John Lennon Confidant Elliott Mintz Recalls Witnessing What He Thinks ...
John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s friend and confidant Elliot Mintz was the guest on the latest episode of Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan’s interview podcast The Magnificent Others. Mintz, who was Lennon and Ono’s publicist during their years living at the Dakota building in Manhattan, recently published a memoir about his experiences with the legendary couple titled We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me.
During his conversation with Corgan, Mintz discussed being a witness to what he believes was the final time Lennon and fellow Beatles legend Paul McCartney ever spent time together.
According to Mintz, the get-together happened around Christmas time in 1978. He told Corgan that John and Yoko had invited him over to the Dakota, and while he was sitting in their living room, some other guests arrived at the building.
As Mintz recalled, “[T]here’s a knock on the door … and [John] opens it, and Paul and Linda McCartney walk in, and they greet each other.”
Elliot noted that this was the first time he’d ever met McCartney. Continuing his story, Mintz said. “And [Paul and Linda] come in, and John just said, ‘This is our friend Elliot.’ And I said, ‘Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, Linda.’ And we sat and we talked for a while. … How should I say it? It wasn’t overly jubilant. It wasn’t icy. It was just correct.”
The Couples and Mintz Then Went Out for Dinner
Mintz recalled that it was then decided that the group would get dinner at the Manhattan restaurant Elaine’s. As Elliot noted, Elaine’s was a popular dining spot for celebrities, although its food was notoriously mediocre.
He remembered that no one was particularly thrilled at the menu choices, so Linda suggested that they order a pizza from a nearby pizza place she liked and have it delivered to Elaine’s. Mintz was tasked with getting the pizza to the restaurant.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Matt Friedlander
