Por: Carlos E. Larriega
The book 'We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me' was published in October 2024. Its author, the publicist, radio and TV personality Elliot Mintz since the death of John Lennon has acted as
official spokesperson for the Lennon Estate. Mintz has been very close to Sean and Yoko and for more than 4 decades has served as a squire or protector of the official version of John Lennon's story.As fans we know Elliot Mintz interviewed John Lennon in the seventies. We remember Elliot and John walking on the beach in Malibu. Mintz helped Lennon as a publicity agent when John was in L.A with May Pang. He acted as technical advisor for the TV film 'John and Yoko: A Love Story' (1985). A movie directed by Sandor Stern and starring Mark McGann and Kim Miyori. In 1988 Mintz presented The Lost Lennon Tapes, a radio series based upon unreleased tape recordings. The programs were broadcast until 1992.
We have always been curious about John Lennon's 'dark period' at the Dakota between 1975 and 1980. In addition to the official version of the story contradicting what personal assistants had said , there was some expectation about if Mintz would reveal interesting details. But when you read some extracts of the book published in some newspapers or read some reviews (as the articles written by Robert Rosen and David Whelan) one can find innacurate data or some facts that fit more with fantasies or literary genres specific to the imagination.
In our blog Mundo Beatle we had published the following reviews in spanish:
David Whelan
RESEÑA: NUEVO LIBRO DE ELLIOT MINTZ 'WE ALL SHINE ON'
https://mundobeatle2019.blogspot.com/2024/12/resena-nuevo-libro-de-elliot-mintz-we.html
Original link: https://davidwhelan.substack.com/p/new-elliot-mintz-book-we-all-shine
Robert Rosen
UNA OBRA MAESTRA DE PROPAGANDA
https://mundobeatle2019.blogspot.com/2024/12/una-obra-maestra-de-propaganda.html
Original link: https://www.robertrosennyc.com/blog
In december 2021 Mundo Beatle, our radio program , interviewed Mike Tree , personal assistant of John Lennon, We talked about many interesting topics (John Lennon, Fred Seaman, Double Fantasy, The Beatles, New York, Donald Trump, Earthquakes). I was curious about Elliot Mintz. I wanted to know if he was a trusty friend and I asked Mike about him. You can see his answer in the following video dated december 1st, 2021.
Carlos Larriega interviewed Mike Tree, December 1st, 2021
In the video we asked if he thought Elliot Mintz was Yoko's spy too. We used "too" in the question because Tree told us in another moment of the interview that John Lennon did not trust Fred Seaman because John thought he was Yoko's spy. Besides we comment with Mike about the time Elliot Mintz in Los Angeles could not help May Pang when Lennon was drunk and how he run away as soon John shouted he would kill him if Elliot would go inside his bedroom (as May Pang wrote in her book Lovely John)
Mintz's book seems an answer to all the attention Lost Weekend: A Love Story gain in the last two years. Now May Pang's version of the story seems more credible. So it's a logical step The Lennon State gives its support to Elliot Mintz and David Scheff. One with his memories about the Lennons and the other with an ultimate Yoko Ono biography.
We wanted to know Mike Tree's opinion about the book and he was very gentle to share his thoughts in the following article.
ELLIOT MINTZ REBUTTAL
Por: Mike Tree
The following is my response to The London Times extract (10/21/24 See the link below) taken from Elliot Mintz's new book We All Shine On.
One of my many jobs working for John and Yoko was as their archivist. The archive included newspaper clippings, John’s notes of his songs, video and film. Yoko always recorded her occult meetings, which were also stored in the archive. She almost never labeled the audiocassettes, so I’d listen to each one to know where to file it.
One of those recordings, made in the fall of 1980, was with British tarot card reader Dezia Holt. In the recording, she tells Yoko “Sean's grandfather is going to die.” Moments later, Dezia corrects herself, saying “Oh, but he’s dead already.” My immediate reaction was Dezia had given Yoko a veiled prediction of the future. Unfortunately, it came to pass.
This warning begins Mintz’s extract in the Times and is the last truth in the article. He says he arrived at the Dakota about 7:30 AM on December 9th. He reports there was blood everywhere in the entryway. But I walked the 13 blocks from the hospital to the Dakota, arriving about 11:45 PM on Monday evening. There was no blood anywhere! The vestibule doors had two bullet holes. But there were no glass shards anywhere.
When he entered the Lennon’s apartment, Mintz says Masako opened the door. But she had remained in Japan after John and Yoko visit in 1978. The woman who opened the door would have been Myoko. I can’t address Elliot’s claim about comforting Yoko shortly after his arrival. I’m sure he did.
I spent most of Tuesday’s late afternoon and evening with Yoko, at her request. We watched Beatles’ videos I had stored in the archive. Earlier in the day, when I delivered a TV and video cassette player to the bedroom, the large television was off. Instead, Yoko, sitting up in bed, randomly hunted for radio stations with reports on John’s murder.
The weeks that followed are a blur because there were only three people in Studio One, Fred Seaman, Richie DePalma and myself. We answered the never-ending barrage of phone calls and telegrams. This continued for 24 hours a day for the following week. No woman or Mintz ever worked in the office during this time. One of those calls was from Ringo who asked to speak to Yoko. His voice is unmistakable, so I forwarded the call to her.
Beginning on the evening of December 8th, and for the next two weeks armed Pinkerton guards hired by Doug MacDougal, (Lennon’s security man) patrolled the apartment and the Dakota hallways. They openly displayed their weapons. One of them had an Uzi machine gun. I don’t know why they were there but it seemed like exaggerated paranoia. But admittedly, at the time, we were all a bit crazy.
The Dakota management had advised all tenants and their staff to enter the building through the back entrance. Yet, ever eager for publicity, Mintz exited the building with Ringo through the main entrance, which caused a small riot.
Julian arrived sometime on Tuesday afternoon but Yoko refused to see him. Instead he rummaged around the apartment taking photos with John’s Polaroid camera. He finally got to meet with her in the week following the “Ten Minutes of Silence” vigil. Yoko’s attorney was also present.
OBS: The New York Post extract taken from Mintz's book translated to spanish can be read in the following link:
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