As it was, mentioned quite a bit on this blog: John used to write to Cynthia. Especially while in Hamburg where his letters were 30 pages long. I'm sure enough to write a book itself. Unfortunately, this seems to be the only surviving letter from the two years John was there. Cynthia did write that most of them got destroyed during the aftermath of divorce (I can't blame her… I've done similar actions). I also think some got lost during Cynthia's frequent moving house to house, got stolen, got buried in the basement/attic and, like this one, got sold in auction.
This particular letter was written in April of 1962 after Stuart Sutcliffe died. On April 10th, Stuart died while on his way to the hospital in Astrid Kirchherr's arms (may Astrid rest in peace, she died on May 12, 2020) before she went to the airport to pick up John, Paul, and Pete (George can the next day). That's where John found out his best friend died. There was some time when Astrid didn't go to their shows and they didn't go to her house… maybe it's avoidance, or grief, or give space, or all above. Eventually John did come around to see Astrid and told her to pick: life or death? It was his way of guiding Astrid through her grief. Astrid credited John and George for helping her come out and enjoy life again. Astrid was almost 82 years old when she passed away. Bless her. I have no doubt that Stuart's death haunted John all his life. Stuart was the same age, he had so much potential, but poof! He was all the sudden gone.
I don't think this is the entire letter- it feels incomplete and chopped up in segments. It was originally published in Ray Coleman's book Lennon and went up in auction a few times. Plus, where's the rest of the 26 pages?
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