Anniversary Letter

Two parts of a letter (only pages 6 and 7. Pages 1 thru 5 are unknown whereabouts) written by John to his wife Cynthia while on tour with The Beatles in Los Angeles on August 23, 1965 - their 3rd wedding anniversary. John was expressing how much he missed Julian and not being able to spend the time together. Cynthia was away that month of August visiting her elder brother Charles in Libya. (I already covered that subject; check out the Label ➡ Libya) 

Many years later, after being published for the first time in Ray Coleman's biography Lennon, Cynthia sold this letter in auction. Then, some years after that, the owner decided to return it back in auction. This time Paul McCartney bought it. He had them framed and presented to Julian, much to Cynthia's delight. I wish I knew when Paul bought it from auction... Anyway, Cynthia wrote in her book John that this letter raises mixed emotions in her recent years. John may have felt genuine remorse in his absence, but old habits don't die easily. 

Just a week prior (August 15th), The Beatles performed Shea Stadium, the first music group to ever hold a concert at a stadium.

Father and Brother

 

The Powell Brothers

Charlie and Tony with their father Charles

From Julian Lennon's Instagram

Charles Ronald F. Powell was born in/around 1928. Anthony Powell was born in/around 1931; I do think he had middle names like big brother Charlie but I don't know. I don't know Charlie's middle name F stands for… I know I rant this before about Cynthia's middle name Lillian (short recap: she doesn't have a middle name! There's NO proof!) but it wasn't unusual for a girl not to have a middle name as it was said the maiden name becomes middle after getting married. At least, that's what's been explained to me by my grandmother who didn't have a middle name and didn't give her daughters one either yet my mom gave me a middle name because she always wanted one and to differentiate me from my Aunt who I'm named after. Okay, less about me! Let's get back to the subject, Charlie was over ten years older than Cynthia while Tony was about 8 years older so by the time Cynthia was five, Charlie was out of the house at the age of 16. Despite their age difference, they did seem to be very close. Both Charlie and Tony were born in Liverpool until World War II, they were evacuated to North Wales for safety, armed with stock and soda pops to live with a family. Meanwhile, Lillian went to a bed & breakfast hotel in Hoylake, Blackpool with other pregnant mothers where she gave birth to Cynthia. The family was soon reunited and settled in Hoylake; when bombers flew overhead, Lillian would swoop the children into a cupboard under the stairs. It was Cynthia's job to clean their shoes. Charlie had a few girlfriends that he would bring to the house, including the fashion designer I referred in a previous post about Cynthia as an artist. Lillian, not exactly I would call the best housekeeper, would slick and span the house… I suppose Cynthia knew someone would be coming when her mother had a dustrag in one hand and a vacuum in the other. There was another girlfriend named Katie, who accompanied Charlie to Tony's wedding in 1960 and met Cynthia's boyfriend John Lennon. One day while both John and Charlie were at the Powell family home, Charlie noticed John didn't have any money so he gave him a pile of old sweaters. Since then, John had a soft spot for Charlie. Charlie went to work for GEC like their father Charles, selling electric appliances to shops in Birmingham and London while Charles did Liverpool. Charlie could play the piano. Eventually he moved to Libya and must have had a connection with lawyers as when Lillian contacted him when Cynthia and John decided to divorce in 1968, Charlie came to London to hook Cynthia up with a lawyer. 

Wedding invitation for Charlie and Penny in February of 1967

From Dorothy Jarlett's collection

Well, a year before the drama of John and Cynthia's divorce, Charles got married to Penelope Anne Jackson on February 25, 1967 at St. Bartholomew's Church in Corsham (close to Bristol and Bath), England and the reception at The Rudloe Park Hotel. It's an almost 2 hour drive from Weybridge, Surrey. I don't know for sure if John attended but most chronology books have The Beatles doing EMI recording sessions for Sgt. Pepper's so it's very possible that John did go. After 1968, I don't know what happened to Charlie. I just know he remained married to Penny as she's mentioned in Cynthia's acknowledgements in her John book. I don't know if they had children. I don't even know if Charlie is still alive; if he is, he would be 92 at this time of writing.

Tony and Marjorie with their families for their wedding in April of 1960 with bridesmaid Cynthia and her boyfriend John Lennon behind her.

From Cynthia Lennon's collection

While Cynthia had little memories of Charlie being home while growing up, she was much closer to Tony. When he was 18, Tony was enlisted to the National Service (Army). After he returned home, Tony had a girlfriend and joined the police to please her but was unhappy with the occupation. After they broke up, Tony was more than happy to resign. I don't know what Tony settled to do but he definitely worked and lived in Liverpool. He married Marjorie Joyce in April of 1960 with Cynthia as a bridesmaid and accompanied by John, who met her brothers and the rest of her family that day. Tony and John got along well, they shared the same sense of dry humor. In April of 1961, Lillian moved to Canada to help take care of her niece's baby; the next year in August of 1962, she came back to Liverpool for a visit and stayed with Tony. By that time, Cynthia already found out she was pregnant and couldn't find the words to tell her mother until the last day of her trip on August 21, 1962. I suppose that's when Tony found out he was going to be an Uncle. The next day, the 22nd of August, Lillian returned to Canada. Cynthia, Tony, and Marjorie sent her off with Cynthia crying so bad that her brother and sister-in-law had to support her to leave. Tony and Marjorie attended Cynthia's wedding to John the following day on August 23, 1962 but had to depart right after to go to work. During her pregnancy and living in Brian Epstein's apartment, Cynthia did stay with Tony, I guess for the weekend, while John was home… which is rather surprising as she would have relished to be with him as his home days were starting to get far and few apart… but who knows? Not long after, Cynthia nearly suffered a miscarriage and was instructed to stay in bed for three days; Tony came by to check in while John was on tour. I don't know if Tony visited Cynthia at Mimi's house- he could have. And, that's all I know about Tony, not much after 1962. I don't know if Marjorie and Tony had children. I do know that Tony died and Cynthia attended his funeral- I don't know when it happened. 

Marjorie and Cynthia at a party in 1956

From Cynthia Lennon's collection

Cynthia the Artist

"My talents and aspirations had to be put on the back burner, but that was as much my fault as anybody else's." 

Cynthia, 1999

"People say Cynthia was a mundane, hometown girl, 'mumsy' - your average Mrs Liverpool. That's a load of nonsense. Cynthia was a highly talented woman in her own right. She painted, she drew, she sculpted, she designed." 

Julia Baird

“I’m not a painter: I’m an illustrator, a linear artist. I do lines.” 

Cynthia, 2014

Cynthia with her sketches in August of 1981

As a young girl, Cynthia loved art- it was the only subject in school she was good at. One time, her brother Charles was dating a fashion designer who presented Cynthia the world of art. At the age of 11, Cynthia submitted a drawing of a ballerina for the Liverpool Echo art competition and won a prize. The following year, she was accepted in Junior Art College before going to Liverpool Art College in September of 1957 studying graphics. 

"One weekend the effort turned out to be well worthwhile, because Charles' latest girlfriend was a fashion designer. She gave me an exquisite watercolour she'd painted of a fashion model dressed in the lean, elegant style of the period. It was a revelation to me. I was so impressed. To think that she earned her living doing this. Art needed not be a hobby but could be a way of life. I stuck the picture on my bedroom wall and tried to copy it. One day, I promised myself, as I attempted my umpteenth version of those long, economical brush strokes, one day I was going to be just like Charles' girlfriend. By 12 it seemed as if I was right in course. I'd failed my 11-plus but I was allowed to sit a special exam for Liverpool's Junior Art School which accepted children from 12 to 17. To my delight I won a place there and settled down to five perfect years. The whole situation could have been tailor-made for me. I travelled the trains with my dad, spent my days in the small, red-brick school opposite the cathedral doing the things I loved best - drawing and painting - and I met up with the girl who was to become a lifelong friend, Phyllis."

Cynthia, 1994

"I drew a ballerina, sent it in and won a pound."

Cynthia, 2014

"I always loved art. My first prize in the Liverpool Echo for a drawing gave me so much encouragement. It was all I wanted to do from then on- I was 11. John's sketches were rude, crude and hilarious - that's why I fell in love with him." 

Cynthia, 1999

"Well, you go to art school and you try everything out first. You do the foundation year and then you choose what is your potential. I went into more or less commercial art illustration, whereas John [Lennon] went into painting eventually." 

Cynthia

Cynthia's enrollment forms for Liverpool College of Art

In 1959, she helped paint the Casbah Club before it's opening with a silhouette of her boyfriend John Lennon. Cynthia dreamed of becoming an art teacher or a commercial art illustrator but by 1962, it was pushed aside by pregnancy and marriage. Around the time John was in Hamburg, Cynthia started her teaching training, being like an assistant and observer. She went to two different schools, little children and older teenagers… Cynthia liked the little ones better. One time while with the older group, the main teacher was absent so Cynthia subbed for her, helping the students with their project which they ultimately destroyed. There was also a paranoia Cynthia had wondering if anybody was a regular audience member to watch her boyfriend play. John was not supportive of Cynthia's ambitions; he wanted her focus and attention on him while they were dating. It was only when he needed her help to pass classes that John relied on her talent, as he did using Stuart Sutcliffe and Thelma Pickles. John failed first… his attention and ambitions were elsewhere: music. And he ultimately quit as the day he left for Hamburg in August of 1960 was the day he no longer set foot into Liverpool College of Art. Yet he continued to doodle and it wasn't until much later when John took art seriously. Cynthia held on going to college as she was determined. Yes, her lack of attention to her work suffered while with John but once he was in Hamburg, Cynthia refocused her ambitions… until August of 1962 when she discovered she was pregnant. Then, Cynthia dropped out. 

"I've never ever had a goal in life, apart from wanting to do art and get my qualifications. I thought I'd take a teacher's diploma and teach."

Cynthia, 2014

"When I was married to John? No, no, I was busy looking after Julian and, you know, it was an incredible time, so really I had very little time to carry on with art." 

Cynthia, 1982

"Even though we were at Liverpool College of Art together he was not supportive of my painting. He didn't have time. My painting had to go out of the window. I left college when I became pregnant with Julian and so I didn't get my piece of paper to say I was going to be an art teacher. All I've got is a National Diploma- which I'm very proud of and which hangs on my wall."

Cynthia

Although Cynthia never fully gave up art. She continued to sketch and paint, especially by 1967 as Julian was getting older and going to school. Unfortunately, John wasn't always keen with her artistic talent; one time (probably 1966 or 1967) John bought home a white television. Cynthia decided to paint it and was proud of her work. The following morning, she glanced over to check on her work but was disappointed to see stickers all over it. John had come home and covered Cynthia's work… was he stoned? High on LSD? Or wasn't happy with the painted television that he covered it with stickers? While in India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, during free time from meditation, Cynthia painted and started to write poetry; for Pattie Harrison's birthday, Cynthia gave her a painting which Pattie still has to this day (unfortunately it's not hung up or anything, it's put away somewhere like in an attic or something but at least it's kept!).

Cynthia with her sketchpad on Southampton Beach in Long Island, New York during her first art exhibition at Tower Gallery in September of 1981. 

Photographed by Raeanne Rubenstein

In 1978, Cynthia published her illustrations of her marriage to John Lennon in her book 'A Twist of Lennon' and by 1981, started having exhibitions. When Cynthia was running her Oliver's Bistro, her artwork hung on the walls. In 1979, Cynthia returned to college (Wrexham College in Wales) after a teacher friend persuaded Cynthia to go and explore creative freedom and learn more. In 1981, Cynthia was approached by architect David Backhouse to contribute a design for Cavern Walks, Mathew Street in Liverpool before it's opening in 1984. 

In 1983, Cynthia signed a 3-years contract with Vantona Vyella designing bedding, napkins and textiles and in 1988, she designed her own perfume packaging. 

"I've done a lot of commercial paintings over the years - designs for napkins and bedding and that sort of thing - and everything else I have done has always been connected with communication and art, but it has never been just for me, for my own personal pleasure. So it's a sort of full-circle situation, which is a joy." 

Cynthia, 1999

Cynthia drawing a portrait of herself and Julian in 2014

Photographed by Samantha Hemsley

Cynthia continued doing art until her death. At this time, Julian doesn't seem to have any plans to showcase his mother's artwork. Cynthia did once mention that if she was going to write another book, it would feature her art. Unfortunately, Cynthia never got the chance and it's unknown what Julian wants to do.

"Well, if you think about it, in this day and age, anything can go as art. If you think about Tracy Emin and other artists who are sort of conceptual...an un-made bed, dirty clothes, etc, etc. They now call it art. As far as I'm concerned, I'm very old-fashioned. Art is hard work. Art is after years and years of training and years and years of appreciating art. For me, if I look at something, I say 'My God that's a lot of work gone into that with a lot of quality and there's a lot of experience.' Anyone I think and I believe can produce a piece of art that is an un-made bed or a pair of shoes. That's a matter of opinion, you know." 

Cynthia

"At last I'm painting for myself. God knows, I haven't stopped working for the past 16 and a half years, but I was painting not for me, but to earn a living. The Lennon name was used beautifully so that I had contracts for textiles, paper products. Then when I went to Normandy two and a half years ago I decided that was the end of working commercially. I was now going to paint. I've done a great deal, including a portrait of Julian, and a Venus de Milo. At least I'm doing what I've wanted to do forever." 

Cynthia, 1999

“Just to satisfy my creative urges and take my mind off a lot of things I want my mind taken off. I had all those years of training, with so many interruptions. Now all of a sudden, and tragically, I have the space to start again. Even if it’s just one picture from the heart, I would like Noel to be proud of me; I’d like Julian to be proud of me. The artist is starting over."
Cynthia, 2014

Cynthia at her Pen & Ink Drawings exhibition at Tower Gallery in Long Island, New York on September 5, 1981. 

Photographed by Ron Galella

Cynthia only held two exhibitions during her lifetime and, since 1999, Cynthia's drawings are on permanent display at The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool after being hung in her home since 1978. The first exhibition was Pen & Ink Drawings exhibition at Tower Gallery in Long Island, New York in September of 1981. Yoko Ono sent her a telegram wishing Cynthia luck. 

“All of a sudden I’d love to be a successful artist. The time is right for me. It’s like, well, starting over.” 

Cynthia, 1981

"I did them from memory. They’re for history.” 

Cynthia, 1981

"Oh, it was pure chance, really. I don’t know if you read about it, because I did a few interviews. No, it was just purely — I was running a restaurant at the time in North Wales and a friend of mine [Peter Brown] who is from the old days came to the restaurant, also with another friend [Stephen Gaines], and saw my drawings from the book there on the walls. He’s working on a book with him at the moment. And they came to have a chat, and they came to see the restaurant and see me. And the drawings were on the wall and Stephen Gaines said that he knew somebody on Long Island who had a gallery, it happened to be Gary Lajeski, and he took some photographs and sent them to Gary, and Gary liked them and invited me to come, so that’s how it all began." 

Cynthia, 1982

Cynthia at her second exhibition Lennon & McKenzie at KDK Gallery in London, June of 1999

The second exhibition was Lennon & McKenzie, teamed up with long-time best friend Phyllis at KDK Gallery, co-owned by Pauline Sutcliffe, sister of Stuart, in London on June 2, 1999. 

"That's meant to be a joke." 

Cynthia, 1999; about naming the exhibition 'Lennon & McKenzie'

"She's the classic artist and painter. I'm an illustrator and this exhibition came up by pure chance. We've known each other since we were 12 and we then went to Liverpool Art College together, where I met John. Phyllis and I are like two peas in a pod. She was actually the one who took me to the hospital when Julian was born." 

Cynthia, 1999

"I want to do more exhibitions, and I am having a wonderful time tonight - there are so many people here I have not seen for so many years. This is a night for family and friends - it is wonderful to see John's sisters." 

Cynthia, 1999

"John would have loved all this and would have been really pleased for Cynthia - she was always a fine artist. We are all going out for a family meal."

Julia Baird, 1999

"The drawings have been in a brown paper envelope for years. Now, I'm getting rid of the lot! I'm finally moving forward to paint exactly what I want in my own right. It's time to say, 'Get thee behind me Beatles!'" 

Cynthia, 1999

On blog note: I have and will continue to do post Cynthia's artwork. You check out on the side called LABELS ➡ Artwork by Cynthia.

A Country with No Phones: Libya

In August of 1965, Cynthia took a trip to Libya to visit her eldest brother, Charles. I don't know if her mother Lillian accompanied her but most likely she did. I don't know the exact dates, but definitely around the week of her wedding anniversary with John on the 23rd. Julian was definitely not with Cynthia as she was always consistent that Julian's first abroad trip was to Italy in 1966. In fact, it was fairly recently that I discovered that Cynthia went to Libya. There is a quote by John (that will be here momentarily) that he hadn't called his wife because she was where there were no phones. I always assumed it was a joke or some kind of innuendo that just didn't click together. Well, now it clicks! I did know that Charles lived in Libya as Cynthia mentioned it in both her books that when it was clear that she and John were getting a divorce, Charles helped get her an attorney after Lillian contacted him. Meanwhile, John was on tour with The Beatles in America, and was occasionally asked if he was in touch with Cynthia.

John, have you called your wife yet? (Press conference, 1965)
“No, she’s in a country where they don’t have phones." John

John, is it true that you were not home for the third year in a row on your anniversary? (Press conference, August 22, 1965)
"Why should I have been? Birthdays and such are a lot of rubbish. We don’t have birthday celebrations or anything like that. Don’t even bother with them. Besides that my wife is in Libya and I couldn’t see her if I was home." John

"I’d ring home, too, but my wife’s in Libya visiting her brother … You can’t ring Libya."

John (August 23, 1965)

There had been reports that during this time John was in a cranky mood. It was around the same time John wrote to Cynthia about not being there for Julian as he should be as a father. I believe he was certainly homesick and missed his family while going through the best milestones like performing at Shea Stadium and meeting his idol, Elvis Presley. 
Two years later, in August of 1967, John and Cynthia were considering going to Libya but plans changed to go to Bangor, Wales to attend a seminar by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (when Cynthia famously missed the train). 

"Cyn and I were thinking of going to Libya, until this came up. Libya or Bangor? Well, there was no choice, was there?"

John, 1967

Volume 1: Meet the Family

Cynthia Powell was born to Charles Edwin and Lillian Anne Roby Powell on September 10, 1939 in Blackpool, England.

John Winston Lennon was born to Alfred and Julia Stanley Lennon on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England.

John and his mother Julia in 1949

By the time John and Cynthia started dating, John's mother Julia and Cynthia's father Charles were already deceased. John's father Alfred was pretty much long gone and out of John's life at this point and he was living with Julia’s eldest sister Mimi (who deserves her own post!) since he was five. Although he saw his mother occasionally while growing up, they didn't get to spend more time together until his teens. Cynthia was living with her mother and she had a normal childhood; she had both of her parents until her father died of lung cancer. His death shattered Lillian and Cynthia to the point where Cynthia was willing to drop her art college dreams but her mother insisted to pursued her dreams. They would find ways to manage.

Some say that Julia would have loved Cynthia while she believed that if her father had lived, Charles wouldn't have liked John…

“Mummy would have loved her and the adoring way she was with John.”

Julia Baird

“I knew Dad would have advised me against him and perhaps I would have listened. But Dad wasn't there and Mum was still too weighed down by her own grief to guide me. So I plunged right in and went for broke.”

Cynthia, 1994

“Even so, had my father not died when I was 17, I think that's exactly what I would have done- ignore it. I could never have taken John home to meet my beloved Dad. My gentle, unassuming father just wouldn't have understood John and I knew it. With Dad there to guide me, I think I’d steered well clear of 'dangerous’ John Lennon. But there you are, he wasn't, and I plunged joyfully into the deep end. That's fate. John and I were obviously meant to be together.”

Cynthia, 1994

When John and Cynthia became a solid couple and this wasn't going to be a passing affair, they decided it was time to meet the families. Lillian did take notice of how often Cynthia was out while Mimi was aware of Cynthia's existence… but as I wrote earlier, Mimi will have a post all of her own.

Then, there's Alfred. He was a Seaman, working at… well, the sea! It seemed to have been a big job in those days. After all, Liverpool was the biggest industrialized porting city in the world in that time! He’d come home at various inconsistency times while John was a toddler. Julia wasn't too happy about that and had an affair with an another man. She got pregnant; during his visits, Freddie seemed to have understood the affair and offered to raise the baby as his own. But Julia refused. He was away far more than he was at home. Freddie left Julia for good and only returned once to take five years old John to Blackpool. John started living with Mimi at the time; how Alfred managed to get John away, he must've been quite a charmer for Mimi to relent. After the due date came and went to return John to Mimi, Alfred was deciding to keep John with him. But Julia discovered his whereabouts and John chosed to go back to Liverpool with Julia, back to Mimi. It would be 20 years later for father and son to reunite. As for the baby, well, she was given up for adoption as Julia had very few to no options else to do in 1945. Anyway, while John and Cynthia were getting to know each other, Alfred was a rare subject. John's fairytale belief was that his father had a great singing voice, a hero in the distance with important work on the sea. Cynthia did eventually meet Alfred when she was already John's wife, mother of Julian, and living in a mansion- but that's for Volume 2 of family members (Volume 1 is dating, Volume 2 is marriage and beyond). History does tend to repeat itself in the Lennon family.

At first sight, possibly by first discussion, it was quite clear that Lillian and John weren't each other's favorite person. I suppose the best way to put this is that they tolerated each other (up to a point) for Cynthia's sake. Yet, Cynthia always said Lillian and John got along, while everyone else says opposite. Maybe she was in denial or wanted to focus on positive so much that the negative faded? Who knows? Lillian would have preferred if Cynthia had a much better potential future boyfriend rather than some Teddy Boy rocker with attitude. According to Pete Shotton, Lillian had Cynthia under her thumb.

“I wasn't in a hurry to introduce John to my mother. I wanted to prepare her for the shock. He was never over polite and he looked so scruffy and like a Teddy Boy. My mother played it cool. She was good, really, though I'm sure she was hoping for it to peter out. But she never tried to stop it.”

Cynthia, 1968

“He ran out of the house after he and Mum hadn't got on well. It was all very tense, that first meeting. I ran after him and found him halfway between the house and the station. He wanted to get back to Liverpool quickly. But I persuaded him to return and patch up the argument for my sake. Mum wasn't mad about his appearance and made it clear to him. She’d much rather I’d chosen a clean-cut office type.”

Cynthia, 1985

Cynthia's father Charles and her two brothers, Charles and Tony circa 1931

From Julian Lennon's Instagram @julespicturepalace

Cynthia told a familiar story of John leaving her house in her 2005 book (John) and she chasing after him but used it for the time Lillian and Mimi met face to face. Did John run out of the house on both occasions? I’ll discuss more on that momentarily. Anyway, after that first meeting, John rarely went over to the Powell family home while dating Cynthia. More about John and Lillian's relationship in Volume 2.

The one other rare time John was visiting Cynthia's family home, her eldest brother Charles was visiting. He realized John had little money and offered him his old sweaters. John was touched and from that moment on (at least until the divorce), John had a soft spot for Charles. Charles eventually moved to Libya and in February of 1967, he married Penny Jackson. John met Cynthia's other older brother, Tony, at his wedding to Marjory Joyce in April of 1960. Cynthia was the bridesmaid and John agreed to go and surprised Cynthia by dressing in a suit, wore his glasses, and was on his best behavior to meet her extended family for the first time. John bonded with Tony by their sense of humor. Tony and Marjory were the only family guests to later attend John and Cynthia's wedding in 1962.

I don't know exactly when John and Cynthia decided that it was time for Lillian and Mimi to meet. Of course it was inevitable. Lillian and Mimi did have a few things in common: both were widows, taken in lodgers to help make ends meet, both grew up in the same generation. John and Cynthia probably thought the women could be best friends and have an once a week tea get together. Nope. Well, at first, it went well. Cynthia and Lillian tidied up their house, used their best plates and silverware, and John even looked decent. There was a pleasant conversation that was just about to become a relaxing atmosphere when, bang! Mimi made a comment about Cynthia taking John's attention away from his studies. Let's be honest here, folks… Cynthia is not to blame on that accusation. Maybe partial but it was definitely music! Naturally, Lillian defended Cynthia and the two women went at it, picking faults about John and Cynthia. After that meeting, Lillian and Mimi were mostly kept apart.

“John and I were very upset. We were both in love with each other, and for the two dearest people in our lives to stand in front of us saying what terrible people we were, and how they hated us for getting together, was awful. I think they did it because they didn't get on and they didn't want us to get on either. But the experience was horrible.”

Cynthia, 1985