On Writing In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
I have been a passionate fan of music, since seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, when I was six years old. After a brief career as a writer for publications, I immersed myself in writing about the music that I love. I started writing a blog in 2002 (madelinex.com). It’s exciting to share my insights and experiences about artists and musicians who are very important to me, and to history.
My lifelong admiration of Yoko Ono is presented in this first comprehensive book about her life and work, titled In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono. The reactions have been extremely positive. I hope that more people will be uplifted by Yoko’s fascinating life story.
This is a collection of stories I had written over decades, to explain Ono’s art to friends and fans. Realizing that I had enough material for a book, I assembled it in a unique way, conveying her essence.
I prefer celebrity biographies written by fans, who are sensitive to important details, rather than complex analysis by critics, researchers or historians. I broke a lot of rules, and readers find it refreshing.
This is more than a biography – it’s also a reference guide to Ono’s work. I hope to share Yoko’s wisdom with younger people, and to spark fond nostalgic memories for those who grew up in the 1960s and 70s. Most people are familiar with the situations in the story, yet many have a completely misinformed view. I wanted to tell the truth.
My inspiration was a lifetime of appreciating Yoko, ever since I was a child in the 1960s. My goal is to share Ono’s amazing insights and to show why John Lennon adored her. She sees the world in an entirely different way, and it all makes perfect sense.
I don’t consider what I have done as research. I’ve always known the importance of Yoko’s work. I compiled what I already knew. I collected information, and knew all the important details to compile in a complete first-hand picture. That could only come from my own experience. I gained special insight from spending precious time with Yoko. She was always happy to discuss her work with me. She knew that I completely understood her.
It took a lifetime of love, and five years to assemble. I included many of Ono’s own words from published sources – quotes from media in my archive; articles, audio interviews, and her social media. I included Yoko’s voice because she is so eloquent, intuitive and very funny! As articulate as Yoko is, she was always asked the same questions about John Lennon or the Beatles. She was not often given the chance to explain her own work.
My style is straightforward. You can read each short chapter alone, or skip around without losing the plot. Readers find Yoko’s cosmic consciousness uplifting and healing. They’ve been revisiting their favorite chapters.
Yoko’s true and extraordinary story goes way beyond what most people know. I have included lots of insight and detail. Even her fans will learn a lot more.
Ono’s extremely wealthy ancestry and childhood of great privilege in Tokyo was interrupted when she (at age twelve) and her younger siblings were evacuated as children during WWII, with little to eat. She survives and emerges as an avant-garde artist in New York, Japan, and London, which leads to her meeting John Lennon. They enter a whirlwind of creativity together. Yoko is a victim of cruel and unwarranted hatred, due to lies written in the media, some of which still persist.
Her young daughter is kidnapped by her ex-husband. She is unjustly accused of breaking up the Beatles, and is reviled in the media. She gives birth to Lennon’s son Sean on his birthday in 1975. John is murdered right before her eyes in 1980, when Sean was only five years old… and that’s only HALF of her life. The next forty years as an artist, a pioneering feminist and relentless activist are just as interesting and important.
It’s a tragedy that such a brilliant and caring woman has been greatly misunderstood. Although the media lies persisted, Yoko never stopped trying to promote love and peace. She is also an important thinker, way ahead of her time, and a generous humanitarian – an anonymous donor to many important causes.
Yoko’s ideas are mostly metaphysical. She lives in the subconscious. Her goal is to make us aware of our own inner power and alert us to our dangerously misplaced values. She believes that art should not have monetary value. It is an interactive tool for communication. Most of her art is to be completed IN YOUR MIND – (the book’s title). This is the first book to include all of Yoko’s output, art, films, writings, activism, music and feminism.
Honesty and truth are the main elements in Yoko’s work. Her intent is mainly therapeutic. She constantly needed to free herself loneliness and tragedy. Her work is endearing and relatable. Yoko’s has turned extreme hardship into constructive life-lessons in positivity and survival.
The deep love story of John and Yoko is interwoven throughout the book. John Lennon loved Yoko above all else. They were only together for twelve years, though it seemed much longer. She has now lived forty-plus years without him, continuing to protect his legacy.
Many of us remember John and Yoko being chased by the media through airports or flickering on TV – singing and delivering slogans and messages. They understood the power and responsibility of celebrity. They radiated positivity and humor, and always told the truth. I have illuminated an amazing and historic era (the swinging 1960s and the turbulent 70s).
Before they met, John and Yoko were extremely lonely, fragile and misunderstood artists. They saved and nurtured each other. Together, they were strong and invincible. Yoko liberated John from the constraints he was under as a celebrity. She freed his mind. However, their relationship was complicated, and at times harrowing.
This book undeniably debunks all the mistruths. Everything is backed up with facts and cited quotes. I assembled these perfectly fitting puzzle pieces to tell a true, cohesive and amazing story.
I would advise any author to be independent. Publishers are too restrictive. Most said that my subject (one of the most famous women in the world) was too eclectic. They all said that it had to be cut in half. There are many easy ways to self-publish now, and you will retain the rights to your work.
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In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
The true story of the woman whom John Lennon loved.
This is the first extensive exploration of the artist’s amazing life, struggles, art, activism, films and music in astounding detail. Yoko’s life story goes way beyond what most people know. This is not only a biography – it is the ultimate reference guide to Ono’s life and work.
It includes the love story of John and Yoko, and her relationship to the Beatles.
The book illuminates Ono’s spiritual nature and her wisdom, her lonely childhood in Japan during wartime, her art, films, music and work for peace and women’s rights.
The misunderstanding and undeserved negativity that Ono has received throughout her life as an Asian woman and as the wife of one of the Beatles is explored. We can all learn from her positivity and effective healing methods.
Yoko’s life story spans thirty-three years before meeting John Lennon, twelve years with him, and over forty years of creativity since his death.
The author has followed Ono’s career since the mid-1960s, assembling a vast media archive on the artist. Yoko’s own voice, along with Lennon’s and others (in cited, published interviews) tells her undeniably true story, and unravels many longstanding myths.
Yoko’s incredible body of work expresses all the joy and suffering of an extraordinary lifetime. It is all examined in this complete biography.
Hard cover books, signed by the author are exclusively available at:
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Category: On Writing
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