What was John Lennons childhood like?
Mimi and George gave Lennon a good home… but Mimi was a manipulator, and discouraged him from doing anything creative. When he took up music, she told him repeatedly “The guitar’s all right, John, but you’ll never make a living at it.” (When the Beatles became famous, he presented her with a silver platter, engraved with those same words.) He didn’t see his father again until he was twenty-four; he didn’t want anything to do with him, having been told he’d run out on the family, but did end up spending some time with him. (After his father died of cancer, Lennon was given a set of journals he’d kept, and learned the truth: His father had tried again and again to stay in touch, but Mimi had kept him away, throwing away letters he’d sent, and making legal threats against him.
