End of the fan club

All good things must come to an end, and sadly in 1972, the Beatles fan club ceased existence. The story that was known for some times was that the official Beatles fan club ended because George Harrison was upset with the George Harrison Fan Club in the United States (run by Pat Kinzer, whom we have seen many of her wonderful George photos on this blog). There are two stories about this fan club and how it lead to the end of all Beatles fan clubs in the world.

Theory 1
There was a rumor that Pat and her officers were giving tours (and charging fans money) of George's mother, Louise Harrison's, grave. Since his mother's death from brain cancer in July 1970, George had been very private about the location of her grave. Supposedly when he heard that fans were touring the site, he was very angry and put an end to all fan clubs. I am not even sure if that story is true at all. But I do know that Pat and the George fan club started the Louise F. Harrison Memorial Cancer Fund and raised money through the club members in Louise's name for the hospital where she was treated. I also believe that Pat herself was given the location of the grave from George's father, Harold, because having met Louise many times, she wanted to privately pay her respects. At no time were tours ever given (at least not by the George club from the States) of George's mother grave.

Theory 2
This is the theory that Pat herself believed for a very long time and lived with the guilty of what she thought was the person who single-handedly ended the Beatles fan club after 11 years of existence.
In the December 1971 issue of the fab club's newsletter, Pat had reproduced an interview with Pattie where she states something along the lines of how she and George wanted to adopt a child. Pat mails the newsletter to Friar Park, where George's sister, Louise is living. Louise had always received issues of the newsletter. George sees this newsletter and the information about adopting a child upsets him so much that he calls the whole newsletter, "crap" and goes to Allen Klein and complains. From there George gets Ringo on board and they demand that all Beatles fan clubs everywhere close down for good.
As you can read in the newsletter Pat puts out when she learns about this, that she is angry, sad and confused about all of this. Honestly, it really is a shame that George didn't contact Pat himself to get the entire story. Why wasn't he mad at the magazine that published the original interview with Pattie? Or even with Pattie herself for giving out such private information is beyond me.

The Truth:
The truth as far as I understand it, and hopefully Freda Kelly's new documentary will explain more about this is as follows. The Beatles had been broken up for a year and a half when George sees Pat's club's newsletter. George had been trying to put out his own songs and get away from the whole Beatles thing. And while the fan club was going under the name "Apple Tree" by 1971, it still was very Beatles-centered. Paul had sued the other three Beatles and I think for George "Beatles" were not something he really wanted to be associated with. George was under the impression that there was no longer a Beatles fan club. And then he sees this fan club newsletter, that has out this information about him and Pattie wanting to adopt and he is pushed over the edge. He thought there were no fan clubs anymore! So he marches int0 Apple and demands that the clubs end. Really, the clubs were in the process of ending anyhow. So maybe Pat's newsletter or the rumor about the tours just pushed things along a little quicker, but they were going to end in 1972 regardless. So Pat is not to blame at all. She did nothing wrong. She supported George and his charities, and really all she did was report the news as she found it. It is just so sad that George couldn't have discussed this with her. It isn't like he had no idea who she was.

Anyhow....to read more about Pat and her club and all of this stuff with the club ending, you have to read her book, Do You Wanna Know a Secret.

I think posting these things is very sad, but still important to the story of the Beatles and their fans. Remember to make photos larger to click on them, then right click on "view image."