Encounters, sightings, letters and more of the 1970-1980 variety

"I used to see John Lennon walking the streets of West 72nd Street. Sometimes when I was working days, I’d be working West 72nd and John would walk the streets with (son) Sean on his back on a little knapsack type of thing and go into the stores. Nobody would bother him. He’d be very polite, 'Good afternoon, officer.' And that’s why he loved New York. Because people respected his privacy and that’s what was great about it. He loved it there."

Found this about the Hongs of San Mateo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08bcjames.html

Originally Posted by wildewoman

Found this about the Hongs of San Mateo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08bcjames.html

Thank's for the nice story; I'm not sure if I've read about this encounter before... anyway, I don't mind reading such pleasant articles twice

Snoopy

From the Meet the Beatles for Real blog:

The Boston Globe (9/16/76) had a 1 paragraph bit about a “Beatle in Boston”. It stated that John Lennon had come to town for 3 days to visit some friends in Brookline (a nearby suburb) and was staying at the Coply Plaza Hotel. I called the Coply immediately, though I knew it wouldn’t do any good, and sure enough, they denied it and said that the Globe had received a false report. They said a “Mr. Lennon never even checked in at the hotel.” Sure, sure!

I called up a friend of mine and over we went. (I live in East Boston so the Coply Plaza in downtown Boston is only about 5 minutes away). Of course the people at the front desk denied it again, however they underestimated my deviousness. When the desk clerk turned his back, I flipped his check-in book to the day before and borrowed the check-in slips. Out the door I went to examine them and lo and behold, a Lennen (with an e), John, had checked into a suite and adjoining rooms went to Miss Nishizaka (the nanny) and Mr. Nishe (assistant).

Now e had to find which suite it was (The Coply has 6 floors with 5 suites on each). Through process of elimination we found his suite on the 6th floor (according to a chambermaid who saw “A Chinese lady” go into it). And so we waited. We waited about 20 minutes and since it was mid-day, we figured he was out and decided to come back. We walked to the elevator and (I know this sound unbelievable) but out came John and Yoko, the nanny and baby Sean.

I said hello and John responded. We walked together back to the suite and John seemed very concerned about how we had found out they were there. When I mentioned that it was in the Boston Globe, boy did you ever see a Beatle get mad! “Oh bullshit, Jesus Christ!” And other such gems came from him.

At this point we got to the room and John was so angry he didn’t even say goodbye, just opened the door and went in still cursing. Yoko turned to us before going in and said, “Please don’t tell anyone you saw us love.” I promised we wouldn’t (until they had left Boston of course.)

All I could think of after leaving was that we didn’t have any pictures or autographs, so I decided to go back the next day.

On the next day I came prepared with camera, a “Save Lennon” button and the cover of The Write Thing with John’s picture and “We Won.”

We waited about 30 minutes this time (it was around noon) and while we waited my friend and I were drinking beer and eating lunch right outside their room! I was annoyed at how nobody was there beside us, either upstairs or downstairs in the main lobby. Everybody probably believed the Copley’s denials. (And then I found out later that it came over the radio that a “false rumor had started that John Lennon was in Boston.” Sure!)

Anyway John and Yoko came out with John carrying Sean and was surprised to see us. I said, “I told you we wouldn’t tell anybody, didn’t I?” And John said, “Yeah, thanks. Nobody has really bothered us.” Then he added, “I do have a life you know.” Before I could feel bad about that last remark, John noticed my pen and cover of the newsletter and said, “Do you want me to sign that?” I said yes and he did without even noticing the “We won” until I showed it to him. “Hey, great thanks a lot,” he said when I gave him the “Save Lennon” button. My friend asked if we could take some pictures and John said, “Sure, let’s be doing it instead of talking about it.” (Yoko was busing chasing down a chambermaid to open the door again because she had left the bathroom window open.) While snapping pictures I asked John if we should expect a new album soon and he said sort of tongue in cheek, “No, not soon. I’m putting some ‘heavy thought into this one.’” My friend grabbed a not-finished beer and took a few gulps and noticed John was watching us. He asked if John would like one and before he could answer, Yoko said, “No he doesn’t. Really thank you.” John said, “No thanks a lot.” John was really friendly and asked if we were form Boston and said to my friend, “You look Irish.” (which de does)..”but you don’t” (which I guess I don’t!)

We walked to the elevator together and went downstairs where a young man (about 21) was waiting with a large portrait of John from the Sgt. Pepper days. He gave it to him and he said thanks. A beat-up old green station wagon pulled up and John hopped in the front with the portrait and Yoko; the nanny and Sean got in the back. Before leaving, John rolled down the window and said to me and my friend, “Take it easy, man and thanks for the hush.” Smiled and waved. Goodbye John and thanks for just being.

You know throughout the whole time I was chatting with him, I did get the feeling that perhaps I was invading his privacy. John was a bit abrupt at first, but I will say, when he realized just how much it meant to me to be in his presence he became much more friendly and accommodating. It’s weird, you feel a bit guilty about bothering him because you know how much fan-following he has, but for true Beatle nuts like myself, a Beatle in your hometown means you’ve got to get him into your life!

Poor John. Some people really have no sense of boundaries, I guess.

The photo is a hoot. Looks like Sean's trying to grab that guy's chest hair or something.

I kind of feel bad about that encounter! It's so awesome, really, but I just can't fathom going to that extreme. However, John reacted a LOT better than some of these a-hole celebrities with 1/3rd his talent. He wasn't happy, but he certainly was approachable and downright kind to these stalkery fans.

And the picture is a classic. Sean is like, "GTFO you large ogre."

You're both right that that anecdote really demonstrates what John (and all the other Fabs) had/have to deal with on a daily basis. And when you consider just how gracious they all have been (and John especially, lbh) with this unimaginable daily invasion of their privacy, you have to admire them even more. Even Ringo, with his "I don't give autographs" thing (which I totally get, btw), is unbelievably gracious with the public. I dunno... it makes me proud to be a Beatles fan.

Didn't Paul recently say something along the lines of how being famous is MUCH worse these days than it was before the millennium? I had been thinking that for the last few years... When you think of the Fabs and their Apple Scruffs waiting for them outside EMI Studios and walking with Paul to his home on Cavendish Avenue... or about all those teenaged girls with adventurous spirits who would just randomly knock on the door at Kenwood... I mean, it boggles the mind, dunnit? You couldn't do that nowadays, could you?

So, I guess in the grand scheme of things, this little Boston fanboy story seems more nefarious than it really was... but it still must have been creepy to deal with it every damn day of your life.

Yes, and then there was Paul Goresh, who conned his way into John's homeposing as a VCR repairman. John ruined his first roll of film in a fit of very understandable pique, but ended up being a walking buddy to this guy.

And even Jack Douglas and his friggin' hidden mics during the Double Fantasy sessions--Ok, so John eventually found out and let it happen, but it bothers me to no end that Douglas went behind John's back and set up that crap and secretly taped John without his knowledge. I would have fired that guy in a nanosecond.

But yet...the paparazzi are MUCH more intrusive than they have EVER been. TMZ, phone cameras--anyone can film anything, anyone, at any time.

I think it was in that boring James Taylor video that 4iiiis posted somewhere that James talked about how John was very understanding about the costs of fame. He knew that he had asked for that kind of fame and adulation, so he wasn't going to fight or complain about it. Of course, he could get annoyed as hell at times, but if he saw the person was just a fanboy/girl, I think he must have felt an obligation to be kind to them. Because he could relate, having been a "normal" person himself... and because he was deeply compassionate when it came down it.

The Windmill House

It was the summer of 1972. A couple of years earlier Rosa Burke Perez had completed construction of the hillside home that she and her then-husband, Neil E. Davis, had built a few blocks from downtown Mill Valley. Winding circularly, this unique all-redwood house has no right angles, a dozen levels, and 18 stained glass windows.



On the afternoon of June 23rd, her youngest daughter’s 5th birthday, Rosa was saying goodbye to small party guests when the phone rang. It was Diane Nilson, an acquaintance who knew that in a week Rosa and her four children were traveling to Mexico.

“I know someone who might want to rent your house while you’re gone,” Diane said. “It has a lot of privacy, doesn’t it? Because they’re very famous. You can’t tell anyone…it’s John and Yoko.”



It turned out that Diane was a friend of Peter Bendrey, who had just driven John and Yoko on a two-week trip from New York to San Francisco. Now staying in a Japantown hotel, they had decided to rent a house for a month. Diane asked if she and Peter could come over that evening after a customarily late dinner with John and Yoko in Sausalito.

When Rosa answered the expected knock on her front door, there, to her astonishment, stood John Lennon.

“Hi, I’m John,” he said, as a group of five filed in. “This is Yoko. This is Peter…Diane…Elliot.” (Elliot Mintz, radio personality and press representative.) John was wearing a black jacket with a button that said, “I’m crazy.”



As Rosa gave them a tour of the house, her young daughters tumbled out of a bedroom. She introduced the girls, then remembered that she couldn’t reveal the names of her celebrated guests. She looked beseechingly at John, who introduced himself and Yoko as “Fred and Ada Schwartz.”

When they all stepped out onto the master bedroom deck, John gazed out and said, “It’s like living in a windmill. I always wanted to live in a windmill.” Elliot would later refer to it as The Windmill House.



After the tour they retired to the living room for almost an hour. A distinctly sweet smell soon filled the air. Peter did the rolling, and John was visibly appreciative.

The deal had been struck. Rosa would begin her Mexican vacation a couple of days early, and John and Yoko and Peter moved in on June 28th, 1972. On August 1st they autographed an album for their hosts and departed. When Rosa returned, she quickly checked to see if John had taken her hint: Having recently begun writing graffiti on her bathroom wall, she left pens handy. Something had indeed been added. In what looked like John’s handwriting were the words “The maya the merrier!” (‘Maya,’ Sanskrit for ‘create,’ means ‘illusion’ in Hinduism and Buddhism.)

...and here's a comment about that Mill Valley house article. The commenter's name is Louise Wright.

Hi
I was in this house with John, Yoko and Elliot Mintz. Elliot was and is a good friend and we met one evening to have dinner at Soupcon, a tiny restaurant (suggested by me) in Sausalito. The house was very near Mill Valley Library the street over (meaning the street behind Old Mill
School ( Lovell)and up the hill a bit. John and Yoko had been staying at the Miyako Hotel in Japantown previous to renting this place. The dinner at Soupcon was interesting- someone found out John was there and he graciously spoke to the caller on the phone. We had a great time and had one of every dessert, which was very unusual to me- at that time a young health-food type. I met John and Yoko in various places over the years, with Elliot, who is still a dear friend. PS- Yoko, who suffered so much bad press, was and is an amazing, warm woman. And John was incredibly funny and intelligent (with a healthy dose of cynicism). Both were always so welcoming to me.

Here's something interesting from a Dakota regular. It's an article from a 1978 edition of The Harrison Alliance, and it's got proof that Yoko not only allowed Julian to see his father but that she actually spent time with him herself:

Recently a counterpart, Jeri Moll, and myself spent Yoko’s birthday (Feb 18 1978) bearing our good wishes in person and were obliged by our dear Mr. Lennon himself who voluntarily stood to chat with us on his doorstep in the midst of a small snowstorm! It seems Mr. L. by far enjoys our company most when we are of our best appearances with our heads wrapped in scarves and pursuing the “wet look” in spite of it all. John was in great humor despite the weather, whimsical really, and looking terrific in a lovely fur jacket (white with black and tan splotches) complete with eskimo hood, which he wore up the whole time just to slay us! He graciously acknowledged our birthday wishes to Yoko and suggested too that she be even more pleased if we should deliver them directly, as she’d be along. (Yoko and Sean’s nanny were still a good ways down the street, likely having stopped to check out a store window or whatever, while dad and Sean had gone on ahead.) Sean is once again a real angel – a joy watching him toddle about, and very responsive, give us a big “Hiiiii” when we said hello to him, and proceeded to hold out for us to see, a little paper valentine heart he was holding. We were knocked out at how freely John let us indulge ourselves with the baby as he’s usually for the most part more protective and cautious with him, not to mention watch his chest swell as he mused over his little one. Yoko and the nanny followed after sometime and seemed pleased to be able to thank us for our sentiments of the day. Again, we hope you had a happy, Yoko! And thanks especially to John for giving us so much time in such nasty weather!

Julian was in town for nearly all of January, visiting the folks. While here he took in “The Magic Show” at the Cort Theater with Yoko and also, with Dad this time, took in a Central Park gig by a band called “Riff-Raff.” We hear he and Dad put the mountains of snow in the park to good use and also that he loves his lil brother’s company to no end! Julian’s also looking more like John than ever, right down the wire rimmed specs he now sports! Presently he attends Ruthlin School in N. Wales and along with some of his mates had formed a band which plays only Beatles numbers!

We have recently learned that John has purchased 140 acres of property in upstate New York and “an undisclosed number of cows” with plans of establishing himself a dairy farm! This is apparently more than rumor, as neighbors in the area have already been quoted as saying it seems a lovely idea and an effort of getting back to nature, perhaps. John himself recently elaborated by saying the family plans to use the farm as a summer place, so we are now safely assuming that top priority of this project is Not his simply tacking all these innocent cows single-handedly. Then again these lads of ours have always been apt to surprise us, so your guess is as good as ours!

Julian was never allowed to be with his Dad! Yoko treated Julian like crap!!! She deliberately kept him away!!!!! Cyn said that!

And besides, John spent that entire year in bed!!! That's what the tarot reader said!

(turn sarcasm off)

Unless it's Howard Zinn doing the writing, I don't have a lot of use of historical revisionism, although it's apparently working for Mitt the Twit. Which is another subject altogether.

Thank you for positing this story, Maia!

Originally Posted by wildewoman

Julian was never allowed to be with his Dad! Yoko treated Julian like crap!!! She deliberately kept him away!!!!! Cyn said that!

lmfao ~ I know... shocker, eh??

Originally Posted by wildewoman

Unless it's Howard Zinn doing the writing, I don't have a lot of use of historical revisionism, although it's apparently working for Mitt the Twit. Which is another subject altogether.

A Zinn reference... brilliant! I'm feeling a little better after Joe let Eddie Muster have it tonight, though...

Andrew Sullivan is in NYC now, completely melting down. He panics me, these days....I catch his anxiety just reading him.

I hope tomorrow goes well...

Sullivan was a little crazy on Maher this week, too... even though it's finally over and we've won!

Just bumpin' this thread. Hope it'll inspire someone to post a new encounter...

From the June 1979 issue of The Harrison Alliance, as reprinted by the Meet The Beatles for Real blog:

Hi gang! Hope all’s well. We’ve been enjoying the return of the Spring AND the Lennons, seeing them nearly each weekend. On March 21st the family and our friend who doubles as Lennon Music’s Secretary/nanny to Sean, left for a 3 week vacation in Florida (John gets these cravings for Disney World…). They were joined down there by Julian, who had flown down on holiday from school, stayed at a private house they’d rented, and did lots of swimming and sunning. The arrived home again on the 12th of April.

Before and since their holiday, as well as Dad giving us plenty of attention and vice versa, we’ve been lucky to be spending lots of playtime with Sean, with him keeping us equally amused. Recently, with grown-up-like sincerity, he told us about a birthday party he’d missed out on because a playmate, the birthday girl, got sick. According to Sean, he couldn’t go because “she had chickenpops!” (Rolling his eyes, then shaking his head emphatically and adding), “but they didn’t eat the chickenpops, cause they’re no good for you. They make you sick, jerkies!” At that point he broke into giggles and leaned so far backwards he went right on him little behind! Relating the story of Mom and Dad later, they cracked up and thought it was cute too. John’s been pretty cute and whimsy himself lately. Just yesterday (May 24th) he and Sean spend a full half hour with me and a friend sitting outside on his front step while one of our hard-working doorman pals tried to get them a cab. It was a cloudy day with rain threatening, so taxis were almost non-existent. John, his disposition as sunny as ever, was not the least bit impatient and just sat back with Sean cuddled between his knees, entertaining us to no end with his whistling, joking and small-talk (which covered everything from his Auntie Mimi to Sesame Street!). It was wonderful – we could’ve been in heaven! Later, on their return, he brought Sean (this time sound asleep cradled in his arms) over to us to let us see how sweet he looked. We chatted for a while, stroking the baby’s head, til John thought perhaps his arms were tiring and it was at best “time to go in and have our nap – together – with Bill Boggs.” (Bill Boggs being the host of the news program “Mid-day live!” –John and his TV of course!)

We also saw and spoke to him later with Yoko, when they went out for some groceries on the way back. Each time John initiated most of the chit chat! He was just so warm and funny and what a joy watching him to tenderly snuggling and playing with Sean. His happiness just radiates from him and he leaves you with such a nice happy feeling inside. As always, Yoko was lovely.

Another cute one? Having become big Robin Williams fans, THA pal Jeri and I also recently got a ribbing form John, who when he spied our rainbow suspenders, kidded us saying, “Ya look like Mork and Mindy!” (He loves the show to and you bet that line slayed us!) Well, one point for John, but we still lead! I gave him a pair, explaining that now he could really be one of the gang and he was tickled pink, to put it mildly, and he went spare over them (He is thirty-eight going on five!) Shazbot! And welcome to second childhood.

We can tell you that the Lennons have been somewhat into antique collecting lately- a good investment project. They’ve bought some furniture, and John just recently picked up an old fashioned shortwave radio. Among recent non-antique purchases, John’s now the owner of a new Mercedes station wagon, few of which are to be sold in the U.S. A real necessity, considering John almost always travels by limo service or taxi. Oh well, maybe this will be his excuse to ditch his second hand Town and Country wagon, still being waked in the garage! People you never know. Take care and stay happy.

Disney? Mork and Mindy? Rainbow suspenders? I am freaking glowing.

Such a freaking far cry from the maudlin crap the so-called intimate friends enjoy putting out. This is the complete antidote.

I knew you would love that story, wilde! Can you imagine hanging out in front of The Dakota talking about '70s sit-coms with John? Like, did he think it was a good idea for Rhoda to move back to New York? And did he think Fred Sanford was as funny as Albert Steptoe? Did he like MASH before it got too preachy?

Discussing the finer points of "What's Happening!" would have been a trip! I figure he probably preferred Steptoe since he knew the actor! But Redd Foxx had his moments...which Sweathog was John's favorite?

And Disney..oh, yes!