Has anyone ever seen paul mad (angry)? | Page 3 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

acmac said
Me either. What mind-boggling selfishness and entitlement. 

You’ve reminded me of two more “Angry Paul” anecdotes:

Once, either while Linda was ill or shortly after she died, Paul chewed out an underling, who’d brought him a drink, for forgetting to bring a coaster for it. I believe several of his staff have mentioned that he could be a real bear during that time.

I mentioned in another thread a talk/Q&A Barry Miles gave and his anecdote about editing MYFN. He said that same thing. Like you wrote, I think others have said that, too, regarding how tremendously difficult it was for Paul during that time. As it would be for anybody, of course, but I think it was complicated in that case because from what I’ve heard is that Linda and Paul kept things very under wraps. 

I was a fan beginning in the 90’s when Linda was still alive and the PR during that time was very much that she was doing well. It’s only in recent years Paul’s hinted at how bad it was and how serious it was from the start. I heard some gossip at the time that Linda was undergoing very intensive and grueling treatment but nothing was let on in public. Miles and a few other insiders didn’t know specifics but just that it was bad, and IIRC Miles implied that it was very difficult for Paul because aside from the kids he was Linda’s sole support. That she shied away from friends during that time because she wasn’t comfortable being ill around them (not judging BTW, I’m the same way). But that meant it was difficult to work with Paul during that time, because he went to every doctor’s visit, treatment and camped out in Linda’s room during every hospital visit. So it was hard for Paul to fit in other business, time-wise, during Linda’s intensive treatment schedule and when he did, he was distracted and snippy. It didn’t help that Paul would get push back from sources like his record company. 

I remember hearing about the benefit concert for Montserrat. It was only a few hours of Paul’s time because it took place in London and he didn’t rehearse or anything because he just went on and sang one or two songs. But according to someone backstage Paul was in constant phone contact with Linda before and after going on stage. It made sense later when I read in Danny Fields’ book that that night, a couple of Linda’s friends were on the phone with her while Paul was at the concert, because she was very depressed and ill and she wanted Paul. Linda apparently rarely talked about her cancer with friends and took to phone calls and letters in her last few years and rarely saw people in person because she only felt comfortable being around Paul. 

parlance said:

I’m inclined to feel sorry for all parties involved. I would have erred on the side of caution, but that’s me, and without knowing all the details it’s hard for me to condemn them for taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet their idol. 

The fans in question who were named in Sounes’ book had met Paul before (and would meet him again years after that incident). He also didn’t mention if John Hammel was sent down to apologize by Paul or if Hammel did it himself. 

Also yes, that info Holloway posted about Linda’s illness is very, very sad. I can understand Linda’s feelings, though; it can be very difficult to deal with people when you’re very ill (like, dying-ill). People don’t know what to say, and treat you like glass, which is rough if you’d rather just take the treatment and otherwise have as normal a life as possible. Being constantly reminded of the illness by friends’ awkwardness, having to cope with their distress in addition to your own problems — it’s exhausting. Besides that, there was the ever-present risk of her friends blabbing about personal details after she was gone. Not in a disrespectful way, but… still. 

There was also the concern that people who knew of the situation would leak it to the press. It was also the pre-paparazzi age and Linda’s looks obviously changed very much due to her illness and treatment and a couple of her friends said that made her self-conscious.

I also get the sense that maybe Linda was always the strong person in her friendships. In Fields’ book, the night of the Montserrat concert when Linda told her friend on the phone that she was feeling down and having a bad night her friend panicked and handed the phone off to her partner (who’d been in Jimi Hendrix’s band and was also a friend of Linda’s). Not to disparage that friend in any way, but I kind of got the sense that maybe that’s why Linda didn’t confide in a lot of people, because they didn’t know how to react if she did. Danny Fields said any time he tried to ask Linda how she was doing she would brush him off and it was only from Paul that Danny learned things weren’t fine at all, but even then Paul wouldn’t go into details. 

I think it’s also in Danny’s book about the opening of Linda’s photography exhibit in New York. It was supposed to be Linda’s first big event after she’d become ill and the first time a lot of her friends in NYC had seen her since she’d been diagnosed. But at the last moment the thought of dealing with everyone and them seeing her became overwhelming for her, so she ended up staying in the car and never came in. Paul stayed with her in the car and they ended up sending Mary in to be hostess. 

But it was just overall very sad, and the impression I got from seeing or reading the comments from many people is that Paul carried the burden himself. He’s never been one to unburden himself to his friends anyway as he always had Linda as his confidante. However he obviously couldn’t lean on her for support when she was the one who was ill.