Kathy meets George

Here is a story about a fan named Kathy Gerdsen who met The Beatles in Atlantic City in 1964 and kept contact with the Harrison family until the death of George's father.

Gerdsen said she met the Beatles after one of their concerts in the Atlantic City Convention hall. She had been in the hall with the rest of the screaming girls, then when leaving the hall, noted that there were two ambulances parked by one of the backstage exits.

"Most people thought the Beatles had already left," she said. "But I saw the ambulances and went towards them. It was a chance thing. I climbed on the back of the ambulance, turned around, and bumped straight into Paul. He was leaning against the gurney. The police pulled me off."

Yet, she got to talk to them as the rest of the Beatles climbed into the ambulances. George and Ringo climbed into one. John joined Paul in the second.

"Before they left," she said, "I asked George how I could keep in contact with them. He told me to write his parents at Macketts Lane, Liverpool and that's what I did."

Over the years, Gerdsen wrote faithfully and said she grew close with George's parents, Harry and Louise.

"Then in 1974, George came to Madison Square Garden to do a concert with Ravi Shankar. I got a post card from his father to meet them at the Plaza Hotel."

She said she spent the day with George's father and his brother, Pete, took photos, and later continued correspondence and telephone conversations.

"George's father passed away several years ago. George's brother, Harry, sent me notice," she said. Although she continued communicating for a while, correspondence eventually faded out.