Get Back to the Beatles
Get Back to the Beatles
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Author Dean Thompson's John Lennon Mystery
34 minutes Posted Feb 19, 2026 at 2:03 pm.
What’s Coming Up: Beatle Events + Introducing Author Dean Thompson
Imagine Murder: How the Lennon Mystery Novel Was Born
Inside Joko Films & 1970s New York: Setting the Scene
A Line to Cross? Writing Fiction Around a Real-Life Tragedy
The Dream That Haunted Him—and Why He Wrote the Book Anyway
Death Threats, No Bodyguards: John & Yoko Walking the Streets
One-to-One, Watergate, and Fighting Nixon: The Real History Behind the Plot
Beatles Fan to Lennon Insider: Dean’s First Reaction to the Job
From Yellow Submarine to Joko: the moment he ‘called it’
Working for John Lennon: fear, fame, and nothing else compares
Cultural heroes & Cincinnati roots: John Lennon vs. Johnny Bench
Yoko Ono at Joko: the quiet intimidation and ‘fired every six weeks’
Reassessing Yoko (and John stays John): writing the book changes perspective
Dan Richter the ‘ape’ & the wonderfully weird cast of characters
The ‘End of the World’ calendar: nonstop calls and apocalyptic requests
Beatles breakup era: meeting Ringo & George, never meeting Paul
Lost archives, Box of Smile, and rebuilding 1972 from memory
Wrapping up: Beatles professor talk, where to buy the book, and final thanks
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Show notes
Cha-Chi and David welcome author Dean Thompson, who worked at John and Yoko’s Joko Films in 1972. Thompson discusses his novel Imagine Murder: A John Lennon Mystery (Tucker Press), created as historical fiction after declining to write a memoir. Legally blind, he dictated the book to friend Tom Moon with help from wife Victoria Hallerman. He recalls NYC’s turmoil, ongoing death threats, Lennon’s refusal of bodyguards, “end of the world” prank calls, and a real DNC/Watergate-related trip later used in the plot.
 
Get the book: https://a.co/d/036R5cO8
 
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