James Mitchell talks about The Walrus and the Elephants: John Lennon’s Years of Revolution.

Thu, 02/13/2014 - 11:14am

When: January 30, 2014 at the Downtown Library

Author and journalist James Mitchell celebrates the release of The Walrus and the Elephants: John Lennon’s Years of Revolution with a reading and discussion on John Lennon’s special relationship with Ann Arbor.

The opening chapter of the book takes place in Ann Arbor and details the historic benefit concert that Lennon headlined that was held for poet-activist John Sinclair to challenge his ten year prison sentence for possessing two joints.

Based entirely on new interviews and research, "The Walrus and the Elephants" is the first book about John Lennon to show how his emergence as a solo artist, his embrace of radical politics and feminism, and his love affair with New York City coincided. From controversial television appearances, to benefit concerts, to his new, post-Beatlemania band, the book is Lennon’s story told by a cast of close friends and fellow activists who got to know the man behind the legend.

James 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, rock biography "It Was All Right: Mitch Ryder's Life in Music," and tales from a rural newspaper, "Applegate: Freedom of the Press in a Small Town." A reporter and editor for more than twenty years, his writing has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The Humanist, and Starlog.

For more on John Lennon's visit to Ann Arbor, visit the library's freeingjohnsinclair.aadl.org, which includes an audio recording of John and Yoko's intention of coming to Ann Arbor.