Reports back from the press conference

This reporter has lived!

By Dorothy Renker

According to today’s standards. . . . this reporter has lived!

On Tuesday evening I was within two feet of the four Beatles and I have eight photographs to prove it.  I also came away with two pencils used by Ringo and George, matches that lay where John and had been sitting and a partially doodled head of a man, the work of one Paul McCartney.

The WHK arranged press conference held in the Empire Room at the Sheraton-Cleveland was packed to capacity when the stars made their appearance. 

Derek Taylor, the Beatles’ road manager had set forth rules for the members of the news media before their arrival and had irked many of those present with his ineffable manner.

Fortunately the Beatles were not the least bit like Taylor.  Quick to answer questions thrown by the reporters, the four sat patiently through the whole routine.  The endless pictures, the same old questions they have answered from coast to coast. 

Their educational background?  “Lousy,” they said in unions.   Do they ever reflect on their pasts?  “These thoughts only come when one is dying.” They quipped.

Having heard from a dyed-in-the-wool Beatle fan, 15 year old Bonnie Kamps of 903 Tuxedo Avenue, that everyone likes to hear about the clothes they wear, I herewith report the following:

• ·         Ringo was wearing a powder blue suit with a dark plaid shirt.
• ·         John, the handsomest of the group with really pretty reddish hair, long tho it was, was attired in a conservative black suit and matching tie.
• ·         George looked as under-nourished as his magazine pictures often show him, received his color form a pink shirt.  His suit was gray.
• ·         A dark blue suit and a light blue shirt is what Paul chose to wear for his appearance.

They all disapprove of their fans’ habit of throwing jellybeans to them on stage.  “An eye could be seriously injured in such a barrage,” they said.

Their favorite city in the U.S. is New York.  Cleveland’s police are “just fine.”  Jacksonville, Florida was not one of their high spots on the current tour.  It was much too windy when they were there, said Paul.

Do they ever quarrel?  Said John, “Of course, we argue the same as everyone else does at some time or another.”

What is the first thing they will seek when they get back to England?  “A jolly good cup of tea,” said Ringo.

The fellows were very cordial to pretty Debbie Deluca, 14, daughter of the mayor of Ashtabula, who presented them with the key to their city, but seemed to resent the chiding of a woman with a British accent who was aghast that they did not care for a game about which she inquired.

And then the press conference was over.  That was when I picked up the souvenirs and said adieu to the policemen who had patiently posed for me prior to the interviews while I experimented with various camera settings.

One of the boys in blue on duty at the Sheraton-Cleveland checking press credentials was Patrolman Ray L. Pope, husband of Parma’s Donna Pope, who ran for council last year in Ward 3.

It was fun seeing the Beatles first hand and they don’t seem like a bad lot.  Almost wish I had gotten tickets for their evening performance.