Time That Was So Hard To Find

Simon Albury of BBC 24 Hours told me yesterday that when he was making a film of John for the BBC, he became increasingly frightened by the growing awareness that John's only concern was for Yoko and no one else. I realised, he said, that if John heard that everyone at Apple had been killed in a fire, his mind would turn immediately to the inconvenience of replacing them. He said that this feeling was the more bizarre because John was such a kind man, very courteous and thoughtful in little ways and so he is and so too would he not give two pennies if everyone on earth vanished into the oceans leaving himself and Yoko in peace, however imperfect. Aunt Mimi taught him his manners well and there is in all of that family, whom I met, a gracefulness that has passed to John, but sentimental he isn't, never; neither is Paul and I don't think George and Ringo are, but is anyone really that concerned about anyone else, I mean really worried about their fellow humans? I don't mean Shelter and Oxfam and Bangladesh, but what about the rest? John himself and George, and Paul and Ringo too, in differing ways, have given away stacks of money to cases good and unproven, always given it quietly. But they are very tough, too, and working for them has made all of us very uneasy - I think because they are four very hard tight men, not callous, but calloused. Us Beatles' aides, we come and go and we are mostly unmourned when we have gone.