John Lennon always comforted people who were grieving because he knew the feeling so well:
"There was one thing about John Lennon. In his steel-trap mind, he never forget what was important to people. Fast forward to May 1975. I had become an anchorman in Philadelphia, and combined with a radio station, our TV station sponsored what was called the "Helping Hand Marathon", a weekend-long radio fund-raiser to benefit area charities, including the one most important to me, the battle against multiple sclerosis (n/t: Larry Kane's mom passed away in 1964 because of sclerosis). With the help of our sales manager, Gene Vassall, I was able to put together a real coup — John Lennon to cohost the marathon for the weekend. From the time I picked him up at the railroad station to his departure on Sunday night, John was sensitive, giving and tireless. On the phone days ahead of the event, he said "Larry, I know this is being done in memory of your mother. I will make this happen and it will be great, baby!".
ã…¡ Larry Kane in the book "Memories of John Lennon" by Yoko Ono.
"I've always admired him, and was very proud of the friendship we had together, and the first time John really showed his love for me was after Stuart's death, when he helped me such an awful lot to try and understand my loss —and his as well — and we used to talk about Stuart, and he really got me together again. He wasn't like Paul or George, who felt really sorry for me, and said "Oh, everything will be fine". John just said — it to me one day when I was really, really down and didn’t know what to do — he said "Well, you have got to decide what you want: Do you want to live or do you want to die? Decide that, but be honest". And that helped me tremendously to go on. And then he said that there are so many things we haven't even discovered yet, and life has got to go on, and you can't sit down and cry all the time, you have got to get on, and if it's not for me, he said, it's for Stuart. And he said that in a very harsh voice, not like nice and sweet, but very directly, so that was the real John who was talking. And that made me really think twice about it. It helped me tremendously. That is what I'm still thankful for (...)"
ã…¡ Astrid Kirchherr in the book "Memories of John Lennon" by Yoko Ono.
"While they were there, Lily's father, William White, succumbed to a heart attack at age sixty-seven. Over the past few years, Mal had shared with her how intimidating John could be, so Lil was surprised when the Beatle brought her a cup of tea, let down his guard, and showered her with consolation. Like Mal, Lily would always remember John's tender gesture. 'It's very hard at times like these to give verbal comfort to anybody,' Mal wrote, 'but John was fantastic, and I knew that he gave Lil a lot of comfort in her hour of need — something I have always blessed him for.'"
ã…¡ Mal Evans in his diary, from the book "Living The Beatles Legend" by Kenneth Womack.
