Tell readers a bit about yourself and why you’re in Ormond Beach at Ocean Art Gallery (OAG). 

I grew up in Spanish Harlem in NYC. When I was just 18, I started working for Allen Klein’s company, ABKCO that managed Apple Corps Ltd, in New York which was the Beatles company.  When John & Yoko came to New York in 1970 to film two art films, I was assigned to be their assistant.  I worked closely with John & Yoko until in 1973, Yoko sat me down and said that she and John were going through a rough time and they were going to start seeing other people.  She then suggested that I go with John. I had no interest in this crazy idea.  John was my boss.  Eventually, John started pursuing me and that kicked off our 18-month romance which the press labeled The Lost Weekend.

When I started this touring show I said that I wanted to go to places that I’ve either never been before or don’t get these kinds of exhibitions.  We connected with Ocean Art Gallery in Ormond Beach and they were fantastic partners in welcoming the show.

As you share your story with the world, how do you protect your own sacred memories of John Lennon? 

My memories are MY MEMORIES. No one can take that away as no one had the experiences I had. It was a great time in my life.  However, now I see people trying to rewrite history and our relationship.  Stories appear in books that aren’t true so I felt it was time to take back my narrative.  My story was recently made into a documentary entitled “The Lost Weekend – A Love Story” which is now streaming on Amazon Prime and other streaming services.  The film and my photo exhibition show what really happened

What do you hope attendees will take away from the show at OAG? 

They will see John as I saw him, through my eyes, not the way he was portrayed in the press which only wrote about his few drunken incidents.  He was happy, relaxed and playful.  These are candid photos meant for us to preserve our time and memories.  They were never meant to be displayed in a gallery. It gives fans a different perspective.  Many people who attend the shows get emotional looking at the photos.

John Lennon, the musician, is such an iconic part of rock history, but he was still a human being. What made him so special to you as a person? 

John was actually very humble.  He never thought of himself as a rock legend.  He was funny and didn’t take things too seriously except for his music.  In many ways, he was naïve.  He achieved fame so early in life that he never experienced simple things that we take for granted.  One day he asked what we should do and I said that you’ve always wanted to experience New York as I saw it so I took him on a public bus for the first time.  He was having a great time but when finally a guy yelled out “Hi John” he said it was time to get off the bus (he said it was his nose that gave him away)!

How does it make you feel to know you helped him reunite with people who were dear to his heart like Paul McCartney and his son Julian before his passing?

I know firsthand how hard it is to be without a parent and I felt it was important for John to reconnect with his son Julian who he hadn’t seen in over 3 years.  Julian was living with his Mom in England and John was uneasy about having to speak with his ex-wife Cynthia. Once he reconnected with both of them, it made it easy to talk to Cynthia.  Two of our vacations together with Julian were at Disney Land in 1973/4 and Disney World in December 1974.

As for Paul, I felt they were old friends and he should be welcomed in our house.  They hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in years.  Paul was our first house guest when we got our apartment in New York.  We saw both Paul and Linda a lot during that time.