CYNTHIA LENNON
Cynthia Lennon (née Powell; 10 September 1939 – 1 April 2015) was the first wife of English musician John Lennon, and mother of Julian Lennon. She grew up in the middle-class section of Hoylake, on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England. At the age of 12, she was accepted into the Junior Art School, and was later enrolled in the Liverpool College of Art. John Lennon also attended the college; a meeting with Powell in a calligraphy class led to their relationship. She published a book of memoirs, A Twist of Lennon, in 1978, and a more intimate biography, John, in 2005. Over the years she staged several auctions of memorabilia associated with her life with John Lennon. In 2006, she and her son Julian Lennon attended the Las Vegas premiere of the Cirque du Soleil production of Love whose theme is the music of the Beatles. Until her death in 2015, she lived in Majorca, Spain. (More from Wikipedia)
The Beatles embarked on what would become their final American tour in August 1966; the animosity toward the band on that tour as a result of the “more popular than Jesus” controversy contributed to the decision by the Beatles to quit touring and become strictly a studio rock band. From Wikipedia: “According to [John] Lennon’s wife, Cynthia [Lennon], he was nervous and upset that he had made people angry simply by expressing his opinion.” Their manager Brian Epstein first attempted to smooth things over by holding a press conference in New York City at the start of the tour, to no avail.
(September 2014)
