The publication of THE LENNON LETTERS in October 2012 will be an international publishing event. For the first time, John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has given permission to publish a selection of his letters. They will be edited and introduced by Hunter Davies, the authorised biographer of the Beatles, who knew John Lennon well.
John Lennon was a writer as well as a musician. It was entirely natural for him to put pen to paper whenever he had an idea, a thought, a reaction or a desire to communicate.
He lived - and died - in an age before emails and texts. Pen and ink were his medium. John wrote letters and postcards all of his life; to his friends, family, strangers, newspapers, organisations, lawyers and the laundry - most of which were funny, informative, campaigning, wise, mad, poetic, anguished and sometimes heartbreaking.
John's letters are in a way something of a mystery - where are they all? Over the years many have come up at auction, then sold to dealers and collectors. Or they have been kept by the recipients, locked up safely.
For Hunter Davies it is proving to be a wonderful piece of detective work tracing many of these letters, which are arranged in chronological order, so that a narrative builds up, reflecting John's life. It will be visual - in a sense that many of the letters are reproduced as they were, in his handwriting or typing, plus the odd cartoon or doodle. THE LENNON LETTERS is fundamentally a book to read and study, providing a unique insight into the mind of one of the great figures of our times.
As one of the most famous people of the 20th century, John Winston Ono Lennon needs little introduction. Born on 9 October 1940 in Liverpool, he became involved as a teenager in the skiffle craze. His first band, The Quarrymen, evolved into The Beatles by 1960 one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music.
He composed many of their greatest songs and, together with Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.
In 1970 Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the groundbreaking albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine". Lennon withdrew from the music business in 1975 to devote time to his family, but he and Yoko Ono staged a comeback in 1980 with a new album, Double Fantasy. Tragically he was fatally shot three weeks after its release and died on 8 December 1980, aged 40.
Hunter Davies, editor of THE LENNON LETTERS, is the author of the only authorised biography of the Beatles, as well as the British football classic The Glory Game. He lives in London NW5.
Hunter Davies has already tracked down and obtained copies of 200 Lennon letters and post cards but hopes that any fan, friend or collector who has, or has had, a Lennon letter will contact him.
Email him at: johnlennonletters@hotmail.co.uk
World rights were acquired by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK and a simultaneous edition will be published by Michael Pietsch of Little, Brown and Company in the United States. Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Little, Brown and Company are divisions of Hachette Livre.
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