The e-book that I am reviewing this evening is called Face to Face with John Lennon by Mary Jane Dougherty. First of all, calling it a "book" isn't accurate. It is more like an article. It is only 13 pages long and I read it in less than 15 minutes.
Just because it is very short, doesn't mean that it isn't worth your time. This is the story of Mary, who in 1966 was a huge Beatles fan living in Anchorage, Alaska. John Lennon was her favorite Beatle and she never thought she would get the chance to see him in person. That is until June 28, 1966.
On that date, the Beatles were supposed to fly to Japan for their concerts in Tokyo. They were scheduled to stop over in Anchorage to re-fuel, but something went wrong. Either it had to do with a storm named Kit in the Pacific or something on their airplane needed to be fixed. Either way, the Beatles and their crew were not going to be able to leave Alaska until the next day. So they moved into the Anchorage Westward Hotel for the next nine hours.
That is where Mary's story picks up. Her sister hears about the Beatles being in town and informs her Beatle-crazed sister. Mary goes to the hotel and along with 500 fans stares up at the top floor in shock that the Beatles were up there!
When it is time for the Beatles to leave and get back on their airplane, Mary gets an idea and ends up next to the Beatles' bus and seeing John Lennon (and the others). The exact details of how this happens, I won't say because you really need to read the story for yourself.
However, the one thing that stood out about her story that I never thought about was that in late June in Alaska, they experience the summer solstice, where it is daylight for almost 24 hours. So when the Beatles were leaving for the airport after midnight, it was still light outside and tons of fans were still mulling around. Typically the fans thinned out by that time of night, but it didn't FEEL like night, so they stuck around.
"Face to Face with John Lennon" is available as an e-book only and you can purchase it from Amazon for just 99 cents.
http://www.amazon.com/Face-John-Lennon-Mary-Dougherty-ebook/dp/B01BS978AG/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_8?ie=UTF8&refRID=1DDTDAGJ506D869NX8DG
Just because it is very short, doesn't mean that it isn't worth your time. This is the story of Mary, who in 1966 was a huge Beatles fan living in Anchorage, Alaska. John Lennon was her favorite Beatle and she never thought she would get the chance to see him in person. That is until June 28, 1966.
On that date, the Beatles were supposed to fly to Japan for their concerts in Tokyo. They were scheduled to stop over in Anchorage to re-fuel, but something went wrong. Either it had to do with a storm named Kit in the Pacific or something on their airplane needed to be fixed. Either way, the Beatles and their crew were not going to be able to leave Alaska until the next day. So they moved into the Anchorage Westward Hotel for the next nine hours.
 |
| Some pretty bored Beatles wait in the hotel room with Brian |
That is where Mary's story picks up. Her sister hears about the Beatles being in town and informs her Beatle-crazed sister. Mary goes to the hotel and along with 500 fans stares up at the top floor in shock that the Beatles were up there!
When it is time for the Beatles to leave and get back on their airplane, Mary gets an idea and ends up next to the Beatles' bus and seeing John Lennon (and the others). The exact details of how this happens, I won't say because you really need to read the story for yourself.
However, the one thing that stood out about her story that I never thought about was that in late June in Alaska, they experience the summer solstice, where it is daylight for almost 24 hours. So when the Beatles were leaving for the airport after midnight, it was still light outside and tons of fans were still mulling around. Typically the fans thinned out by that time of night, but it didn't FEEL like night, so they stuck around.
 |
| the guys on that bus that Mary saw them on in Alaska. Photo by Robert Whitaker |
"Face to Face with John Lennon" is available as an e-book only and you can purchase it from Amazon for just 99 cents.
http://www.amazon.com/Face-John-Lennon-Mary-Dougherty-ebook/dp/B01BS978AG/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_8?ie=UTF8&refRID=1DDTDAGJ506D869NX8DG