I dream of Jeannie

The show, "I dream of Jeannie" started in 1965, one year after this photo was taken.  So obviously someone on that show saw this photo and got the idea for how Jeannie was going to grant the master's wishes.   I mean just look at Paul, doesn't he have you under his trance?

Paul signing Paul

I always get a bit of a kick out of seeing exactly what one of the Beatles is signing for a fan. 

New Year's Eve Encounter

This has to count as the story written the fast after meeting a Beatle.   10 minutes later and this fan is writing all about meeting Paul on New Year's Eve in 1981.   The fan who had this brief meeting with Paul was Cyn Novacek and she wrote this as a letter to 'With a little Help from my Friends' fanzine.   The letter appeared along with one of the photos she took that evening (which I scanned and posted here) in the January 1982 (Issue #37) of the magazine.  

photo by Cyn Novacek

(Normally quiet and calm Cyn Novacek wrote us a letter shortly after she met Paul this past December, after a couple of months of attempts with no luck.  This letter just goes to show you how much the man can totally unravel even the quietest of us.  Thanks to Cyn for letter us printing it here to share with everybody!)

December 31, 1981

Happy New Year!  I just saw the Big Mac not more than 10 minutes ago!!  I can’t remember anything!  Well, I can, but only a little.

I walked over to MPL about 3:30 and from across the square I saw the lights on upstairs and this blonde woman walking around.  I hurried over and sure enough, it was Linda.  Then Rose (the housekeeper) pulled up in a red Mercedes station wagon and out piled Stella, James (with his pants falling down as usual) and three dogs.

I started talking to two girls waiting out front and they said they’d been waiting for a couple of hours.  Linda had come out earlier and signed some books they had brought.

As we waited a bunch of Italians wandered up and started asking questions.  Then they decided to stay.  Great, what a mob.  We were worried it would put Paul off.

About 15 minutes later, here comes the old boy himself, leading one of the kids down the MPL staircase.  (He practically threw himself at us to sign autographs when he came out the door!)

Through the crowd of heads and waving pens I managed to take two pictures.  But I don’t guarantee anything.  I am still shaking!  And it was dark, too.  (One did turn out!!)

I think if the Italians hadn’t been there, I might have gotten a better chance for a picture and been able to have explained the t-shirt I bought for him a little better.  I mentioned Minneapolis to him as he hurried for the car and he very nicely acknowledged the place (but I meant to say St. Paul) and then handed him the t-shirt and told him that it was for him to remember us by (so he’d come back, but that part never got out!).  Yet even in a hurry, he’s very gracious and very nice.  (In case you don’t remember the t-shirt, really a jersey, is black and has “St. Paul” on it in white letters; and just below that, in black letters, so as to blend with the shirt, is spelled out Minnesota.”)  Linda’s face lit up when I handed her the bright red lead rope I brought for her to use on her horses.   Right away she starts telling me about her Appaloosa.

I’m STILL shaking.  Even after he got in the car and drove away.  I had trouble leaving MPL.  I wanted him to come back and do it all over.  All I can remember of his clothing was a nice looking dark coat.  His hair reminded more of 1963-64.

(Later) It’s been a few hours and I’ve finally settled down and sorted my thought out.

Linda didn’t look half bad this time.  Her hair looked nice and she wore a decent looking skirt and sweater with tan boots.  I wish I could remember Paul better.  I spent quite a few moments looking at him through the lens and trying to focus in the dark.  It’s funny how hard one can stare at someone and not be able to remember them.  Talk about mesmerized!  The only things I can truly remember were the two or three times he looked right at me; and seeing his crowfeet when his face would light up with a smile.  He may have been wearing one of his “trademark” sweater-vests because I vaguely remember seeing a splash of color on him.  Only the pictures know for sure.  The two I took where of him signing autographs.  I personally don’t like that type of pictures (looking down) but they are better than nothing.  That man had got to give me another chance so I can act the calm and cool person I really am.

I don’t think Paul had a chance to see what I had printed on that jersey before he snatched it away; he seemed happy just to get a present!  I tell you that guy is gracious even on the run.  Only Linda was even more gracious- I tell you that look on her face as she thanked me made me feel great.  I really wish I could’ve asked her a couple questions about her Appaloosa, I think it’s one good way of getting them to stop and talk (her anyway; if she stops, she’ll get him to stop).  Linda didn’t have him in her usual clutches this time even – I wonder when the amputation took place?!

Polka-dotted adorable

Photo by Marilyn Doerflers

Ringo looking like his cute self on the plane during the 1966 North American tour.

I'm going to Strawberry Fields

I was going to crop this photo so that the little All You need is love photo wasn't showing (why magazine do silly layouts like that is beyond me), but I didn't want to cut out John's awesome pants.   Do you think this girl is a random fan or someone on the crew for the SFF promo?

Standing by the Gate

Found on the Fab4info webpage

Raise your hand if you love John!

I couldn't  make up my mind at which event this photo was taken.  So I analyzed various photos from 1974 and have determined that it was taken during the March of Dimes benefit in Central Park with Harry in April.    And somehow figuring that out makes me feel a lot less stress....

Strolling

Like father like son

Have I mentioned that I have tickets to see James McCartney in concert in June?   Oh well I do!  He is coming to St. Louis and tickets were only $15!  (waaaaaay less than what I paid to see his Dad in November)   I hope there is some sort of a meet and greet time so that I can get a photo with him and maybe get his autograph.  I thought of bringing this photo of James and his Dad with me, but then I thought it might be a tad bit embarrassing. 

The Complete Beatle

This photo has been posted before, but it was cropped to only show John and Yoko and did not show any of the fans.   I love how you can see Yoko's yarn in her hands.   Anyhow....there we now have the complete photo.  

Tess's Beatles Encounters

I have been busy typing tonight!   Tess Basta has some wonderful stories of the times she met 3/4 of the Beatles.  These stories come from the April 1982 issue of "With a Little Help from my Friends."  I love the image of an elevator opening up and George Harrison standing inside.   And I also like reading about seeing Paul in New York during the recording of RAM.    We see so many photos from that time that fans have taken, but very few stories have surfaced.

Paul and Linda in NYC November 1970.  Photo:  Linda Aiello

Paul in NYC April 1977.  Photo:  Tess Basta

Ringo in London August 1973 Photo:  Tess Basta

Beatle Encounters

By Tess Basta

The first encounter with George was with my friend Linda in the elevator.  This was in January 1972, the year Linda and I were graduating from high school, and we had begun to get a head start.  This was at the time the Apple (ABBACO) Office was at 1700 Broadway.  So, naturally one day we decided to go up to Apple just for fun and fill out a job application, why not?!  Apple occupied I believe the 40^th and 41^st floors.  The 41^st floor was the executive office.  Well, we get to the 41^st floor and there is a big reception area (the receptionist was May Pang, by the way, and she was very polite and friendly).   We told her we were looking for jobs and wanted to fill out resumes and she said sure, gave them to us, and told us to sit down on the chairs and fill them out.    Needless to say, Linda and I filled these forms out so slow.  The longer we could stay there the better.  You never know who might decide to show up!  Well, no one showed up and we gave the forms back and left, saying to each other, “Why didn’t we have any luck on having one of THEM walk in.”

We decided that since we were already in the building we would stop on each floor, see what type of company was there, and fill out a job application.  I believe we were on the 38^th floor and had just filled out forms with the company on that floor – don’t remember what company it was.  Linda and I called for the down elevator and were standing there discussing which company to see next.  An elevator stopped and we missed it as we were too busy talking and had to call for it again.  Keep in mind that there is a bank of four elevators in this building.  The elevator we missed was the last one on the left and we were standing dead center in the hallway. 

Anyway, the next door elevator to come was the one that was directly in front of us.  The door opens and it’s GEORGE inside!  It was just him and he was with another man who Linda and I refer to as “the headless man” as to this day we can’t remember this other person.  We could just slightly remember by the clothes of this other person that it was somebody who was much, much older.  It could have been Allen Klein for all we knew as we didn’t see this guy at all.  When that elevator door opened and produced George, Linda and I almost passed out.  All things considered, we behaved like normal people considering we were getting into an elevator containing George Harrison!  The most priceless thing of this incident was the look on George’s face when the door opened and he saw Linda and me.  Linda and I have this look imprinted on our brains as it was amazing.  It was something on the order of panic and fear as his eyes opened so wide they almost jumped off his face!  

We immediately calmed his fears, as after seeing that look on his face we didn’t want him to worry.  After all, Linda and I were dressed as we were looking for jobs and it probably just looked like we were office workers in the building.  We walked into the elevator and we both said, “Hi George, how are you?”  He said, “I’m fine, thank you, how are you?”  “Fine,” we say.  Now Linda and I went into our act and Linda says to me, “Tess, what floor are we supposed to go to?”  I say I’m not sure and then Linda says, “I believe it is the 30^th floor.” So Linda presses the 30^th floor button.  George, by the way, is leaning against the side wall of the elevator right next to the buttons for the floors.  Linda and I were really cool and calm.  Linda did most of the talking as I usually go mute at times like this.  Thank God she does talk, one of us had to!  We were just standing there though, before the questions, and George was looking at us wondering why we weren’t tormenting him.  He had that look on his face!  Linda finally said that she enjoyed the Bangladesh concert and he said that he was glad that we liked it.  She then asked him if we could have his autograph and he said that we would be getting off the elevator soon and that we would miss our stop.   (Is this man for real?  Does he think we are going to get off the elevator with him in it!!!!)  We said that’s okay, we’ll get to the floor later.  He did give us each an autograph and by that time we were approaching the lobby.  When the door opened, he let us out first and said, “Bye girls, it was nice to meet you, have a good day.”  We said the same to him and thanked him again.  

Needless to say, we were out of commission for the rest of the day.  There was no way we would be able to job hunt further.  We walked out of the building (he took a back exit near the elevators) and let out all the screams we couldn’t release before.  People were looking at us like we were crazy and went straight to the subway to go home.  I have to say that George was VERY pleasant and smiled as he talked to us.  I’m sure a great deal of it was relief and it paid off that Linda and I had remained calm.  This was the first time I had ever been in an elevator and wished it would have gotten stuck!  The other thing that was very lucky for us was that the elevator didn’t make another stop all the way down, so it was good that no one else got into the elevator. 

After my elevator encounter, I saw George twice when I went to England in August 1973.  I saw him at the Apple offices at St. James Street.  He arrived with Mal Evans.  Mal parked the car around the corner and they both came walking around to the front entrance of Apple.  George was smiling and saying hello to everyone, but he did not stop and talk.   He seemed to take great delight in seeing everyone waiting out there and looked very happy.  There were about six other people standing there.  Then, obviously, I saw him and Mal leave and again he didn’t stop but was still all smiles and now saying goodbye to everyone.  They of course got back in the car and drove away.  I had my camera this time but this was the year I bought my new 35mm camera and it was very hard to focus while George was constantly on the move.  I did get two shots when he stopped by the car to get into it but they are not very close up.  If I had any brains I would have stopped closer to the car to take the pics but dummy me stops not even half way there.

Next Beatle on the agenda is Ringo.  I saw him about four times when I was in England at the Apple Offices as I mentioned above.  He was not particularly friendly.  I remember my friend Linda asked him once when his new album (Ringo) was due out and he had said September, but other than that it wasn’t very inspiring.   He always had this very unfriendly look on hs face and it seemed best not to approach him.  As usual there is always a handful of people standing in front of Apple.  I saw Ringo go in and out the same day I saw George.  I took some photos of him and have some halfway decent ones.

The first time I ever saw Paul was in November 1970 when he was in New York recording his album “Ram” at CBS Studios.  To say that I was beside myself is the understatement of the year.  It happened quite a few years ago and my mind is very vague about details.  I know I went there a couple of days.  One day (the first time I saw him) I saw him three times.  When I arrived he was already there.  There were a lot of people there every day and I was told – which I found out myself – that he is usually in a vicious mood.  This was his bad period.  I saw him come out for lunch with Linda and I was in heaven!  To finally see him in the flesh was too much.  Believe it or not he decided to stop right outside the doorway and let people take pictures of him but he wasn’t too thrilled about it.  And believe it or not my camera decided not to work!  When he left to go to lunch, he and Linda simply walked up the block and people were following him up to the corner but didn’t dare follow him any further. 

After semi-composing myself he came back and 1 ½ hour later.  All of a sudden people looking and noticed him bopping down the block from the same direction that he’d left in.  He simply walked in and that was that.  Afterwards I saw him leave for the day – around 6pm.  As a joke, everyone decided that when he came out to leave we would all be quite and not even flash photos of him.  Sure enough, around 6pm a cab pulled up and he comes walking out and no one does a thing.  Total silence.  It took a lot of will power not to want to take his pic or even say goodbye or anything for that matter.  But you should have seen the look on his face as he walked to the cab!  And when he got into the cab he turned around to look at all of us and we still weren’t doing anything.  He had such a perplexed look on his face!  My next encounter with him at this time was a couple days later.  We cut school and went down there in the morning.  We got there about 9am and no one was there.  We couldn’t figure this out.  We found out later that he absolutely, positively does not want to see anyone there in the morning and he scared them enough that no one went.

We were standing there saying how great it was that we were the only ones there.  Finally, he pulls up in a cab with Linda and Mary and Heather.  Both of us standing in front of the entrance and he is paying the driver and scowling at us from inside the cab.  Everyone gets out and he stops directly in front of us- only 3 feet away.  We say good morning to him and not only does he not say good morning, he says absolutely nothing but continues to stare at us and mean really looking at us.  We were a little uneasy and my friend Linda finally asks him if we can take a picture and he says “not in the morning” and leaves it at that and walks in.  Linda and I found out afterward that we were very lucky as there were a few bad incidents with girls there in the morning.  Then we knew why he was staring at us the way he was.  He was looking to see if he recognized us.  If he had previously warned us not to be there at that time of day.  Obviously realizing we did not know, he did not go into a tirade.  In spite of the fact that most of the time he was in a miserable mood, Linda and I were glad he didn’t decide to randomly abuse us that morning considering we were innocent.  It showed us that his good nature was still intact under all the hostility apparent at that period of time. 

I didn’t see Paul again until May of 1976.  When I had gone to England a few years previously, he had just left prior to our arrival.  We knew he was not around as we went to his house in St. John’s Wood.  Later on we knew that he had left for Africa.  But I did see him in concert, but concerts, in fact, at Madison Square Garden.

Naturally, while Paul was doing his concert in New York, we made a few visits to the Stanhope Hotel.  We only managed to catch him once but you should have seen the crowd hanging out over there every day.  When there are crowds that size you know not too much personal contact is going to happen.  Anyway, the day we saw him there must have been close to 50 people outside the hotel.  We were there for a few hours and he came out of the side entrance of the hotel as for sure he was definitely aware of the size of the crowd.  Sometimes he does strange things because his plan was to walk out of the side entrance and walk down the block to Madison Avenue where there was a limo waiting. How he thought no one would notice him come out the side with all those people there is beyond me.  Obviously, he was noticed as soon as he came out the door and naturally the whole gang followed him down the block. He was pleasant but I’m sure he was slightly petrified and couldn’t wait to get to the limo.  He kept walking and was signing autographs at the same time but made sure he didn’t lose his stride.  He would have been better off just leaving the front entrance of the hotel as he would only have to walk a few feet to the car, but of course, Paul usually has a knack for doing things backwards.  Where was I in all this?  I was keeping pace right behind him and a couple times had my hand on his back!  My friend Linda was practically right next to him and at one point a guy grabbed Paul by the arm and my friend Linda screamed to the guy, “Leave him alone!”  In the process of saying this she didn’t realize that she screamed right into Paul’s ear and he turned to look and her and said in a real soft voice, “Hush now.”  And seemed to realize that she was protecting him.  Linda managed to get his autograph in all this mess but try as I might I couldn’t’ magazine to get my paper to him.  I had to wait another year to get Paul’s autograph. 

My friend Linda and I saw Paul again on April 30, 1977.  I remember the date as it was Linda’s birthday.  On a hunch we found out that he was visiting New York and we went that morning to the Stanhope.  We got there about 9:30a.m. and were not there for 20 minutes when he and the family came out.  When we got there, there were about six other people in front and they told us that Paul should be out very soon as the limo was there for him and they just brought out all the luggage a few minutes ago.  He was leaving this very day.  Linda and I were very, very lucky.  A half hour or so and we would have missed him by only a few minutes.  It goes to show you that if you are meant to see any of them it will happen whether you realize it or not.  This encounter turned out to be the best of all and Paul came out in a great mood.  As he came out he said hello to everyone and he seemed to recognize a few people there as he called one girl by name and asked how she was doing.  My friend, Linda, walked up to Paul as he was coming out and told him that it was her birthday today and he of course said, “Well Happy Birthday!” and Linda said “how about a kiss?”  and she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.  I joked with Linda afterward and said, “it was a little backward that you kissed him on your birthday – it should be the other way around!”

Meanwhile, Paul put everyone in the car including Linda and stayed outside and talked for a while.  I of course was in my usual comatose state but managed to squeak out and ask him for his autograph which he gave me and I proceeded to mumble a thank you.  I took a few photos and managed to get a couple of halfway decent ones.  I’ve since discovered that when I’m in their presence my hands shake a great deal and mind doesn’t seem to work properly which is why I think I always have bad luck with Beatles and cameras!  After I got my autograph I did something I can’t believe I did.  I simply was standing there looking at him while everyone was talking to him and I suddenly got the urge to kiss him on the cheek.  Not only did I surprise myself but surprised Paul at the same time!  I must have looked like something coming out of left field at him and in the process of kissing him quickly on the check, proceeded to knock him in the face with my eyeglasses!

He pulled back and looked at me and had this tremendous smile on his face at which pint he said, “That’s all Tom Jones stuff!” My friend Linda even managed to have taken a picture which just shows a slight part of my face and shows Paul looking down at me and smiling.  She didn’t realize it at the time but we saw it after the photos were developed.  Anyway, he got into the car and left but it was a wonderful encounter!  As it was a little after 10am at this point we decided to go to the Dakota for a while but did not catch John much to our dismay.  We thought maybe we could have made it a doubleheader!  A funny aside to this story is that I kept asking Linda what she wanted for her birthday and as a joke she would say, “Paul McCartney.”  I said, “Sure I’ll work on it right away.”  And it turned out to be true!

Where are the Beatles in this crowd?

An interesting angle of the Beatles as they arrive in Germany in 1966. 

All Buttoned up

Another day at the races

Stop! And Smell the Roses

Samantha Curtis, 10, of Wickford, appears in the film alongside Ringo.

News story from 1981:

" When Ringo film the promo at Egham, Surrey, he employed 59 members of the Wickford Youth Band and Majorettes for a little assistance.  The kids were given special permission from the headmasters of all the schools for the time off.  Ranging in age form 7 to 18, they started work as soon as they reached the film location with just two five minute breaks in five hours of filming.  The band's secretary, Mrs. June Johnson, said, "it was short notice, but we said we would be delighted to do it.  The girls were absolutely thrilled.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime day.  It was fantastic!"   The film shows a mock traffic jam in France caused by the band and majorettes marching, with Ringo dressed as a traffic cop walking along the ranks of the band and majorettes singing his song.  he also gave impromptu drum lessons to the kids during film takes and four of the parents were even asked to be extras, given striped jerseys and berets to wear.  Ringo commented later what well-behaved children they were.

Happy Birthday George

As February 25th winds down here in St. Louis, I want to post one last photo in honor of George Harrison on his 70th birthday.   George might not be here on this earth.  He has moved on to the next part of his journey, but we still celebrate and honor him as the musician, father, husband,  brother, friend that he was along with being a strong  peaceful, spiritual and generous human being.   We remember his funny sense of humor and his love of race cars and gardening.   George you were an amazing man, not just because you were a member of The Beatles, but because you were true to yourself all the way until your last day on earth.   Here's to George!

Photo with thanks to Fab4info.com

I love Mondays!

I have a "new" story to share with you all.  This one is from September 1981  and takes place outside of Air Studios in London.  It was found in the October 1981 (Issue # 35) issue of "With a little Help from my friends."

There are two stories here, written by two friends who met Paul in September of 1981.  The first one was written by Terry Seemann who was meeting Paul for the first time.   And the second part was written by Laurie Ross. 

I think the one thing that bothered me is that this was written in 1981 and it is obvious that the fans still do not like Linda.  I understand fans in 1969 disliking her and even into the Wings years, but I would have thought by 1981, fans would have mellowed out a bit on the dislike of Linda.   It stands out to me that these girls were not very kind to Linda.  She walked by and they didn't say hello or ask for her autograph or photo.   But yet they expect her to be nice to them.   And to go on about her clothing and funky socks, is just silly.   I think Linda eccentric style of clothing is one of the major things that I love about her.    But then I am looking back in 2013 on the whole thing, so it is a very different perspective. 

I am not trying in any way to be mean to Terry or Laurie or the other girls in this article.    I love their Paul story.  I think the Koala Bear party is adorable.   First of all, everyone can have their opinion and not everyone is going to like the Beatles' wives.   That is fine.   Also many years have past and feelings and thoughts change.   So if Terry or Laurie read this, please do not feel like I am being unkind in any way.   That is not my intention.  I personally have a lot of admiration for Linda McCartney, and when I read of those who do not speak kindly of her, I have to question why.   But it is nothing personal.   And as I said, everyone can have his/her own opinion. 

Terry and Paul Photo by Gloria Rossi

Photo by Laurie Ross

Story by Terry Seemann

I love Mondays!  I never thought I’d be saying that, but after two wonderful Mondays in September (1981), “I love Mondays” has become my slogan.  My girlfriend, Gloria Rossi and I arrived in London on Saturday, September 19.  We met up with another friend of ours, Laurie Ross, Saturday night.  About a week before leaving for London, I’d received a letter from Pat Simmons saying that she heard that Paul was recording with Stevie Wonder at Air Studio.  Needless to say, as soon as I told Gloria and Laurie this news it was a unanimous decision to try our luck the following Monday since Paul usually doesn’t record on weekends.

Monday finally came.  About 11:30 Laurie called Air Studios and asked if John Hammel was there.  He is one of Paul’s roadies.  Laurie was told that he wasn’t there yet but he was expected later that day.  Upon hearing that news, we started to get just a wee bit excited because, after all, why would one of Paul’s roadies be going to Air Studios unless our man himself was going to be there!?

We took the underground to Oxford Circus.  At 12:45 we began waiting on the corner.  I really wasn’t very hopeful at this point and thought we would have to wait an hour or two if we were to see him at all. After about five or ten minutes we saw a man pass us and go into Air.  I didn’t pay too much attention to him until Laurie asked if that was George Martin.  We were all pretty sure it was and now our hopes were a little higher for seeing Paul.  Then around 1:00, Laurie suddenly yelled out, “There he is!” and sure enough, there he was, getting out of a blue Mini car that had just pulled up.  He had James Louis and Linda with him.  Paul looked very surprised to see anyone there.  He was very friendly but said he could not stop because he was very late.

Laurie asked him when the new album was coming out and he said not until next spring.  She also asked if he was recording with Stevie Wonder and he said not now (he was mixing the album).  I had said hello to Paul and James when they got out of the car, but after that, I couldn’t seem to say anything.  I did finally manage to ask him if I could get a picture with him but that’s when he said they were running late.  Paul did say to us, “See you later” which, of course, we took literally. None of us really paid too much attention to Linda but as they walked into Air she gave us kind of a strange look.

After walking around the block trying to calm down, we tried to figure out what to do next.  People were looking at us kind of strangely and one woman asked, “Who did you see that I didn’t?”

Needless to say, we all decided to go back to Air later to catch Paul coming out.  At 3:15, we headed back to Oxford Circus.  On the way there, we had the thought that since James’ birthday was just a few weeks back, if we got him a belated birthday present, Paul might stop for a couple of minutes.  We saw an Australian gift shop and stopped to buy a stuff Koala bear (Remember the Saturday Night Live interview with Father Sarducci – “what animal would you like be to?”). 

We got back to air Studios around 4:45 and began our wait on the corner again.  At about 5:15 or 5:30 I saw a blue car pull up again and sure enough it was his car.  Linda got out with James and went into Air.  Apparently they had gone to eat.  I hardly looked at Linda but I think she gave us another strange look.  At least we now knew for sure that Paul was still inside.

We continued to wait thinking that they might not come out until 8:00 or 9:00.  But about 6:45 I looked across the street and there was that blue car again.  A minute later, Paul, Linda and James came out.  Laurie asked if she could take his picture and he said yes, but make it quick as he was late (seems to be his standard line).  Gloria had already started taking pictures.  I then remembered that IW as holding the koala bear so I hurried and gave it to Paul, trying to tell him it was for James, but never quite getting it out.  Gloria then yelled, “the card!.” And I noticed that I had dropped the birthday card we got for James, so I picked it up and handed it to Paul, making sure I touched his hand.  We all took pictures as they were getting in the car, but unfortunately al I got was his back.

Gloria and I went to Liverpool for the rest of the week, but the next Monday we decided to try our luck again. We met Laurie on our corner around 12:30 and waited once again.  We were also joined by two friends of hers, Madeline and Cathy.

We waited until about 2:30.  Gloria and I were about to give up hope as we had sore feet, but everyone else said they were going to wait until 3:00, so we said we would too.  That has got to be one of the best decisions we ever made, because about 2:45, what should appear but that little blue car again.  And, if that wasn’t enough, Linda was not with him!  It was just Paul and John Hammel.

When Paul got out of the car, Gloria and I rushed up to him and asked for his autograph.  And he actually stopped to give it to us.  Then I once again asked him if I could have my picture taken with him.  Looking up, he said, “I think you are!”  I looked up and there was Gloria with camera ready.  I then took a picture of Paul with Gloria and Laurie.  Before we knew it, Paul was gone again. But we couldn’t have been happier.  We not only got autographs, but pictures too.  Also, I think Paul must be some kind of miracle healer as my feet didn’t hurt a bit anymore.

Since this was Gloria’s and my last day in London, we knew that we had to wait for Paul again that night.  Around 6:00, Gloria, Laurie, Madeline and I took up our vigil again.  We didn’t know how long we would have to wait since he arrived so late.  At about 7:40, someone (I think it was Paul’s manager, Allan) came running out to the car.  A few minutes later, Paul came running out.  He said he was really late (once again) and couldn’t’ stop.

We had decided earlier just to try to thank him now for being so nice before since it was going to be too dark to take pictures without a flash.  We tried to thank him as he was running to the car, but I don’t know if he heard us.  He did wave to us as he drove away though. 

So ended another day of seeing a Beatle.  I’ll never forget those two Mondays.  I’m still waiting to wake up and find that it’s all a dream.  What a way to end a trip to Merry Ole England!

By Laurie Ross

It was great!  I saw him 18 times in all, the most I’ve ever seen him by far.  He was always nice to us and he looked so good.  The hair may be turning gray in places, the crow’s-feet are getting deeper, but he’s still utterly gorgeous  He’s got more charm in his baby finger than most men have in their entire body!  I sure got spoiled – got my photo taken with him twice, he sign my copy of the photo I took him with the Koala bear, he shook my hand the last time Is aw him, and invited me back next year!  He said, “I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay on this corner.  We’re taking reservations for next year, so book early!”  It’s lucky I taped everything because all I can remember is his nice warm hand clutching mine and me staring at his eyes.  I was probably drooling.

In the photo he’s winking at me though I didn’t notice it at the time.  As he was walking out, I asked him if we could take photos.  He said something like “make it a quick one,” so I literally threw my purse and shopping bag on the sidewalk.  Luckily I had my camera preset so took it fast as he barely stopped since he was in a hurry.  So it’s nice to know that he winked at me and that I got it on film.

Linda came with Paul most of the time. I don’t think she cared for me too much.  She ignored me except to comment, “What a terrible photograph” as Paul was signing my photo.  James was there a couple times; he’s a doll.  Saw Heather, too who actually smiled and said “hi” to us before we even recognized her.  She looks quite decent now, better than he mother, anyway.  The only time I noticed Linda was when she’d take James out for his supper.  She always looked a sight.  She sure likes wild socks.  So do I --- under my jeans.  She wears them with skirts – pink ones, pink and white ones, and green ones (bright – two days in a row!), more or less ankle length, complete with straggly hair, strange tops.  She wore the same blue canvas shoes as last year only with her green socks instead of purple ones – a real prize!