Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Beatcomber One

September 14, 1961

Today, John Lennon's first article (under pen name: Beatcomber) appears in Mersey Beat magazine.  Bill Harry, the publisher, recognizes early the crazy genius that is John.  John, never one to be restricted by rules that apply to everyone else, writes in a wildly creative style that owes a lot  to Lewis CarrollHere's a link to that first article.

I love this quote from Lewis Carroll about coining a word for his poem "Jabberwocky", which I think might well describe John Lennon's process. 

On coining the work "frumious:: "[T]ake the two words 'fuming' and 'furious'. Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards 'fuming', you will say 'fuming-furious'; if they turn, by even a hair's breadth, towards 'furious', you will say 'furious-fuming'; but if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say 'frumious'."

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