Summer 1971 in London

 Tonight I have a nice fan story written by Pamela Elijah.  It was originally published in the 1971 newsletter for members of the Beatles Fan Club in Indiana.   

England – Summer 1971

By Pamela Elijah

 

Those of you who write to me regularly know that I went to England this summer, and I have received several letters asking for details of my trip.  I thought it would be easiest to put it in this newsletter rather than trying to write all the details to everyone.  I was accompanied by Tempy Snow (Area Secretary for Vermont and Mass.).  We left Boston on June 7^th and arrived in London on the 8^th.  We both stayed with friends in Streatham, which is a section of Southern London.  Though we didn’t stay together, we were lucky enough to be within walking distance of each other.

On our first day there we learned that George was working at EMI studios on Abbey Road, producing a single for Badfinger.  So on June 9^th, we decided to go down and try to see him.  We arrived there at 5:15, only to learn that he had gone in at 5:00.  We decided to wait until he came out, and during the time we waited, we saw him come out into the hall a few times to talk on the telephone.   As it turned out we didn’t wait for him.  We left at 10:00 because it was so cold that our bodies were beginning to go numb.  (I later found out, when watching the weather on TV, that it had been the coldest June in England in 20 years!)

We went back the next day, the weather was warmer but it was raining, so we decided that if we could see him go in we’d leave then. (We had both developed colds from the night before).  There were a few people there.  Tempy and I were with Carolyn Mitchell (from Utah) and Val Furbish (She was formerly the Area Secretary for Delaware, now lives in England).  There were a couple of girls from New York and one of the Apple Scruffs.  We were all waiting patiently when suddenly the rain stopped, and just as it stopped George’s car pulled in.  One of the New York girls went up and talked to him for a few minutes.  He walked past my friends and I went up the steps.  When he got to the top, Carolyn called out to him.  He leaned down and asked what she wanted.  She was going to ask him for the lyrics to “Ain’t That Cute,” which is a song he had written for Apple artist Doris Troy.  Being very nervous, she ollked {sic] at him and said “Could you get me the lyrics to ‘Ain’t She Sweet?’”  He looked rather confused.  Val jumped up and said, “Cute!”  George then asked if they mean “Ain’t That Cute” and said he would get her the lyrics.  (He never did.)  I can’t remember what else was said, only the way he looked standing at the top of the steps.  He was wearing blue jeans, a denim jacket and cap, and a yellow shirt with Sanskrit writing on it.  He had cut his hair shorter the week before.  As soon as he went in, the rain started again.  This was all I saw of George as he left that Saturday for the States.

 

June 13^th I went with Val to see Ringo’s house.  It is in Hampstead, which is very lovely section of London.  It’s a big brick house on a quiet little street.  We played with Mr. Villoughby (Ringo’s Siamese cat) and then Martin Lickert (Ringo’s chauffeur) came out so we talked to him for a while.  We saw Zak and Jason playing in the garden.  Zak seemed very quiet, while Jason was just the opposite.  When he saw us he started to yell and scream, which caused the dogs – a poodle named Tiger and a collie named Sophie to start barking.  Jason started spitting at us, as Val said he is a “pretty normal little boy.”  Maureen must have heard all the commotion because it wasn’t long before she came out (dressed in a Superman t-shirt).  She looked very annoyed to see us, so we turned and quietly left.  IT was at this point I decided it was best not to bother them at their homes.

Paul receiving flowers from Vicky (June 15, 1971)

On June 15^th  Tempy called to tell me she found out Paul was going to be at EMI the following day and we made plans to go down.  However, later that evening I began to feel sick and found out my cold had led to tonsillitis.  So while everyone else went to see Paul, I ended up in bed.    I heard he was very nice, and Vicky Bell (from Cleveland) gave him flowers for his birthday.  He thanked her saying it was “wonderful.”

June 19^th Val, Carolyn, and I went to an all-night Beatle festival on Portobello Road.  They showed A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Yellow Submarine, and Let it Be.  They began at 11:30 pm and ended at 6:00am.  The theater was packed and it was almost impossible to find seats.  By the time the movie started every seat was taken and there were people packed in sitting in the aisles.  No one can say the Beatles aren’t popular anymore.

Since George was out of the country, we decided on June 20 to go to Henley-on-Thames to see his house and take some pictures.  It’s a beautiful place.  He has two small houses plus the huge one which you have probably seen pictures of.  He is now living in one of the smaller ones while the large one is being fixed up.  His land seems to stretch on forever with all sorts of beautiful trees and flowers.  While we were there we saw Terry Doran (George’s assistant) and Greg French (George’s cousin from Florida who is living with him).

Maureen (photo taken by Pamela Elijah) on July 1, 1971

July 1^st Tempy and I went to Apple to meet Pattie O’Neill and Mar Young.  When we got there they said Maureen was there, so we waited until she came out.  She seemed very shy.  Mar gave her a scarf and seemed very pleased with it.

July 16, John and Yoko made an appearance at the Claude Gill Bookshop to sign copies of Yoko’s book “Grapefruit” which was just released in England.  When Vicky, Tempy, and I arrived, it stretched back for blocks.  We got in line with Patti and Mar.  When John and Yoko arrived, the whole crowd surged forward.  There was no more line, just a huge mass of wall-to-wall people.  I’ve never felt so closed in all my life, as I couldn’t move a muscle for at least 15 minutes.  I nearly fainted a few times and completely lost all my friends.  Luckily, John and Yoko were safe behind a table, signing books.  After about 25 minutes I somehow grabbed a book and got out.  I later found out Tempy had been pushed right up against the table and she got to stand there and talk to John.  As people got their books they began to clear out, so by the time they left there were only a few people around.  Vicky found out from a boy who worked there that they would leave by the back entrance.   We went out and waited for them there. Besides us, there were a few girls from Denmark.  John looked wonderful, wearing black trousers and shirt and a black jacket with little flowers on it.  Yoko was wearing a red and white hot pants suit.  They signed autographs for a while and then left in John’s white limousine.

 

July 18^th – Sarah Nolte called to tell me that she had been able to get me a ticket to George’s August 1^st concert at Madison Square Garden.  So I made plans to come back early in order to get to the concert.  As it turned out I missed the concert, but I was lucky enough to see George, John and Yoko, Maureen and the children in England.  There’s so much more I could go into …the days we went to Apple…seeing Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans, and so much more.  But if I mentioned all the little things, I’d go on forever. 

Denim John in 1976

Stories about meeting John outside of the Dakota just fill me with happiness.  I hope this one makes you happy as well.

Photo by Vinnie Zuffante

Photo by Vinnie Zuffante

John Lennon

By Barb Clark

With a Little Help from my friends issue #17 (January 1977)

November 7, 1976 --NYC

Outside of John’s apartment building early that morning, we (Tempy S., Kay P, and I) met up with George Tebbens, Sharon U., and Carol and Nancy.  We all happened to be in NYC to see John and maybe George in court, for the settlement of “My Sweet Lord” vs. “He’s so Fine.”

Too cold outside to stand, we sat in our cars.  George’s car was parked in front of John’s.  We were parked across the street, wondering if he’d come out at all, it being Sunday and the weather looking down.  I kept an eye glued to the front of his house.  People came and went.  Then, there he was! I yelled, “There’s John!”  We ripped open the car doors, and not looking at the on-coming traffic, raced across the street, which explains the look on John’s face --- a bit worried that one of us would get run over.  The Chicago gang was then out of the car – John stood and signed autographs.  He looked as good as ever – dressed in jeans and a denim jacket with fur trim.  His hair was cut a bit like “Walls & Bridges” time and he was so nice.   He asked where we were all from.  I uttered “Cincinnati” under my breath.  As someone else said “Chicago,” he said “Why are you all here?”  No one answered.  Finally Kay said, “too see you.”  Yoko stood there quietly—looking a bit scared.   They posed for pictures.  John said, “Wait here, we’ll be back, you wait here, don’t follow us.”  He and Yoko turned and walked down 72^nd Street.  We watched them walk down the street.  A car had pulled out and left a parking spot almost behind George’s car, so we all spread out and stood in the space until Kay got her car.  The nanny brought Sean out for a stroll – cute as ever a getting big.  They weren’t out very long.  She took Sean back in.  We sat in our cars.  A cab pulled up alongside of us.  It was John and Yoko.  As John got out so did everyone else!  He signed autographs again.  As cameras went clicking and questions were asked, he laughed and said, “This is like a press conference!”  He wanted to know why we weren’t in school.  He was in a great mood.  A cop walked by and said, “Was that Paul McCartney?”

He came out later.  Yoko was dressed up.  They hurried and got into a cab.  We waited for them to come back.  A couple hours later they returned.  As he got out, he uttered, “You’re all crazy!”  He laughed a bit and looked up at us and repeated again, “You’re all crazy!”  As they started into the apartment he said something like, “You all go and get some rest.  We won’t be out any more tonight.”  I said “Okay John.  Goodnight.” And patted him on the shoulder.  After that we all went out and celebrated!  About 2 am we called it a night and went back to our hotel, the Holiday Inn.  About 4am this alarm went off.  I thought it was an alarm clock in the next room.  Then I woke Kay and Tempy up thinking maybe it’s a fire alarm.  I went to the door, being stopped by Tempy who wouldn’t let me open the door for anything, thinking it was a trick and someone wanted to ransack the rooms.  So we went out the patio doors.  No sign of fire.  Someone called on the phone finally and said, “get out, the place is on fire!”  A fireman came through the patio door helping us get out.  We grabbed camera first and then whatever else we could.  We went out in our pajamas and stood outside.  About 6am they sent us back to our rooms.  The fire happened to be 3 doors down from us!  We went to bed for about an hour, got up and got to the courthouse by 8a.m.  But we found out they didn’t have the trial until that afternoon.  And that George didn’t have to be there.  So we all went back to John’s.  The afternoon came.  The Chicago gang stayed at John’s while Kay, Tempy and I got a cab and went back to the courthouse only to find that George wasn’t going to show up.  The courtroom was the same one used in the promo film for “This Song.”  We got the subway back to John’s and about an hour later John arrived in a gray limo.  He signed a couple autographs and said he was tired and that he’d been at this all day.  And that was the last time we saw him.

Later we met up with Michael Stankowitz and talked a bit.  His friends and he left, and then we all went down and had pizza.  The Chicago gang then left for home.  We left the next morning.

Chicago promotion

George was a busy guy in the fall of 1976 and part of his busy schedule was to promote his new album at that time, 33 1/3.  With stops in Chicago and Boston, it was almost like a mini-tour to the fans during that time.   This story REALLY shows how managed to appear everywhere at once and stay one step ahead of one of the guys.     It sounds like a really fun time.

George 1976

Barb Clark

With a little help from my friends issue #17 (January 1977)

Knowing about the promotional party that Warner Brothers was having for George’s new album, 33 1/3 and knowing he’d show up, we—Tempy S., Kay P. and I packed our bags and drove to Chicago.  We went to O’Hare Airport thinking he’d get into town a few hours before the party.  There we met up with George Tebbens, Sharon U., and Carol or was it Nancy?  I got them mixed up.   They were sisters.  All of them were from Chicago.  We spent the day meeting all the flights coming from LA.  The flights came 15 to 25 minutes apart, which just gave us time to run to each one.  It started to get late.  The last flight we met, one guy got off with a Warner Brothers jacket on.  We thought, this is it!  The last person got off the plane.  No George.  Tebbens went home to get ready for the party.  We all went over to the hotel where George was staying and went into the lobby to wait.  Kept our eyes glued to the elevator door.  Tempy got up and moved closer.  We sat there a while.   A man came up to us and said we’d have to leave.  He asked who we were waiting for.  We didn’t answer.  He told us to go outside and stand – that he’d be coming out soon!  So we all went out front.  About 20 minutes later out George came; wearing a colored sweater, orange trousers which we later found out was a jumpsuit.   And he looked gorgeous!  Looked a bit like ’68 Yellow Sub. time.   He looked surprised to see all of us waiting for him.  He grinned that grin and said hello to everyone.  Signed some autographs, and then got into the limo and went off to the Ambassador.  We quickly got a cab.   The cab driver was cool—knew what was happening.  He said, “I think we can beat them!”  We got out, threw him some money, and stood in front of the Ambassador.  Three seconds later George arrived!  He rushed through the crowd while we stood around trying to come up with some way to get into the party.  Meantime the crowd started changing, “We want George, we want George!”  Some climbed up on the windows and looked in them – they were chased down.  Everyone still yelled, “We want George!”  And then the curtains opened and some man looked out.  Everyone yelled louder, “We want George!”  Meantime we’d met up with another friend of ours, Howard S. who had a room in there.  Everyone continued shouting “We want George!”  Finally the curtains opened and there stood George, grinning and waving to everyone.  After a b it he waved goodbye, and everyone yelled a bit louder.  It all felt like 1964 again, us yelling and him waving and grinning out the window at us all.  Finally he left the window.

Earlier a police car had arrived.  I thought they’d take us all away.  Overheard the cop saying he was there to arrest the doorman.  We did get into the hotel.  Howard having a room there, but that’s as far as we got.  They had a list of names and as you went into the party, they checked your name off.  So we didn’t get in.  Tebbens got in somehow of course.  Somehow we’d missed seeing George leave, but we all got together to celebrate what had happened, then called it a night and were to meet again the next morning in front of George’s hotel.

We met about 9am except for Howard and George.  Howard got there too late and George (as in Tebbens) had to work.  We stood around for an hour or so.  Char B. met up with us.  We all kept getting crazy remarks from the limo driver, “Why do you still do this?  “You stand out in the cold all this time?”  Someone said, “Yeah, all day if we’d have to.”  We told him where we were all from.  Tempy told him Boston, and he said “you should’ve stayed there, that’s where he’s going next.”  (You can imagine how she reacted to that.)  Kay went to put money into the meter while the limo driver watched her and said, “Is that your car?”  She said “yeah,” and the other guy with the limo driver wrote down her license plate number.  They brought out his luggage then and loaded it into the limo, and then out came George!  Looking surprised as ever, wearing a plaid tweed hat and an army jacket.  He grinned and said hello to us and got into the limo and signed some autographs.  And then the limo took off and so did we.  Tempy, Char, Kay and I ran to the car to follow him.  The limo was already 3 blocks away and almost lost in the traffic.  We had lost it earlier.  We’d found out he landed at Midway Airport in a private jet, so we took off for there.  Getting out of the traffic finally, and onto the Expressway doing about 80.  No sign of the limo.  Kay got it up to about 90.  Still no sign of the limo and then suddenly it came into sight.  We’d caught up with them!  We were all yelling and going mad.  We calmed down a bit, went off the exit with them, got a red light.  The driver looked into the rear view mirror and Kay waved at him.  George and the guy in the back seat then turned around and waved, and we slunk down into the seat.  They turned into the airport and went into a gate leading onto the field.  Tempy and Char jumped out of the car while Kay and I parked it in the middle of the road next to the gates.  WE all ran onto the field.  George was getting out of the limo and going up the stairs leading onto the plane.  He got to the top, stopped and turned around and waved to us.  We waved back and he disappeared into the plane.  Someone looked out the window, but the windows being dark, we couldn’t tell who it was.  The plane started up and we stood back watching it as it took off and disappeared from sight.  George was off for Boston and so was Tempy, as we took her to the airport.  By the way, remember the one who wrote our license number down?  He did that to clear it with the guards or whoever at the airport –otherwise, they would’ve stopped our car from following the limo up to where the plane was!

I am the Boston Walrus

I wonder why John and Yoko and Sean all went to Boston in September of 1976?   Very little seems to be known about that trip.  And it seems that a lot of photographs were taken, but not a whole lot have surfaced over the years.   

I am the (Boston) Walrus

By Tempy Snow

With a Little Help from my friends (Issue #17—January 1977)

Most of us don’t live in New York, L.A., or London and consequently we don’t get up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed every morning to go Beatle chasing.  Rather, we wait for tours and recording sessions – provided we have the appropriate bank balance for planes and trains.

Living in Boston was no exception until 1976.  Pepperland graced us with Paul in concert, George in party clothes and John….

September 16, 1976 (Thursday).  Alarm went off at 9:30 a.m.  I dragged out of bed, ate nothing and brushed teeth well because I had to be at the dentist’s at 11.  Against my will I made the dentist’s chair on time, heard the bad news about cavities and departed starving.  On my way home I stopped off at a sandwich shop and bought lunch.  As I walked back, bag in hand, I passed the Copley Plaza, one of Boston’s posh old hotels.  However, ripples of extra sensory perception did not go through my head – rather it was more like the refrains of “Just Another Day.”

Ate lunch at 12:30pm.  At 1:00 the phone rang.  It was Denny, another local Beatle freak, so cried, “I heard on the radio John Lennon came into town last night.  He’s staying at the Copley Plaza.  I’m there right now.  Come down and take pictures!”

“You’re kidding,” I said.  “My camera is broken, but if you don’t mind, I’ll come over anyway.”

He didn’t mind and I hung up thinking, good grief, what do radio stations know?  And what would the walrus be doing in Boston anyway?  We’re not the chosen hunting grounds like L.A.  But it’s in the blood, the love of excitement, adventure, hope – in other words an incurable Beatle freak.   I dropped everything and rushed over, making the 14 minute walk in 7.  Denny was standing nervously outside.  He’d heard from different sources inside the Copley that John was there and he wasn’t.  Still skeptical but all business, I suggested we stand at one corner of the hotel so we could watch the two main exit doors at once.  About 15 minutes passed.  IW as still busy peering around the corner when Denny suddenly said, ‘There he is.”

The utter calmness of his voice made me slow to turn.  I thought he meant some friend of his.  But lo and behold!  Parked out in front of the hotel was the impossible – a green station wagon, driven by a young Japanese man.  And getting out of the station wagon were John, Yoko and their nanny with Sean.  Yoko had on a long dress and John:  he looked like he had just stepped off the set of Magical Mystery Tour.  His hair was short and he was wearing those famous wire-rimmed glasses.  The only difference was that he was growing a beard and was wearing blue jeans and a denim jacket.  He also looked extremely slim, almost bordering on skinny.   George beware!  The nanny and Sean I barely glimpsed – she whisked Sean inside the hotel faster than the speed of light.

Luckily for us, John had to take time to get Sean’s pram out of the back of the car or else I know I at least would have stood there rooted to the ground in what I can only call Beatle-shock.   Denny, who’d never met John before, was the one who threw his instamatic to me, muttered, “take pictures” and walked up to John.   Denny managed to stop John by showing him a picture in one of his photo albums of John during his Plastic Ono Band days.  But John pointed to the pictures on the opposite page of George in concert and asked Denny if he had taken it.   We George fans can be lucky that John has good taste!  Then Denny asked if John would pose for picture with him and John readily agreed.  Robot like I took it of the two of them.  Then Denny asks for another one for insurance and john stops again.  I noticed Yoko was just standing there so I asked her to step in with them – Linda would have been proud of me. 

Feeling no longer like a gaping dingbat I confidently raised the camera again.  It didn’t click.  John, Yoko and Denny remained standing there staring at me.  I must have then looked like a dingbat about to commit suicide because John said to me, “Don’t panic, just take your time.”  The famous Lennon sarcasm cleared my brain and I remembered instamatics have to be wound twice for the next frame whereas 35mm cameras don’t.  I took the second picture.   I think I shook his hand after that but barely remember it.  Then I wished him a good day and in they went.

Then the freaking out started.  Denny and I must have repeated the phrase, “I don’t believe it” about 100 times between us.  I was the most stunned that for me it had happened within the span of a half an hour and in my back yard.  Seven minutes traveling time to meet a Beatle?  Unheard of.  Little did I know that exactly two months from that day, on November 16^th, I would meet George in the same hotel, with Denny and his photo album would be looked at again.

I made it to work very late and very spaced.  I called my fellow George freak, Blue, and spaced her out.  About 6 of us (including Denny and Blue) waited outside the hotel until 1 a.m. that night but the walrus was hibernating and we all finally went home to try to believe it.

September 17, 1976 (Friday) was black Friday for Blue and I.  blue had to work a day shift and I got called in early, so we both missed seeing John come out of the hotel early that afternoon and stand around talking for 10 minutes.  At least Denny was there again.  After work, I went back to the hotel and heard stories about people pounding on John’s door at 2 in the morning, so I decided not to stick around that night.  Besides, word was out that John would be leaving the next morning, so there would be one more chance to see him.  I went home and still tried to believe it.

September 18, 1976 (Satuday)—The news that there was more than beans and ancient history in Boston reached as far as Connecticut.  The Harrison Alliance drove up as well as Zig and Jim Montgomery from Springfield, Mass.  All told, over 20 people showed up Saturday morning, quite amazing that after 12 years so much power and magic remained.  Laurianne Lavallee (another George freak) and I arrived at 8am only to find other people already there waiting.  We sat around trying to look like tourists while another group waited by the elevators.  This nanny brought Sean down the elevator, took one look at the crowd and went right back up again.  I nudged Laurianne and said, “I bet she’s going to come down the back elevators,” and sure enough, they came out those and zoomed outdoors.   We decided to follow them just to see Sean but not to take pictures because I’d heard too many stories about both John and the nanny being very uptight about cameras and crowds around Sean.  Well, the nanny saw us right off and Laurianne promised “no pictures” and the nanny said, “I no trust,” and turned and fled.  Sean was beautiful though, bright-eyed and intelligent looking.  I felt like I could have held a ration conversation with him.  But we didn’t follow and we didn’t tell anyone else Sean was on the streets.  I felt devious about it but there was a limit.  Pounding at doors at 2 am and hounding a baby were beyond my capacity as a Beatle fan. 

By mid-morning the lobby was full of Beatle fans and other celebrity seekers.  The Plaza never looked so successful with us all hanging out, but that was amazing in itself.  No one hassled us for all being there; in fact, we were ignored more than anything else.  Then we got word that a couple of people had gone up to sit outside John’s room.  We were gnashing our teeth at how that placed us all in jeopardy when they came down again.  Our relief didn’t last long.  A short while later someone got the bright idea to call the room, and Yoko answered.  From what I heard that Yoko said, I gather she was pleasant but disgusted – something about “John can’t get any sleep and you’re bothering us, but bless you anyway.”  Ten points for Yoko!  Needless to say, right after that we all got kicked out of the lobby.  There we were suddenly out in the cold and wind, getting ulcers trying to watch the Copley’s three exit doors at once.  The head Blue Meanie couldn’t have done any better to spread misery in Pepperland, but we gritted our teeth and played the fan game the best we could—thanks to the few who still wanted to play it the 1964 way. 

When a few people went back inside to go to the bathroom and didn’t get bothered, I decided after a while I better make the trip too.  I went in the back door just not to be so obvious.  As I came out of the bathroom who should I see but the nanny and Sean coming in once more.  I melted into the telephone booths pretending I didn’t see them and watched them go up the elevator.  Then I went out and passed John’s driver going in!  Parked outside the back door was the green station wagon.  And on the corner up the street were 20 or more people staring at the car and me!  It was kind of a freak out to bop out a door and see a crowd in a sense waiting for you.

After that, A Hard Day’s Night played at the Copley Plaza.  Richard Lester couldn’t have directed it any better.  John’s driver went in and out several times on errands.  Each time he’d drive away we’d circle the hotel again and again trying to spot him when he returned and each time he did, two dozen people would run like bats out of hell for that doorway.  I was just about to buy a pair of track shoes and audition for the Olympics when the driver came out the back door for the final time and drove to the front.  The sidewalks burned as we all screeched after him.  Then while we caught our breath, bellboys started loading John’s luggage into the car, covered with a white furry rug.  A hundred pictures got taken of a bunch of suitcases and a rug.

Then the driver takes off around the corner to the other side door and knowing that this was the end of the long morning, we panted after him.  Cameras were raised, shaking cigarettes were lit and everyone’s eyes were glued to the door.  Well, almost everyone’s.  Someone saw John and family thought he windows coming out of a hotel restaurant.  I got up to the window in time and got a good glimpse of John standing around with Sean in his arms, still wearing blue jeans and a denim jacket.  Then suddenly the nanny, Yoko and John came walking out, John still holding Sean in his arms.  Shades of Paul with Mary during “Ram” recording days in New York!  The mob closed in on them but luckily people only took pictures.  I never saw Yoko except for the back of her head as she got into the car but I caught a good view of the famous Lennon profile as he threaded his way to the car.  Once John was in the car, it was surrounded.  The driver managed to take off only to be caught by a red light 30 feet away.  Everyone madly ran out into the street and surrounded them again.  I’m sure the people driving in the back of John’s car are still wondering to this day just what the chase scene was with the green station wagon in front of them!

Of course, being incurable, I was right in the middle of it and managed to get up to the window opposite John.  I’ll never forget seeing Sean sitting beside him, still so bright-eyed and intelligent looking.  People were pounding on the windows and even screaming but the only reaction I saw John give was to Blue, only I didn’t know it was her at the time.  She was up against the window almost beside me, in Beatle-shock, and her attempt to wave became limp-wristed.  John gave her a limp-wristed wave back!  We nearly died laughing about it later.

The light finally decided to change and off they went, back to New York, probably wondering where stately old Boston coughed up so many Beatlemaniacs.  Blue, Laurianne and I went off down the street arm in arm crying over and over, “He was so beautiful!”  Blue and Laurianne were especially freaked as neither of them had ever seen John before.  And to this day, I still don’t know why he was here.  The most circulated story was that he was visiting friends in a suburb.  But whatever the reason, it could happen again.  London, L.A. and New York eat your hearts out!