McCartney Times

In the original letter, which is titled ‘an open letter to Cynthia Twist’ and is dated November 15, 1976, the former Beatle said Cynthia had an ‘impaired’ memory of their marriage. He claimed their relationship was over long before Yoko Ono arrived on the scene and accused her of double standards for wishing to get away from her past with the Beatle, yet was happy to speak about it to magazines. Lennon sent the letter to a US weekly magazine for them to publish with the request that it is ‘printed without any edits. I think it only fair to me and your readers to present my side of the story’. He wrote it in response to an article Cynthia had published in an English women’s magazine earlier that year. As you and I well know, our marriage was over long before the advent of L.S.D. or Yoko Ono John Lennon She claimed her ex-husband’s mounting LSD use and the intrusion of Yoko Ono were to blame for the breakdown of the marriage. At the time these letters were written, Lennon had reunited with his second wife Ono after an 18 month separation. In Lennon’s rebuttal, he claimed Cynthia came to visit him two years earlier in 1974 to try and persuade him to get back together with her but he declined because he was still in love with Ono. In the letter, Lennon slams Cynthia for making the details of their marriage breakdown public He refuted her claim that he hired a private detective to spy on her and her future husband Roberto Bassanini who she was married to from 1970 to 1973. The letter measures 8.5in by 11in and has been signed ‘John’ with Lennon adding a small sketch of his face. It is being consigned by a private collector in the US who wishes to remain anonymous and the letter is tipped to sell for £20,000 ($25,000). It reads in full: “As you and I well know, our marriage was over long before the advent of L.S.D. or Yoko Ono … and that’s reality! “Your memory is impaired to say the least. John Lennon wears trademark glasses in 1975“Your version of our first L.S.D. trip is rather vague, and you seem to have forgotten subsequent trips altogether! “You also seem to have forgotten that only two years ago, while I was separated from Yoko, you suddenly brought Julian to see me in Los Angeles after three years of silence. “During this visit, you hardly allowed me to be alone with him for one moment. “You even asked me to remarry you and/or give you another child, ‘for Julian’s sake’! “I politely told you no, and that, anyway, I was still in love with Yoko, (which I thought was very ‘down to earth’). “There were no detectives sent to Italy. Our mutual friend Alex Mardas went to Bassanini’s Hotel to see how you were, as you said you were too ill to come home…Lennon claimed their relationship was over long before Yoko Ono arrived on the scene“Finally, I don’t blame you for wanting to get away from your ‘Beatle’ past. “But if you are serious about it, you should try to avoid talking to and posing for magazines and newspapers! “We did have some good years, so dwell on them for a change, and, as Dylan says, it was ‘A Simple Twist of Fate!’ “Love & good luck to the three of you, from the three of us.”Lennon’s pun on Cynthia’s surname at the close of the first letter ‘A Simple Twist of Fate’ possibly inspired Cynthia’s decision to call her forthcoming memoirs A Twist of Lennon which were published in 1978. John Lennon and Cynthia Lennon wrote the letter in response to an article Cynthia had published in a women’s magazine A spokesman for US based RR Auctions, who are selling the letter, said: “As Lennon’s official side of the story, a public he-said, she-said self-defence, these letters represent the unique final chapter in the life of the former Beatle.“They are of the utmost rarity and importance.” Cynthia met Lennon in a calligraphy class at the Liverpool College of Art and they began dating in 1958. In 1976, Cynthia married John Twist, an engineer from Lancashire, but divorced him in 1983. She was married to night club owner Noel Charles from 2002 until his death in 2013. Two years later, in 2015, she died aged 65.

The auction ends on August 9.

Source: John Lennon open letter to ex-wife Cynthia after marriage breakdown unearthed | Music | Entertainment | Express.co.uk