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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 22, 2021 9:48:38 GMT -5
Back at the YMCAMark Chapman graduated Columbia High School in June of 1973, but didn't have grades good enough for college. Instead he and a friend Michael McFarlene, decided to move to Chicago and find fame as comedians. After a few months of failure, Mark was back in Decatur, and Michael moved to California trying to be a writer. Bresler reached out to MacFarlene in 1988, "I really don't want to get into this. I would rather not talk about Mark Chapman. I did not see him in Chicago in the first week of December 1980. I didn't live there then. I haven't seen him since the early 70s."Immediately following the murder, the mother of Mark's ex-girlfriend, June Blankenship got a call from Michael in California, "He was weeping on the phone. He was just devastated. He said that sweet guy could never have done. It's not in his body to do that, it's not in his makeup."When Mark got back from Chicago, his attitude had changed, friends around him found he was more insecure, not as strong. Bresler suspects these were the first changes to Mark. The bright eyed, brave young man was somehow broken and frail. Mark turned to the YMCA for a job and was encouraged by executive director Tony Adams to make a career with the "Y" He was great with kids, and they loved him. He always made it fun, like pretending to search for dinosaur eggs when picking watermelons. In 1974, they made Mark Asst. Director at the camp. Tony Adams explained, "He was a very caring person. Hate was not even in his vocabulary... He felt like the Lord had touched him, that he had turned his life around and wanted to prove that he was a good person and there was no bad person inside of him."++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ICCP/Abroad That same year, the "Y" offered, ICCP/Abroad, an International Camp Counselor Program, very much like the Peace Corps., the brochure promised, "...Works to further international peace and understanding through person-to-person contacts in youth camps around the world. "...Working side-by-side with other local young men and women as counselors in a camp (or camp like setting) you will have the chance to gain the kind of cultural understanding that few tourist can.."In 1975, Mark filled out his application, and paid his $100 processing fee. Bresler asked YMCA, Bonnie Mairs of NY Hdqrs for a copy of the application, and although he was able to get the completed form alone, all other files relating to Mark and ICCP/Abroad are lost. Something else he noted, that all the other authors mention the trip to Beirut, but none address Mark's first choice, the Soviet Union. All fail to ask the question, why would he want to go to Russia as a first choice, as well as not seek the same program in Jerusalem. The very same opportunity existed in Israel, offering a "Born Again Christian" a chance to walk where Jesus walked in the "Holy City". There was not one friend Bresler spoke to in Georgia, Chicago, New York, or Honolulu, who knew Mark, and were able to give any answer as to why Mark wanted to go to Russia in 1975. All the friends agreed, it does not make sense, that he would not seek Jerusalem first.
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 22, 2021 9:49:28 GMT -5
You're Going to BeruitChapman was refused his first choice of destination, simply because he cold not read or speak the Russian language. Instead, Mark ended up Beirut, Lebanon, and in the Spring of 1975, less than a month after he arrived, the country broke out in a civil war. Researcher Mae Brussell, was adamant the CIA had setup training camps claiming, Yasser Arafat's Popular Liberation Front was one on the payroll. Bresler points to an advantage to "bloody" a young soldier, to break him, and reminds the reader of this odd choice for a such a nonviolent person. Mark was immersed in the gun fire and other sounds of war in June. He made a recording from Beirut, and played it for friends when he got home. In a matter of weeks the Beirut "Y" was closed and Chapman was back in Atlanta, Tony Adams stepped in and helped Mark land a position with the International Division and became Area Coordinator in a seven block section of a Vietnamese Refugee camp in Fort Chaffee Arkansas. The YMCA felt they had something to make up to this young man after what had happened in Lebanon, and by the end of 1975, Mark was doing well. As the camp was winding down, and the children were being placed, it came time to go back to Georgia. Bresler points out a person that came back into Chapman's life to bring him to Atlanta, was Gene Scott. The author is clear this is not his real name and refuses to give it, Gene is a few years older but has had a heavy influence on Mark. The two go back to high school, and Scott, a "Rambo" like character whom Mark admired greatly, later provided the hollow point bullets. A co worker remembered, "...As soon as Gene arrived Mark's behavior changed, Mark cleaned his nails for Gene, put on his clean clothes for Gene, made telephone calls for Gene, and there was Gene's gun. Mark was so nonviolent. He hated guns.
I remember them sitting in the office of the YMCA center at Fort Chaffee, playing with his gun, looking at it, talking about it. It wasn't like Mark. They started rough-housing, then Gene gave Mark this look, he froze"June Blankenship [ex-gf's mother],We don't know much about Gene, except that he's a bad influence. He came to the house several times and be tolerated him for Mark's sake only."Rev. Charles McGowan called him a "kind of mysterious character"
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 22, 2021 9:49:49 GMT -5
The Mike Douglas ShowMichael Delaney Dowd Jr., later known as Mike Douglas, had his own daily talk show in Cleveland in 1961. Douglas had done radio, night club MC, and big band singer. The show was broadcast daily in the afternoons on WKYC-TV In 1965, Westinghouse moved the program to Philadelphia where it remained until 1978, and finally to Los Angeles until 1981. He would have the stars of the day, comedians, singers, magicians, authors, even some political guest and discussions. Truman Capote, Richard Nixon, musical groups, Herman's Hermits, Rolling Stones, and KISS (sitting in full makeup). He got Barbara Streisand and Aretha Franklin the television exposure they needed in the early days of their career. It was a very popular program, with over 6M viewers a day in 171 markets, annual advertising topped $10.5M. The show had a unique set up, a guest host for a week. So when John & Yoko were on from Feb. 14-18,'72 they picked the guests. There was concern from the Douglas show about radical or leftists being chosen by the Lennons. Jerry Rubin and Bobby Seale were of primary worry, both had previous arrests for extreme behavior against the government. Whatever image they had amassed up until that point was discarded by the audience once they opened their mouths to speak. Seale was especially sympathetic to needs of the black community, in terms of food, clothing, and awareness of Sickle cell anemia. This former leftist radical once chained and gagged in a court room, now had his hands in the neighborhoods feeding the people. Rubin blamed the war machine on Nixon, and reminded young people, the eighteen year old vote could change the White House. The FBI was watching and dictated memos that called Rubin “an extremist” and Lennon an “SMNL: Security Matter, New Left.”Within one month airing of this program, immigration proceedings came down hard on Lennon, demanding immediate deportation. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ John & Yoko | Co HostsJohn Lennon: "...There were no particular people that [the Douglas bookers] were more upset about. ‘Course they were upset originally about the idea of Jerry [Rubin] and Bobby Seale being on, but we explained that they were the first [guests] we’d like to bring on if we do the show. And they got over that, it was just nervousness. But there was a point when they said, “Well, haven’t you got any friends that aren’t political? Have you got any other interests?” So we said, “Ok, ok, we do have other interests,” and so that’s when we went into the [biofeedback] thing, and things which you’ll see are other interests of ours." Q: At the moment are your hands kind of tied from doing a tour of some sort ’cause of [work visa] problems? John Lennon: Yeah, that could be sorted out within a couple of weeks, actually… oh, I can’t wait, you know, I can’t wait! Q: Do you have any plans in the near future to return to England? John Lennon: I’d like to stay here for awhile, so’s we…I’d like to be able to just go and come as I like.
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 27, 2021 10:18:03 GMT -5
One to OneThe first few months of 1972, John & Yoko were busy finishing up the "Sometime in NYC" album and making TV appearances. From the "John Sinclair Rally", to announcing a tour to follow, the Lennons were under FBI surveillance as radical revolutionaries. In a matter of months deportation orders came down on John, forcing him to appeal in 60 day waivers, deport, appeal, deport, appeal. Sometime around May, Lennon had heard, or was told, his politics and radical friends, Rubin, Seale, etc., were the cause of his trouble. He should cool it. Back off these guys, don't go on any rally tour, and work for other causes. John & Yoko took the advise and distanced themselves from "those guys" and started looking locally. The tour was off, instead two benefit concerts for Willowbrook Mental Hospital. ABC News, Geraldo Rivera broke a story about the Willowbrook abuse, lack of funds and humanitarian relief, and the Lennons got behind it. On August 30, 1972, John & Yoko and the "Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band", performed two concerts at Madison Sq. Garden in New York. Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Melanie Safka and Sha-Na-Na were also on the bill, and some portions were taped and shown on ABC that fall. By the time Lennon hit the stage, the FBI knew he had fallen out of favor with Rubin, etc., and actually issued a memo on that very day. Prof. Jon Weiner, sat down with PBS to discuss the Lennon files that he had forced to be released thru the Freedom of Information Act. Jon Weiner:"This is dated August 30th 1972. This is like two months before the presidential election. This is a memo to the acting director, - now that's L. Patrick Gray, [J. Edgar] Hoover, had died in May - from the special agent in charge of the New York FBI office. It says (reading) "For the past several months there has been no information received to indicate that the subject is active in the new left." And it indicated what the sources are. (reading) "...all advised that during the month of July 1972, that the subject has fallen out of favor of activists Jerry Rubin, Stewart Albert and Rennie Davis, due to subject's lack of interest in committing himself to involvement in anti-war and new left activities. In view of this information, the New York division is placing this case in a pending inactive status.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In His Own Words"It keeps all the conservatives happy that they are doing something about me and what I represent. And it keeps the liberals happy that I am not thrown out. So everybody is happy - but me! I am still being harassed." "...it keeps all the pop stars in line, they also hassle Paul, George, Mick Jagger... Obviously Keith Richards" Why they have not got David Bowie in their sights? "They probably just think he something from the circus! He's never been busted and he didn't get mashed up with lunatics like Jerry Rubin and Abbie, my boy Hoffman." "I never see them. They vanished into the woodwork. Jerry has been nothing but trouble and pain in the neck since I met him. I decided as he didn't lead the revolution. I decided to stop answering the phone."
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 27, 2021 10:19:07 GMT -5
Mind GamesThroughout July and August 1973 John was recording his next lp "Mind Games" The record was much less political and more self relevant, but offered little for radio beyond the title track. The Lennnon's personal asst. May Pang, had been assigned to gather the musicians for Yoko's album "Feeling the Space". John liked the groove so much he decided to book those players for "Mind Games", and worked at NY Record Plant. Yet, immigration proceedings never let up, and although his case was "pending inactive status", the surveillance remained. On Sept. 23, 1973, a coded teletype from FBI Special Agent in Charge(SAC), NY Office to his director informed them that, a review of their records "...failed to indicate that lending or premises in which he had proprietary interest have been subjected to any lawful electronic surveillance." Yet, at the same time Lennon sued the INS demanding documents to prove or deny he had violated the law by his activities. Then he made that document public, demonstrating constant surveillance had continued. "Their relations with one (6521) Jerry Rubin, and one John Sinclair (4536), also there many commitments which are judged to be political and unfavorable to the present administration. This was set forth to our office in a previous report. Because of this and there controversial behavior they are to be judged as both undesirable and dangerous aliens.
Because of the delicate and explosive nature of this matter the whole affair has been handed over to I & N Services to handle. Your office is to maintain a constant surveillance of their residence and periodic report sent to this office. All cooperation is to be given to the I & N Service in all reports are to be digested by this office"++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jon Weiner"...Part of his FBI file is the FBI's own response to that charge. They replied that they could find no evidence of authorized wiretapping in their files. You know, this seems to me like a typical Nixon-era, non-denial denial. They say they could find no evidence, but maybe they didn't look very hard. They said they could find no evidence of authorized wiretapping, but it could've been unauthorized. It's also possible that the wiretapping was not done by the FBI but was done by the New York police or some other agency."
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 27, 2021 10:19:41 GMT -5
In DakotaWhile Bob Dylan had moved off the East Coast to escape the garbage antics of A.J. Weberman, John & Yoko knew they had to get out of the Village to a more private residence and avoid anymore "bad company". In June of 1973, The Lennons were renting the apartment of the then dying actor, Robert Ryan. When he passed away in July, the couple purchased the space and were afforded the privacy of a high residence. The home is on the seventh floor of what was an enormous old hotel, built in 1884 by Singer millionaire Edward Clarke. When built, it was so far out from the developed parts of city, it came to be known as "The Dakota" John & Yoko eventually took over the entire floor and a few other apartments in the building as well. It was where John lived the rest of his life and except for a few trips to other houses and a "Lost Weekend", this was home. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Son of a Spector From Oct. '73 - Nov. '74 John was living in Los Angeles, with his then 23 year old personal asst., May Pang. He was separated from Yoko, and was on what he later called his, "Lost Weekend", during which he got into a lot of trouble. To begin working, he called on Phil Spector to produce an album of oldies, where he could walk in and just, "be the singer". Once he and Spector selected the tracks, the recording was underway at A&M Studios. Soon word got out of the sessions, and everybody wanted to be involved. The studio would be filled with 30 players at a time. The result was absolute chaos. Spector dressed as Napoleon or a Hospital Surgeon, once shot a gun into the ceiling and every night was taking the masters home. The absolute final straw was when somebody poured cognac into the studio console and the entire troop was banned from A&M. But Spector was gone. He had taken the few completed tracks, had gotten into a car accident, and was not returning Lennon's calls.
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 30, 2021 10:36:32 GMT -5
Look Out a Mountain In the beginning of 1976, Mark Chapman enrolled with his girlfriend in, Covenant College, at Lookout Mountain, GA. A Liberal Arts Campus located on the Tennessee line. It was necessary to go further in the administration of the "Y". He did not do well, and after only one semester, dropped out, was back home in Atlanta, and out of work. Once again he turned to the YMCA, and got his job back as camp counselor, but after a short time, lost his temper, screamed at one of the parents, and walked out. Once again, out of work, he heeded the advise of his roommate, Gene Scott and took a job as an armed security guard. Only a few months before he had remarked to another friend David Moore, after seeing a rifle mounted on a truck in Arkansas, "...that's disgusting! Why do we have so many guns in America..."What a strange occupation for this devout, God fearing southerner, that friends had called non violent, even a sweet guy. It was after a few months living with Gene that Jessica's mother saw changes in Mark, "...that summer, after he went into being a security guard, living with Gene, his personality began to change. He became quickly angry - just a trigger!! He could just explode, and so then's when we began to be concerned, really concerned about him..."The next ting the Blankenships knew, Mark had left Atlanta and flown off to live in Hawaii. He never did say goodbye. Harold Blankenship remarked, "We did not know he was gone until somebody told us...It didn't sound like the boy we knew."++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Not This TimeSome authors have written that Chapman went to Hawaii to kill himself, but his good friend David Moore disagreed, "Nonsense! It was quite the opposite. To start a new life. I had been to Hawaii myself to kind of "decompress" on my way back from Saigon, and I had talked about it a lot to Mark at Fort Chaffee, and I think he was also impressed by the Asian quality of serenity and calmness he had witnessed among the refugees camp." The explanation Mark had given at work was that he had always wanted to go to Hawaii. A woman colleague at ABC Security in Atlanta, said, "...He did his job gave nobody any problems. He was an alright guy. He did not strike me as the sort of person who would go off and kill himself. No way!"
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 30, 2021 10:37:06 GMT -5
In the Sands of the WaikikiChapman arrived at Honolulu Airport in January 1977, and for awhile burned thru money like a vacation. He stayed at the elite, Moana Hotel, right on the beach, sipped Mai Tais and took a few tourist excursions. Once he realized he couldn't keep spending at that pace, he checked into to the local YMCA. He phoned his ex girlfriend Jessica, and complained how miserable he was, she felt sorry for him and told him to come home. Mark flew back to Atlanta to find she had no serious future as a couple in mind. Severely depressed, Mark flew back in Hawaii. This time and not before, he decided he would kill himself. Instead, he contacted a suicide hotline and they referred him to the Waikiki Mental Health Clinic. There he began working with Anne Jones for about 2 weeks, Jones told Bresler, "it was very spotty and very intense at the same time because we were working on a crisis basis." Mark had put too much into the relationship with Jessica, and could not get over the fact that he could never have her. One fact interesting enough to note, Jones told Bresler, Mark felt himself a failure in everything he did, school, relationships, the "Y", Jessica, except when he talked about Beirut, Anne Jones said in 1988, "Yes, he told me about that too, but that was different. He was proud of that, very proud. That was a period when he had done well. People thought well of him. That was very important to him."So what was it he had done so well in Beirut? He came home within a month of a civil war, there was nothing commendable about that. What mission had he accomplished, and for whom exactly? There are gaps in the people, places and all the involvement in this case that are troubling. One would expect more evidence from connections between the YMCA and the CIA or Hawaii assignment of sort. "The United States Youth Council, a nonprofit coalition of organizations that served youth, operated from 1945 to 1989. The USYC had 16 members, one of which was the YMCA. In 1967, The New York Times revealed that 90 percent of USYC's funds came from the CIA, which in turn was controlling the organization's agenda." [Erin Ansley from "Is There Any Truth to This YMCA Conspiracy Theory?"]There is nothing to indicate, anyone sent him to Hawaii, or that he had any preset contact with anyone on the islands. Researcher Mae Brussell, thinks differently, and told Bresler, " There are mind control places in Hawaii. There are hospitals there where it would be very convenient for that sort of thing to be going on. There are a lot of military and naval bases in Hawaii, where we send all kinds of people to do all kinds of secret things." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ On the BeachHe set up his car, put a vacuum hose from the exhaust to the cabin, turned on the engine and went to sleep. A short time later, he was awoken by a fisherman tapping on the window. The vacuum hose had melted by the heat of the exhaust. The entire episode was a failure.
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 30, 2021 10:37:59 GMT -5
Castle ChangesWhen Mark showed Anne the melted hose from an attempted suicide, she immediately checked him into Castle Memorial Hospital in Kailua. On the drive over, the subject of music came up. Mark told her he liked classical music, some modern music, made no mention of Beatles. After the murder, Castle told NY DA, Allan Sullivan, Mark was suffering from severe depressive neurosis, but did not find him psychotic. That information was never made public and has led to Chapman being inaccurately described as an ex-mental patient. He was not. Within a matter of weeks Mark was well enough to check out. He liked living on that side of the island so much, he decided to move to Kailua. In August '77 Mark began working for Castle, first as a maintenance worker and eventually promoted to Customer Service. His immediate supervisor, Paul Tharp, said he displayed a "...remarkable gift towards graphic, particularity in the area of printing".Like past employers, he found Mark to be, "the outgoing type", and "excellent employee". ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I Need Money He first flew to Hawaii in Jan. '77, stayed at a posh hotel (but not long), flew back to Atlanta, and flew back to HI. Flights beyond cross country in 1977 were not cheap, and Mark took three of them in a some what succession. How much could he have saved? Once back, he didn't go to Honolulu, instead he stayed near Kailua, and once released from the hospital, got an apartment there. Bresler found something very strange regarding the apartment. The address on his drivers license when he was arrested was 112 Puwa Place, Kailua. It was rented in July 1977, that is fine, and coordinates with the timing of his return to the islands and release from the hospital. What is strange is that, after the murder, this article appeared in the local paper describing a woman and 3 small children living at Puwa Pl. Further investigation, found no identify of who this person is, or why her mother would pay these accommodations. Bresler then found postal records show, Mark made another change of address about 2 years later, this time into the apartment of his pastor, Rev Peter Anderson, Mark moved there around June of 1979. When Bresler tried to talk to Anderson, he refused to answer any questions. Bresler makes no mention if/when Mark moved out of the Anderson's home, or if there was any other address change made. Honolulu Star-Bulletin "The owner of the apartment said that Chapman was there with a woman and three young children possibly her sisters. The apartment had been rented by the woman's mother, the owner said. The landlord said Chapman, the woman, and children, lived there almost 6 months, and skipped out in April this year [1980] with the rent unpaid, leaving the place in a mess. It took $2000 worth of cleanup to get the place back in shape. She said the electricity bill had not been paid and the tenants had spent the last month in the apartment without electricity."Then in the summer of 1978, out of nowhere really, Mark decided to take a trip around the world.
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Post by Michael Capasse on Apr 30, 2021 10:38:38 GMT -5
Brandy Alexander & the TroubadourJohn & Harry thrown outMeanwhile, back in Los Angeles, 1974, that ol' gang was, Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and anybody else that could keep up. John's drink of choice was the "Brandy Alexander", which is basically, a 90 proof milk shake. The every night was Harry and John, and one of their favorite spots was "The Troubadour Club" in West Hollywood. March 19, 1974, The Smothers Brothers opening night, and in the audience was a very drunk John Lennon & Harry Nilsson. They rudely heckled the brothers, with Harry encouraging Lennon on, until eventually the pair were ejected. During the removal there was a scuffle, Lennon lost his glasses, and the Smothers stopped the show for a brief period. Bad publicity that brought no good, there was nothing funny here, bad for his immigration case, he was supposed to be working. Tommy Smothers, “It was a big Hollywood opening. During our first set, I heard someone yelling about pigs…it was fairly disgusting. I couldn’t figure out who it was. But I knew Harry and John were there. The heckling got so bad that our show was going downhill rapidly. No one cared, because it was just a happening anyway, but there was a scuffle going on and we stopped the show. Flowers came the next day apologizing.”Lennon recalled the incident in 1975 on the Old Grey Whistle Test , “I got drunk and shouted…it was my first night on Brandy Alexanders, that’s brandy and milk, folks. I was with Harry Nilsson, who didn’t get as much coverage as me…the bum. He encouraged me.
I usually have someone there who says ‘okay Lennon, shut up.’ There was some girl who claimed that I hit her, but I didn’t hit her at all, you know. She just wanted some money and I had to pay her off, because I thought it would harm my immigration.”
He also said, “So I was drunk. When it’s Errol Flynn, the showbiz writers say: ‘Those were the days, when men were men.’ When I do it, I’m a bum. So it was a mistake, but hell, I’m human.”
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