Meeting George Harrison

[Freda_Peeple]

Hi!

I found this story, which was originally written in Spanish, a long time ago and decided to translate it for those who haven't already read it. (According to the website (http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/harrison/spanish/page8.html) where I found it, this account has been published in the Beatlefan and The Harrison Alliance publications, presumably in English, though I couldn't find their versions online.) I don't know the author and can't vouch for the authenticity of the story, though it sounds plausible to me and I think the photos (http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/harrison/spanish/page8.html) give it some verisimilitude. (The first two captions, incidentally, read "Photos courtesy of Javier and Silvia.") I made the decision while translating to try to make this as close to a word-for-word translation as I could, to ensure that the message was conveyed faithfully, even at the expense of some fluidity. Two more notes: In the original version the author used quotation marks only for his own statements, never for George's; and the links in the text below (3) were added by me, not the author. Enjoy!

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[I had to split this post in two because of the word count limit. It continues below...]

[Freda_Peeple]

Hello friends,

Last Friday when I heard the sad news about George, all I could bring myself to do was send you a brief message, with profound pain, in which I promised that I would share with everyone our wonderful encounter with him two years ago in Henley-on-Thames, right at the door of his home, Friar Park.

My wife Silvia and I had a wonderful conversation with him for almost 20 minutes that was without a doubt the best experience of our lives and which we will never forget. There we confirmed what we had already thought about him--we met an absolutely simple, humble man with a sense of humor and with GREAT inner peace, which he transmitted to us as we were chatting.

Silvia and I would like for this humble account to serve as a sort of tribute to someone who changed our lives dramatically and beautifully, making us better people, bringing us a ton of joy, from our childhood to the present day. There isn't a single beautiful memory from our childhood that isn't associated with him or the Beatles. GOD BLESS YOU, GEORGE! YOU HAVE ONLY LEFT PHYSICALLY!!!

Our Encounter with George Harrison in Friar Park -May 23, 1999-

Sunday May 23, 1999, on vacation in England, we arrived at the town of Henley-on-Thames. My wife and I decided to go there with the much-longed-for-but-remote-at-that-moment idea of seeing George. We knew that we would probably have to settle for stopping outside and just taking photos of the house, but even that, for us, was well worth it.

We got to Friar Park in the afternoon and when we recognized that famous big gate with its golden plaque, we began to take pictures and admire the immensity of the ground's expanse and the woods inside.

I should clarify that the mansion where George lives is impossible to see from outside since the land is covered with large trees and plants and his house is far away from the main entrance. What you see from outside is simply the house where the domestic staff lives.

After taking a few photos, my wife and I decided to walk along one of the palisades that surround the expanse of Friar Park, and after a few minutes of walking, we began to hear a noise in the woods that sounded like footsteps on dry leaves. We looked inside and we saw the shadow of a man standing and watching us, half-hidden (I must point out that the grounds are uneven so George was watching us from a level which was higher than our own). By then it was well into the evening and we were the only ones walking down that narrow street at that hour. We were talking in Spanish, and that, I believe, caught his attention. We recognized his shadow right away --IT WAS HIM!!! I started to shout to him and he said very timidly, "Huh? Who's there?"

"George!!! We came from Argentina just to try to see you!!! We have a present for you!!! Please, could you give us just one minute?"

"What kind of present?"

"It's a t-shirt. It's for you!!!"

At first he appeared to be a bit uncertain about us and you could tell that he was trying to make sure that we were trustworthy.

Then I remembered to tell him about another gift that I had sent him in the mail several months earlier, for which he in return had sent me another gift: nothing less than a gold pin with the "Om" symbol on it and a card with words from Swami Sivananda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Sivananda).

This is what I reminded him: "George, I sent you a video of Juan Manuel Fangio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Manuel_Fangio) a few months ago, and I know that you received it because your office responded by sending me this pin and a card." Then he smiled and said the magic words: "Okay... Come to the gate!!" We couldn't believe our ears and wondered, "Seriously?" and again smiling he said, "Yes, yes, to the main entrance [of the gate]!"

That was the most exciting moment of our lives and we remember running there as if in a dream. We were about to meet one of the men who shaped us and who we grew up with.

George arrived at the entrance driving one of those carts that you use on golf courses, and we said to him, "Nice car, George!!!" "Yes it is, isn't it?" Then with a big smile he took out his keys and opened a smaller gate right next to the big gate and shook hands with us.

We began to tell him how important he had been for us, not just because of his music but for his words and his way of thinking, and that we learned to be better people because of him.

He smiled and said, "Thank you very much! Thanks for having listened to my music. A lot of people listen to stupid music nowadays, music that doesn't make any sense."

We talked about the video that I sent him in the mail a while ago and about the pin and the card that he sent me. He said, "Sometimes I prefer to send something better than a simple autograph. The Om and Swami Sivananda's words help people feel better because each one is special and you all are [too]." We continued talking about different subjects and we also gave him our gift: a t-shirt with an illustration of downtown Buenos Aires on it, which he looked at carefully and he asked us where it was. We told him that it was an important area of... "Oh!!! Of Buenos Aires, right?", and our faces lit up and we told him, "Yes!!! Buenos Aires!!!" "Thank you very much, but you really don't need to give me anything." "We know, but since we live so far away, this is a way of feeling a little closer to you." He smiled and said, "OH, okay, thank you!!"

He asked us about our country and what life was like in Buenos Aires, then he asked us how long we were going to stay in Henley and if we had visited other places in Europe.

He laughed when we told him that we had been in Hamburg, on the Grosse Freihet and the Reeperbhan. "That was ages ago!!", he said between smiles. And we talked about the similarity between the Red Light district in Amsterdam and the one in Hamburg, which he agreed with.

He told us that he had never been to Argentina and that the only South American country he knew was Brazil, when he was there along with Emerson Fittipaldi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQKCr5B1XtY) in 1979, in the municipality of Guaruja.

In the middle of our chat, we asked him about his health (for a while back then he had been receiving some treatment for the first tumor he had in his throat). When we asked him, he told us, "Oh, I'm fine now. Thank you very much! I was in America recently getting several tests done and the doctors told me that I am OKAY!!!" He appeared to be grateful that we'd bothered to ask him and we couldn't believe how down to earth he was!!!

After a little more chatting, Silvia and I began to feel that it was time to say goodbye, and then we asked him if we could take a picture with him, to which he kindly said, "OH, of course!!! One photo each!!!"

During the process of taking the pictures, we had a small problem with one of the cameras and he offered to take a look at it, which was very fun because he joked with us, saying that we weren't good photographers. Finally, my wife and I had our respective photos with him, and then it really was time to say goodbye.

George shook our hands again, but I couldn't help myself and I gave him a big, sincere hug and he hugged me back very warmly. He did the same with my wife Silvia, to whom he also gave a kiss.

Finally, we said to him, "For you this is perhaps a very small moment in your life, but it isn't for us!!! We will never forget this moment for the rest of our lives!!!" "OH!!! That's a bit much, isn't it?" "No, George, not at all!!"

"OKAY, thank you. Bye!!!"

"Bye, George! Take care!!!"

He went in and closed the gate, and just before getting in the golf cart again, he turned around, and waving our gift in his hand, he said, "Thanks again!!!" "No, thank you, George!!!" Then we stayed there, watching as he parted down the path and disappeared in the density of the woods.

Less than six months later, a mentally ill man managed to break into Friar Park, attacking and seriously wounded George, who was saved by his wife Olivia. That put an end to any other slim hope of meeting him again.

From then on it seems that things began to get worse for George; his health subsequently began deteriorating due to cancer. My wife and I were lucky enough to return to England in April of this year and to visit Friar Park again, but everything had changed. While we were in London, the front pages of all the newspapers reported that George had a new tumor in his lung and a small part of it had been surgically removed.

In spite of that, we went back to Henley and managed to speak through the gate to one of the men he hired for security and hand him a book in English about plants and trees native to Argentina, which the man very kindly promised to deliver to him, in addition to a letter with the photos that we took with him during the last trip.

We're left with the consolation that it might have interested him, since gardening was such a dear subject to him.

Well, friends, this has simply been our wish to share our experience with you who love him as much as we do.

Best regards,

Javier and Silvia

[FPSHOT]

This is so precious and beautiful to read, thank you very very much for taking the time for this.

It is heartwarming :smile1:

[edubeltran]

Lovely story indeed, George was so humble and it must have been such a experience to know him,,,

I hve myself the same golden Pin with the OM symbol and the card , sent by his office in an orange envelope, dated 25th September 1998. This was a reply to a letter by me in which I explained how some of his songs, firstly discovered by me in the Beatles Anthology and afterwards some of his solo songs, particularly the All Things must pass album had helped me greatly in a particularly difficult moment of my live

RIP GEORGE

[OzBeatleFan]

What a wonderful story to read, especially on Christmas Eve.

Makes you wonder who these so-called "Pop Stars" think they are, with their oversized sunglasses and endless bodyguards and unreasonable demands.

Here is a legend, who helped shape music from the very early days, taking time out to just be a genuinely nice person. Don't get much of that these days. RIP George, we all miss you.

[starstruck]

I know a few people who had the gorgeous pin and card sent to them. Wasn't he a sweetie?

He used to go and see Ravi Shankar at the Barbican, and one year a friend of mine also went to see Ravi. She was sat reading the sports pages, and happened to be reading the formula 1 news where upon a little voice asked for the results...it was George! How mad is that?

I know he's gone in body, but he's still around with us. You could just feel his spirit at Concert For George as well...

[Harbidge]

And that's just a few of the many reasons why George is my hero.

[beatlebangs1964]

This is a lovely and heart warming story. No doubt people who were fortunate enough to listen to George and get into serious conversations with him were enriched by fresh and different perspectives. If there is one thing I just can't stand, it's an echo chamber, that is, fawning agreement. I hate that. This is a beautiful demonstration of a deeply enriching conversation where everybody came away with some fresh insights.

There is a video of George singing "Fittipaldi" to the tune of "Here Comes the Sun."

[Starshyne]

I read this story when it was originally published in Beatlefan magazine. It was really nice to be able to read it again now. I love hearing stories of when fans got to meet the Beatles.