Jude Kessler, author of Lennon book gets coveted photo for new book cover
http://www.examiner.com/x-35173-John...om-her-friends
Jude Southerland Kessler reports today that "with a little help from her friends" (i.e., all of you Beatle folks out there), she has succeeded in getting a deal with photographer Jane Bown for the use of a photo she took of John Lennon back in the '60s for the cover of her new book about Lennon called "Shivering Inside".
“My cover designer, artist/photographer Vincent Vigil, had found a tremendous early 1960’s photo of John that was absolutely perfect for the cover of my new book, Shivering Inside,” Kessler told us, “but we had no idea how to get in touch with the photographer, who we thought was named Jane Brown. All our leads were coming up empty."
If you remember, three weeks ago, Kessler (author of Shoulda Been There and her newest book Shivering Inside) asked for help in locating the photographer. The story was reported by Dave Haber at Beatlesnews.com and the Lennon Examiner (see our article here). Within minutes of Kessler’s plea, we received a note from Pattie Noah, of Florida, saying that the photographer was Jane Bown, not Jane Brown. Upon further investigation, it became clear that the proper name was indeed Bown, but had been misspelled by many websites. We forwarded that information to Jude's publicist and to Dave Haber, since Jude was on her way to the Fest for Beatles Fans and was not readily available.The communications went back and forth all day.
Kessler commented on the flurry of communications. “twenty or so other Beatle friends immediately confirmed that observation,” Kessler said. “I was away at The Fest for Beatles Fans at the time, but my agent, Jenn Vanderslice of Moonglow PR and Dave Haber of BeatlesNews called me on the phone to say that the internet was buzzing with people tracking down the experienced, talented London photographer. By the time I returned from the Meadowlands Fest, all the information I needed to make contact with Ms. Bown’s agent was waiting for me.”
Rande Kessler, her husband, reached an agreement with Ms. Bown yesterday. Kessler continued, “Rande, who is the CEO of a coastal restoration company, worked with Mary Andrews in Ms. Bown’s office, and together they worked out a wonderful agreement so that Ms. Bown’s amazing portrait of John could grace the cover of the new biography that will be released on his 70th birthday, 9 October 2010.”
Jude is excited about the cover design, which is already in the works: “Vigil made the picture grainy and washed it in brown tones,” Kessler said. “He made it look exactly like an old photo that has been lovingly housed in a yellowed photo album all these years. And Rande chose gorgeous paper for it. It’s excellent.”
Kessler’s book, Shivering Inside, will pick up where her first work, Shoulda Been There, left off. It will focus on Lennon’s life between 10 December 1961 and mid-April 1963.
Jude said of this time period, “Those were the years in which The Beatles were climbing steadily to success. But they were also years of tragedy and conflict for John. He lost Stu (Sutcliffe). Pete was ousted from the band. John and Cynthia were hastily married. ‘Please Please Me’ skyrocketed to Number One, and Julian was born. “Talk about sensory overload! It was all a bit much for John. And the Jane Bown photograph that we will now be proud to display on our cover beautifully depicts the struggle and angst that John endured in those troubled years.”
Jude is offering a special poster to commemorate the new book and the photo: “Because the photograph has been so important to this book, we’re offering limited edition, signed and numbered posters of the cover – free of charge – to the first 100 readers who pre-order the book,” Kessler told us. The posters, designed by Vincent Vigil and printed under the artistic supervision of Rande Kessler are frame-quality.
“This cover is the result of the joint efforts of a wonderful photographer of international stature, a great California artist with a vision, many loving Beatles friends, the very kind publicity of BeatlesNews.com and JohnLennonExaminer, and the business acumen of my wonderful husband,” Kessler said.
“I’m indebted to one and all, and I hope the story inside the lovely cover will be a small way to repay that debt.”
To pre-order the book and receive Ms. Bown’s artwork in poster form, please write to Jude at
rjkess@comcast.net.
The John Lennon Examiner congratulates Ms. Kessler on this success. Thanks to to those who wrote me within minutes of our article being posted to help Jude out on this issue. (Thanks Pattie and Peggy!) It is a testament to the comradery that is shared between Beatles fans all over the world--we really do "get by with a little help from our friends."