Although Lennon Revealed is still very much on sale and doing well, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the experience of traveling the country, promoting the book, and meeting so many of you.

One thing I have learned after writing two Beatles related books: I keep learning more and more about the Beatles from fans and readers across the country. Some of the information coming out of individual readers is hearsay and innuendo. It is certainly interesting if not accurate. But quite often, in café’s of bookstores, online, or by mail, I’ve learned something new, a factoid or a detail that I’ve never encountered before. That’s why, as a broadcaster and a writer, I never stop listening to what people say.

The level of deep-seated emotion that comes with many Beatles readers also continually impresses me. Many have their own favorites and fireworks can start at a book signing if someone’s favorite may have been slighted.

There are several flash points that keep coming up.

The John/Paul relationship draws battle lines at many events. I tried to avoid taking sides, but let’s face it...John was my favorite. Despite that I have tried to portray the friendship and collaboration between the two honestly and fairly.

I have also tried to portray Yoko Ono honestly and fairly. I never joined those authors who find it fashionable to bash Yoko. Why should I? Her story, in the book, is portrayed evenly. But in one store, Powell’s on the east side of Portland Oregon, several people took me apart for being “too nice” to Yoko in the book. Others said I was “too tough” on her.

My conclusion: If I irritated extremists on both sides of the Yoko issue then I was doing my job.

An amazing constant that I viewed in my travels was this extraordinary vision of John that many people have. I will never forget December 8, 2005 when I watched thousands of people line up in the bitter cold to walk by Strawberry Fields in Central Park. Why do people still feel this way 25 years after his murder? It is all because John wasn’t a routine celebrity. He cared more about people being stimulated to think rather than whether individuals liked him personally or not. Unlike the other dead poets of the music world, John Lennon left a legacy of caring and thinking about the needs of other people.

That’s why he was so different. I have enclosed a piece I wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer on the anniversary where I get into that further.

In the meantime, thanks for supporting the book so much that it became a NY Times and LA Times bestseller.

I look forward to seeing many of you at upcoming Beatles conventions and to hearing from you on this website.

Best,
Larry Kane