~ S P E C I A L ~ F E A T U R E ~
"What Would John Lennon Do?"
an excerpt from the new book
The Cynical Idealist:
A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon
by Gary Tillery
Published by Quest Books
Reprinted Here With Permission.
INTRODUCTION
What would John Lennon do? It's a fascinating question. The ex-Beatle would have been 70 years old if he lived to 2010. Would he be playing guitar on the casino circuit or accepting a Nobel Peace Prize? What would he think of Barack Obama, health care reform, or the war in Afghanistan?
It's not impossible to guess what John would do. He left behind an ample record: dozens of recordings, several books, several movies, and countless interviews. In THE CYNICAL IDEALIST, author and artist Gary Tillery sorts through this huge amount of raw material to chart John Lennon's spiritual development.
"What would John Lennon do" is not an facile question. He was a visionary whose words still inspire and point the way today. In the following brief excerpt, Gary Tillery gives us an idea of what John would do by analyzing his final public statements for the basics of his beliefs.
After the excerpt, you'll find more information about the book, THE CYNICAL IDEALIST, and author Gary Tillery. How do you think John Lennon would respond to current world events? Use the comments to tell us what you think.
"What Would John Lennon Do?"
by Gary TilleryWould John Lennon have altered his personal philosophy had he lived through his forties and fifites?
We can only speculate. However, in his last interviews, he was still talking about the importance of directing the focus of society onto solutions, rather than problems, in order to empower change. He was still comfortable with his political position in the song, "Revolution," not supporting any wholesale change of the system unless he could first "see the plan" about what would follow.
John Lennon still argued against dependence on leaders, placing emphasis on individual decision making, responsibility and action. While acknowledging challenges in his marriage with Yoko Ono, he still saw his family life as essential to his own fulfillment as a person.
As for his secular perspective, during his July 1980 visit to Bermuda he came up with a song called "Serve Yourself." In it he offered a derisive rebuttal to Bob Dylan's recent hit, "Gotta Serve Somebody," in which Dylan the evangelist tried to reduce human life to a simple dichotomy -- serving God or serving Satan.
Just hours before his death, Lennon told an interviewer: "I still believe in love, peace; I still believe in positive thinking -- when I can do it -- I'm not *always* positive, but when I am I try and project it."
And he went on to display that perpetual open-mindeness skeptics tend to regard as gullability, but which inoculated Lenon against becoming a dogmatic intellectual: "I'm still open to anything. I still believe almost in anything until it's disproved. I don't have any set pattern. I don't have any set answers. I'm as open as ever." [Source: Audio CD "Testimony: The Life and Times of John Lennon in His Own Words," by Bob Miles, 1995, tracks 7 and 11.]
About the Author
A native of the Southwest, Gary Tillery was born in Phoenix in 1947. In 1968-69, he served in Vietnam with the United States Air Force. He then earned a bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies from Arizona State University and a master's degree from the American Graduate School of International Management.After two decades in the business world, Tillery turned his time and energy to his lifelong passion for literature and art. He published a collection of short stories entitled Darkling Plain, and a series of detective novels. Tillery is also a professional sculptor. His most prominent work is the sculpture for the Vietnam Memorial in Chicago.
About the Book
THE CYNICAL IDEALIST: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon
by Gary Tillery
Published by Quest Books
(ISBN 978-0-8356-0875-1, 216 pp, trade paperback, $15.95)
Available through bookstores or directly from the publisher:
http://www.questbooks.net/title.cfm?bookid=2133
In THE CYNICAL IDEALIST: A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon, author Gary Tillery brings readers the first spiritual and intellectual biography of this seminal musical and cultural figure.
Tillery walks us through Lennon's personal spiritual journey; his experimentation with drugs; his encounters with the Maharishi; his undertaking of primal scream therapy; and his relationship with Yoko Ono.
This extraordinary figure deserves an extraordinary book. In THE CYNICAL IDEALIST, Tillery provides readers with a new and fascinating framework for assessing Lennon's life and works.
Copyright ©2009 by G. G. Tillery, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Please feel free to duplicate or distribute this file as long as the contents are not changed and this copyright notice is intact. Thank you.