MONTREAL BED-IN FOR PEACE

INTERVIEWS

JOAN E. ATHEY

Joan E. Athey has worked with creative people all her life. A marketing and promotions strategist for over 20 years, she spent the bulk of her career as a communications specialist with the CBC in Vancouver. Born in Toronto, Joan’s father ran a camera shop on Danforth Avenue where she was exposed to the magic of photography. She learned about journalism working for the Toronto Star as an entertainment writer. Eventually making her way to the West Coast via Edmonton, Joan learned about music production in the studios at the CBC. For the last 10 years, she has been the curator of this precious archive of images that Gerry Deiter took in 1969, and has exhibited them in Liverpool, Bogotá, San Diego, Tokyo, and elsewhere. 

RICHARD GLANVILLE BROWN

As the promotion manager for Capitol Records in Montreal, Richard Glanville-Brown headed to the BED-IN FOR PEACE to offer John and Yoko his help. He ended up assisting Derek Taylor, the couple’s press agent, with managing the never-ending flow of guests visiting the suite every day. For Taylor, the highlight of this experience was successfully quelling a near riot comprised of fans who had marched down to the hotel from Mont-Royal Park.

RONNIE HAWKINS

Rock musician Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins and wife Wanda Hawkins hosted John and Yoko at their home in Mississauga, Ontario, for a ten-day visit in December 1969. Soon afterward, Ronnie Hawkins joined friend and journalist Ritchie Yorke on a five-week world tour, during which they displayed WAR IS OVER! (IF YOU WANT IT) posters in thirteen cities as emissaries of peace for John and Yoko. In this interview, Ronnie tells the story of displaying posters across the Chinese border near Hong Kong, where they were stopped and surrounded by Red Guards. Also, Ronnie and Wanda share memories of hosting their famous guests.

FRANCINE V. JONES

While completing her studies at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), Francine V. Jones worked for Hilton Canada as an advertising and public relations officer for The Queen Elizabeth Hotel. It was there, while accompanying journalist Doris Giller to an interview, that she encountered John and Yoko.

CHRISTINE KEMP

Christine Kemp arrived in Canada from England in the 1960s and set up a jewellery atelier in Old Montreal. During the Montreal BED-IN FOR PEACE, she decided to bring a handmade present to John and Yoko that is now on display at the Museum of Liverpool, UK. 

JERRY LEVITAN

A serious fan of the Beatles, Jerry Levitan was fourteen years old when Yoko and John stopped off in Toronto to decide where to hold a second BED-IN FOR PEACE, having been denied entry to the United States. On his own initiative, Levitan succeeded in meeting the couple and conducted an exclusive interview. This experience would later lead him to create two highly acclaimed animated films.

ALLAN ROCK

In 1969, Allan Rock was a law student at the University of Ottawa and president of the student federation. When he learned that John and Yoko were in Montreal, he quickly set a plan in motion to get them to come to Ottawa for what he called a Seminar on World Peace.