This is a true story. In the late seventies I had an appointment at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC to show my work. They weren't very impressed, which made me kind of depressed, so I went out and sat down on the steps of St. Thomas' Church on 5th Avenue to watch the people walk by. I see the guy who played Sulu on Star Trek go past, and I think to myself, "I guess today's my day to see celebrities," and I get on the bus and head downtown.

At about 17th Street I look out the window and see John and Yoko standing on the corner waiting for the light to change. I think, "Holy shit, John Lennon!" and jump off the bus at the next stop. I start running uptown with my big portfolio and my new Frye boots are killing me. Then I start wondering what'll I do when I catch up with them, and decide that I'll give them a picture. I reach into the portfolio, pull one out and catch them on 23rd Street. I run up to them and hand the print to Yoko saying "Here's a present." She jumps back and takes it. John looks at it and says, "Nice!", sounding just like John Lennon with that Liverpool accent and all. I walk away and look back once to see Yoko holding it and John hailing a taxi cab.

I go home and call all my friends. For the next year I'm fantasizing about where the picture is hanging. In the white house in London or at the Dakota? Maybe he's looking for me to do an album cover or something. I'm looking for cryptic messages in the Village Voice.

About a year later I'm doing an art show on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Three ladies with baby carriages glance over at my stuff and make a beeline for this particular print that I gave to John and start talking excitedly amongst themselves. I go, "What's up?" One of them says that John Lennon bought this picture and gave it to her husband as a present. "What do you mean, he didn't buy it, I gave it to him!" So then I'm wondering who her husband is, maybe he's a big shot in the record business, so as they're about to leave I ask, "By the way what does your husband do for a living?" She says, "At the time, he was a cab driver."