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| Photos taken by Pat Dees, September 1983 |
The Man
By Pat Dees and Kathy Jones
With a Little Help From My Friends
October 1983
Three strikes, you're out? Can lightning strike thrice? All these thoughts ran through my mind as I headed for London to see Paul on September 23, 1983. Having met Paul on September 23, 1973, and 1977, I was hoping for number three. That's probably what steered my friend Kathy and me off the plane and straight for AIR, even before we checked into our hotel, just storing our luggage and running.
Well, we missed Paul by about an hour. After talking to the security guards at AIR, we decided to come back about 4o'clock and hopefully catch him leaving. After arriving back there, I saw Doylene (from the McCartney Observer) and headed for her. After some discussions, she advised us that Paul had usually gone out the back, where some girls were waiting. Some guy who had been there with them came up to talk and suddenly said that Paul must be coming out as the girls were running. We started walking casually and broke into a run. We both headed for the corner with identical thoughts. "Dang, we missed him. Oh well, maybe we'll see him in the car." We rounded the corner and stopped with a jolt. He was still there! We had done it! Exactly six and a half hours after our plane touched down, we were seeing Paul.
My first thought was, "He's so grey," and as he turned our way, "He's aged." Well, we can't account for the sudden transformation, but as he started walking our way and smiled, he dropped 10 years right in front of us. We could not believe the transformation!
I asked if I could take a picture, and Kathy asked if he would be back Monday. We thought he said "Yes." As he passed us, I remembered that I decided that if I see him walk away. I'd use my movie camera. I barely got the camera up as he crossed the street, and when he turned and started waving, I nearly dropped it.
After we discussed it all, we realized that similar thoughts had crossed our minds about the grey hair and aging, and as it was Kathy's first time, we particularly loved her reaction. We then jokingly decided that now that he'd seen us three, he'd get his hair styled and colored. It was the laugh of the weekend. Little did we know that Monday he would arrive with a new hairstyle and color! Honestly!
Monday we met with Laurie Ross, a pal of ours from Canada, who had yet to see him on this trip. We were there with Doylene, another friend, a girl from Brazil, and a few others. We stood at the favorite spot on Oxford Torinos. I spotted the green Mercedes, and as it was a block away, I walked to the edge of the street to check the license, and then calmly told everyone he was coming. Well, as a car turned around the corner, after stopping at the light, none of us saw Paul in it. Where had he gone? We ran around like a bunch of nuts, trying to figure where he disappeared to.
When someone spotted him standing on the walk in the middle of the street, he began crossing the street. As one by one, we saw him grinning away. He must have been standing there watching us make fools of ourselves. After saying hello to the first group, he headed for the three of us. What followed was such bedlam that none of us could recall exactly what was said, but luckily we had a tape recorder on.
Kathy handed Paul our gift: a special certificate we had gotten him.
Paul: For me? Thank you.
Kathy: Please look at it.
Paul: Sure, I'll look at them all.
Kathy: It has your name on it.
Pat: Paul, can we have a picture taken with you? (As she hands her camera to Laurie)
Paul, hearing both of them talk at once: Sure, I will look at them all. Sure, a quick one over here.
Kathy: (as he answers) Can I have an autograph?
Paul: Over here (heading for the doorway)
Like Pied Pipers, we all followed him.
Someone: Did Linda have a nice birthday?
Paul: Yeah, lovely.
An unknown voice: Can I have a hug?
Paul (singing): Noooooooo
As I (Pat) stood next to Paul, I bumped into him and immediately felt this was a crime and very wrong.
Pat: I'm sorry.
Paul: Yeah.
(Pat grabs his arm. *I couldn't believe later that I did that!*) I didn't mean to bump into you.
Paul: (Softly) I know.
This is now Kathy: I went up and stood next to him for a picture. Laurie took it, and Pat went back and took another. So I stayed there next to him. Afterwards, I stayed watching him do the autographs for me and the Brazilian girl. As Pat handed him her picture to sign, his hand shot out for another pen. So I obliged, giving him mine back. He said "Thank you." As I stood watching him, I was holding my camera, but it never occurred to me to take a picture. Guess I was just too caught up in his presence, and standing next to him for that brief moment probably meant more to me than a picture. What amazed me was what it was like. I was standing next to an old friend, and I didn't feel nervous. He seemed to have a calming effect on me.
This is Pat: The last sighting came on Thursday. Although we all thought that Paul would be back the next day, this time he was spotted walking about half a block away, in that head and shoulders down strut and that grin on his face. We had a new face with us-an English girl.
This is now Kathy: I just wanted to thank him for being so nice to us, and he said, "Oh, that's okay." I continued, "We really appreciate it." All the while, patting his arm. Melanie and I sort of pushed the newcomer toward him. It was her day. I had given her a used envelope for him to sign on the back. He had an uneven surface, which, as it turned out, made it hard for him to write on. This girl was really getting excited at finally meeting him, and he was doing his best to calm her down.
Unfortunately, most of this went right over our heads. As he was signing, he had written all but about two letters of his name when he saw it was going off the envelope. He said, "I'll do it again." Then, as he finished and handed it to her, he said, "Two for the price of one." He grinned and added, "That will be two and three." As he put out his hand.
As he finished up and headed for the door, Pat decided to thank him, and he stopped again, grinning and bending forward. He told her there was no need to thank him; it was all right. It is hard to describe the feelings I had meeting Paul after having been a fan for so many years, I always expected him to look gorgeous, and naturally, I was impressed with that. But what really impressed me the most was the human aspect of this encounter. He is a real human being and a special one at that.
This is Pat: I second what Kathy said. Also, being there those days and seeing several other little incidents that are too long and too detailed to get into here, we found Paul to be a very warm and caring human being, and doubt there are many other celebrities out there that could ever fill his shoes. When it comes to his fans, he'll always be the most caring and number one to us. Thanks, Paul, for being the man.
