Paula meets John (a photo mystery solved)

Paul may also be the photographer behind all of those photos of Paul in the blue shirt at his house from 1967. Here she on August 7, 1967 with Paul.




It is always nice when I can locate the story that goes along with fan photos that are well-known. The photos of John and Julian in the Kenwood driveway have been around collector's circles for a very long time and I am glad to report that those photos were taken by Paula Waitzel (from New Jersey) on August 8, 1967. Here is the story that goes along with the photos. Only part of it was published in the November 1977 issue of "The Write Thing."

On August 8 1967, I talked my cousin into going to Surrey, England. We took the directions out that I had gotten from a girl I met in front of Paul’s the day before. ‘Tube from Oxford Circus to Waterloo…train from main station to Weybridge, Surrey, St. George’s Hill Estate off of Cavendish Rd.”

John’s front gate which was 10 feet high was open! I walked along the driveway to the side of the house and came upon an open door! I came up to the door and looked in. Sitting on the flooring playing with a toy airplane was Julian. I asked him if his daddy was home and he said yes. I asked him to go get him and he said, “No…uh…Daddy’s not home.” I laughed ‘cuz I could tell John probably taught him to say that. I asked if his mommy was home and he said yes, then, “No, Mummy’s not here.” So I said, “Julian who’s taking care of you?” He replied, “Mummy & Daddy.” I asked him where the doorbell was. He got up off the floor and pointed to a knocker on the opened door. I didn’t want to enter the house. I felt it wasn’t right and besides John would probably kill, so I reached over without stepping into the room and knocked. The room was a den; the wall opposite was covered with shelves of books. There was little table with a beautiful picture of John and Cyn on it. I heard someone say, “Who is it?” I knew it was John. Before I even got a chance to open my mouth, Julian said, “John, there’s a girl here to see you and I told her you weren’t home.” (He called his own father John!). I moved away from the doorway and John came out and asked what we wanted. I told him we were from America and asked if we could take some pics.

He said, “Alright, but you’ll have to hurry because we’re going out soon.” Julian followed his dad outside. While John was signing his autograph I said, “Boy are we tired we walked all the way here.” So he came back with a typical Lennon remark, “Oh? You walked all the way from America?” I laughed and said no, just from Weybridge St. which was close to 2 miles away. I asked him if a lot of fans come to see him and he said, “They come in trickles.” After awhile he said, “Sorry, but you’ll have to go now.” I said goodbye and started going down to the gate when I spotted Julian’s $7,000 caravan. I took a pic and then we left.”