The
morning
of
Friday,
6/18/10,
was
a
day
in
which
serendipity
was
in
full
force.
I
was
driving
with
Richard
Novak,
a
major
Hamptons
East
End
home
builder,
to
Manhattan.
I
called
Albert
Maysles
at
8:30am
at
his
townhouse
and
explained
to
him
that
John
Lennon's
lyrics
for
"A
Day
in
the
Life"
was
being
auctioned
at
Sotheby's
at
10am
and
that
he
should
attend.
Al
and
his
brother,
David
Maysles,
had
filmed
the
Beatles
during
their
historic
1964
U.S.
Invasion
(www.mayslesfilms.com).
He
agreed
to
join
us.
At
Sotheby's,
the
entourage
consisted
of
Mym
Tuma,
East
End
Artist
and
Sculptress
who
in
the
1960's
was
mentored
by
the
American
icon
Georgia
O'Keeffe
with
Mym
as
her
young
protege
(okeeffeandme.com,
also
sothebys.com),
Albert
Maysles,
the
world
famous
award
winning
documentary
film
maker,
Richard
Novak,
master
builder
of
over
100
Hamptons
homes,
Debbie
Tuma,famed
NYC
and
Hamptons
paparazzo
and
writter
for
over
35
years
(see
newsday.com,
"Just
a
Day
in
the
Life"
-
7/17/10
by
Debbie
Tuma)
and
also,
c'est
moi,
Andrew
Wargo,
writer.
The
lyrics
of
John
Lennon's
"A
Day
in
the
Life"
consisted
of a
single
sheet
of
letter
paper
on
which
one
side
was
written
in
ball
point
pen
and
on
the
other
side
the
same
lyrics
in
print
with
a
felt
pen.
It
became
part
of
the
Sargent
Pepper's
Lonely
Hearts
Club
Band
album.
 |
The
auctioneer
began
the
Lennon
lyrics
at
$300,000
and
with
7
Sotheby's
executives
on
the
phones
for
national
and
internation
bidding.
It
soon
rose
to
$800,000.
I
turned
to
the
man
standing
next
to
me
and
excitedly
stated
"It's
getting
up
there".
He
turned
to
me
and
said
"
I'm
glad
-
I'm
the
one
selling
it."
I
said
"you
have
to
meet
Albert
Maysles
who
filmed
the
Beatles
USA
Invasion
in
1964."
He
excitedly
said
"I'd
love
to
meet
him
after
the
auction."
We
did.
The
bidding
moved
to
$950,000
and
the
auctioneer
said
"Will
Sotheby's
hit
the
1
million
dollar
mark
this
morning?"
and
continuing,
he
calmly
said
"$950,000,
going
once,
$950,000
going
twice,
fair
warning
---
$1,000,000."
It
went
to
an
historic
$1,200,000
as
the
final
bid.
We
all
gathered
apres
the
auction
and
Paul
Sladkus
(www.goodnewsbroadcast.com)
taped
Albert
Maysles
and
interviewed
the
seller,
Joseph
Reynoso
of
Chicago.
Joseph
had
bought
it
18
years
earlier
for
$100,000.
Debbie
and
I
photographed
as
well.
Afterwards,
Al
went
to
his
uptown
Maysles
Films
and
Institute
building
courtesy
of
Richard
Novak.
Mym
Tuma
invited
Marsha
Malinowski,
Sotheby's
senior
specialist
and
curator,
Debbie
Tuma,
John
Egan,
website
designer
and
myself
to
lunch.
It
was
fascinating
to
hear
of
Marsha's
24
years
at
Sotheby's
and
I
realized
that
when
it
comes
to
hand
written
letters
she
has
to
be
both
a
scholar
and
a
detective.
I
will
remember
this
morning
always
and
reflect
upon
the
fact
that
I,
"The
Fool
on
the
Hill",
had
become
so
very
much
wiser.
The
Beatles
have
touched
multi-generations
and
their
influence
continues
to
grow
in
"value"
in
so
many
ways
...
This
day,
6/18/10,
will
be a
cherished
souvenir,
always.
Merci
John
Lennon.
Merci
Mym
Tuma
&
Marsha
Malinowski/Sotheby's.
Merci,
Debbie
Tuma
and
Merci
Albert
Maysles,
a
world
famous
icon
and
true
friend
for
30
years.
"My
garden
is a
forest
ledge
which
older
forests
bound,
the
banks
slope
down
to
the
blue
lake-edge,
then
plunge
to
depths
profound
...
(Ralph
Waldo
Emerson,
1882)
Andrew
Wargo |