The next night, I was at the same club but without Mal. John Lennon sat at the same table where Paul had been the night before. I considered myself far too sophisticated to bother him like a fan or something (which, of course, I was), but figuring that I knew Mal and all, I spoke to John and he was infinitely kind and characteristically funny. I’m glad I did it because that was my one chance, and John is gone now. So is Mal Evans, who evidently snapped after the Beatles’ break-up and John’s death; he was killed in a hostage situation by the LA police sometime in the early 80s. I’d lost track of him and only learned about his death when I read a biography of John Lennon. 

The exhibition is called “The New York Years” and was curated by Yoko Ono. It touched on guns and gun violence, and there’s a poster people can sign that 

will be sent to President Obama at the end of the run, reminding him of the people who believe there are too many guns in this country. It all got me thinking — about life and death and people who go too soon, about embracing every day and grasping for every opportunity. And about how amazing life can be. I was a nerdy kid from Kansas City. What was I doing hanging out with Beatles at the height of their popularity? Learning, I guess, that as long as we’re on this planet, anything is indeed possible. And it still is. (Shown right: a plaque for John in Liverpool, photographed by ‘Sparks 68.’ )