The Walrus And The Elephants: John Lennon's Years of Revolution

Description

In late 1971 John Lennon left London and pop stardom behind and moved to New York City, eager to join a youth movement rallying for social justice and an end to the Vietnam War. Settling in Greenwich Village, the former Beatle was soon on the front lines of the antiwar movement, championing causes and inspiring solidarity and suspicion. His story is told by the unlikely cast of friends, among them the members of Elephant's Memory. Exclusive interviews include writer and feminist leader Gloria Steinem and Congressional Black Caucus co-founder Ron Dellums.

James A. Mitchell is the author of But for the Grace- Profiles in Peace from a Nation at War, the story of an orphanage in Sri Lanka's war-torn northeast; It Was All Right- Mitch Ryder's Life in Music, and Applegate- Freedom of the Press in a Small Town. He has reported in print and on television from South Asia, and from Sri Lanka's war-torn northeast in particular and the consequences of the twenty-six year civil war there. He lives in Southeast Michigan.

"James Mitchell carefully and lovingly has reconstructed an inspiring and poignant chapter both in John Lennon's odyssey and in the tangled flow of the American anti-war and other protest movements of the late nineteen sixties and early seventies. The Walrus and The Elephants is an indispensable window into an amazing time in American history and the history of rock and roll." -Danny Goldberg, author of Bumping Into Geniuses "This book serves as a backstage pass to the missing link between Lennon's music and his activism, ranging from decriminalization of marijuana to termination of undeclared war-both ends of that spectrum fueled by the government's misuse of power without compassion-revealing how the Nixon administration tried to silence him." -Paul Krassner, author of Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counterculture "Lennon is one of the most documented individuals in modern culture, yet never before has this early New York period of his history been examined with greater depth and clarity." -Lee Ranaldo, co-founder of Sonic Youth