Thursday, January 9, 2014

Read all about it




In the postscript of Carol Bedford's book Waiting for the Beatles she write a short paragraph about the last time she ever heard from George.   Interestingly enough I found that correspondence to Carol up for auction in an old, outdated auction house listing online.

Now before I get 10,000 emails, let me say that I do not know Carol Bedford.  I have never known Carol Bedford.  I do not know where she lives or if she is still alive.   It is amazing to me just how many people out there are looking for Carol.   It is no wonder that so many of the Apple Scruffs like to remain anonymous.  And then there are people like me who are always bugging them.

Anyhow this is what Carol wrote:
But I did hear from him again-- one last contact between us.  In 1975, I listened to George's new album Extra Texture:  Read all about it.  The first track on side one was You, the song he had told me about at the Apple Christmas party in 1971.  He had finally recorded it, four years after writing it.  I wrote a cheerful, chatty note to George to thank him for recording it.  The song would always bring back happy memories for me.  By return post, I received George's letter.  It was addressed to "Carol Bedford" which pleased me because I had signed "Carol from Texas" 

14 comments:

  1. Hi Sara, I guess after seeing the postcard and reading your comments its time to stop all the speculation and curiosity concerning Carole. Sadly she died a couple of years ago Luckily I found her again after 40 odd years and was in contact with her if only for a short period. She was and will remain a very good friend regardless of the book. RIP now Carole. x

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  2. R.I.P. Carol. She was a good friend. Yes time to end the speculation... Anon Scruff.

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  3. Thank you Suejohn and anon Scruff for breaking the news and ending the speculation. I am very sad to hear that Carol has passed away. It isn't shocking news, as I had heard that she had been ill for quite some time. I am glad that you were able to mend fences with her.

    On a side note: I hope that this ends the barrage of emails I get every month asking me if I know how to get in contact with her.

    Again I am sorry for always being such a bother to you ladies. You know that I have such respect for the true Apple Scruffs and I want to learn more about you while still respecting your privacy. If I ever get to be too much, just tell me to shut up and I will understand.

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  4. Hi Sara. You are never a bother to us Scruffs. You have always shown respect to our privacy. No need to shut up I love your interest in us! ..Anon Scruff think you may know which one ;)

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  5. Totally agree with you Anon Scruff (I know which one you are!!) Lol. :).......... Another Anon Scruff....you probably know which one I am now as well. ;)

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  6. i'm glad this is now out in the open. i too get requests for carol's whereabouts and i have been saying i don't know, which is of course a lie. many years ago i met a really nice guy at beatlefest in chicago. he gave me his card and we kept in touch. he told me he knew carol's family. it was though him that i found out where she was and sue and gill could find out about her and get in touch with her through phone calls and letters. i'm not sure if anyone else wrote her or called the hospice. it feels really good to know carol heard from her friends and knew she was loved and missed by them, it must have meant so much to her. i'm so glad i kept that card! we would have never found out if it wasn't for him. i believe he posts here too. it's so sad to see your beatle friends go... only last thanksgiving another american fan i knew passed away. may they all rest in peace!

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  7. I'm really sad to hear of Carol Bedford dying.
    I'm way behind the times: I've only just read Carol Bedford's book.
    I hope somebody told her that she was a gifted writer - - it's superbly written.
    I have occasion to teach PhD students creative ways to write their thesis, and shall cite WAITING FOR THE BEATLES as one way of animating nonfiction with feeling and timing and succinct impact and a lovely sense of refrains that any lyricist would be proud of.
    I understand that other Apple Scruffs take issue with some representations in the book. Two points to make here:
    1) Carol's book reads as if written by an accomplished writer who had been plying her trade to find her own voice for decades, rather than a first book. She was a natural.
    2) Historians always vary in accounts of events and history is richer for it. It is up to other Apple Scruffs to write their memoirs too, balancing Carol's perspective with their own.
    There is surely space in publishing for more than one (out of print) memoir from a Beatles fan who was there at the time, on the frontline, a primary source.
    To the first-hand fans on this very thread: wouldn't that be a worthwhile endeavor, and fun to write and liaise with your peers who shared those experiences and compare notes?
    With so many other decades (like: right now) so interchangeable, so off-the-peg, your memories of encounters with a culture at its peak, with leaders of so many trends from a decade so creative that it's no overstatement to call it a Renaissance, would be so valuable for people to read.
    I'm sure legions of readers would join me in supporting further memoirs, from your own points of view, of other frontline fans like Lizzie and Sue-John and Gayleen and at least two Anonymouses in this thread!
    If you need free editorial advice, I'm your man.
    But in any case, I'm certainly a prospective reader of any such book in the future.
    I'm so thankful Carol Bedford left that published record for people like me to encounter these decades later.
    What a beautiful writer she was.

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  8. like how george wrote 'see you sometime' - very sweet

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  9. In Carol's book, she is the one who says that George was angry because he heard the President of his fan club (didn't mention a name, but I'm sure she meant me) was running tours of his mother's grave. An out and out lie.

    Pat Kinzer Mancuso

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    1. Pat - Carol lied about many things as you're probably aware of anyway

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  10. I first read Waiting For The Beatles when I was at school back in the 80's and I fell in love with it. To this day it's still my favourite book and the only book I've read more than once. I feel very lucky to have it. I've spent years trying to find anything else by Carol Bedford and anything about her. I've literally just found this so am gutted to learn that she's no longer with us. I really wish she could've known how much I love her book.

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    1. Hi Lisa I am not very good with internet posting so hope this comes up. I read Caroles book in 2012 and decided to research I came across a blog and at that time it may have Ben 2011 a male nude posted about One of his patients called Carole who had MS and was in a Shoreditch hospital who spoke readily about her fan days as a Scruff with the Beatles. I put this information out at the time hoping that if someone was looking for her they would find her. I am much younger but The Beatles fill my book shelves and on Saturday 24 th August I am attending a memorial services vector Fiona Adams in Csndie Park Guernsey. Fiona took the photograph of the famous Beatles picture in Hammersmithvifcthem jumping in the air in the 60s. I will take Caroles book with me as a reminder that the Beatles was an incredible story and the scruffs were so very lucky to be part of that story and that time. I started reading the book again and it’s even more poignant than eight years ago. Rest n peace Carole has anyone any idea where Carole is buried n London

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    2. Sorry that should read “male nurse” and “Hammersmith London“ my typing skills are dreadful and it should be Carol with out an e - but just wanted to add Carol seemed to stay living in the United Kingdom all her life she must have loved London and what a great place to experience all those years ago. I was a bit sad to read that maybe some of her stories may have been a bit fabricated but the book was written in 1984 and I read in another book written by another author that George regularly gave out the Autobiography of s Yogi to friends which he did and gave one to Carol. So truth with that event I will have to read Patti Boyds book again to compare as I think she writes on some of these scruff overlaps. I would love to hope that there are Scruffs still with us out there and it would be fab if they could write a book about their experiences. The Beatles as Phillip Norman said in an interview with a bbc journalist from the 80s Selena Scott said the Beatles were supernatural and they had to endure supernatural experiences the fact is the Scruffs were a big part of this story. I don’t think they appreciate how in the future when they are gone how their stories regarding these four very supernatural guys will be so valuable. Thank you scruffs thank you Carol Hopefully another Scruff book .....

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