of my group of friends who went with me to the Delmonico. I will drop you a line, John.

    To the other "anonymous", yes I did live there.....how did you remember? Perhaps I wrote to you for awhile....? I met several great and interesting English guys from those ships, who would come pouring up my street, looking for the NYC sights. You all added positive experiences to my life. The Queens were wonderful memories of my childhood. My mother would take me to the docks to see them dock and depart sometimes, ever since I was a wee bitty girl.....lol. I got to take the QE11 with my mother and my children to England a couple of decades later........a dream come true!

    And to the other "anonymous"....I wrote to hundreds of girls afterwards....or got my friends, who were at the Delmonico with me, to help me with the mail. I even kept a correspondence going with several as penpals. I sent many copies of the photos taken of me, Paul and Ringo that Bruce Morrow gave me, to tons of girls. I still have all those letters that I received! There's an untold story too, of events after that historic meeting...a teenage life filled with wonderful memories! Maybe someday I'll write a book......lol........well....maybe not.....lol......Angie

    ReplyDelete
  7. Angie -- I was one of those girls that corresponded with you for sometime after that meeting. You did send me a copy of the photograph taken with Ringo and Paul (I believe). You also sent me several others of you taken with Brian Jones and Mick Jagger at one of the airports in the city. Please get in touch with me at debhar@comcast.net. My maiden name was Debbie Steele. I lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I wrote to John Wheeler after i read his post, but never got an answer...sadly...hope all is well with him, and will now try to reach Debbie and hope for the best....her letter is probably still in my cache of correspondence...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I met Angie too at a dance house in nyc. She showed me her pic's of her with the Beatles and told me about Ringo's medal taken. Ha. one of those memories not forgotten.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Me encanta Ringo ❤❤❤ que afortunada chica !!!

    ReplyDelete