John Lennon “Peace off!” letter up for auction 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Music fans, cultural buffs, Beatles lovers…all may be interested as “Peace off!”, an intense handwritten letter from John Lennon asking, “Why don’t you Jesus Freaks get off peoples backs?” goes up for auction this week.

The one-page letter signed “John & Yoko, 71,” is on Apple letterhead and is dated October 1, 1971.

It was addressed to Tom Bonfield, 628 Lawrence St, Apt 2, Lexington, KY 40508 and was in response to a letter Bonfield had sent him about his new album at the time.

“Listen, Brother, Why don’t you Jesus Freaks get off peoples backs? its been the same for two thousand years—wont you ever learn? those who know do not speak, those who speak do not know, your peace of mind doesn’t show in your neurotic letter, son. One mans meat—brother! Peace off!” the letter states.

Also included is a matchbook from the St. Regis-Sheraton in New York, the residence of Lennon and Ono, which is annotated in black ink by Lennon, “this will help brother,” and the original Apple mailing envelope, which Lennon has addressed in his own hand.

The collection is double-matted with a Lennon sketch logo (with facsimile autograph) and a printed letter of provenance from the original recipient, in part: “After the release of the album ‘Imagine,’ I wrote a letter with my thoughts on it to John Lennon…I wrote that things were not so negative, and went on to share my religious beliefs in an uplifting and non-threatening manner…I apparently hit a sore spot with what I was saying. I also included a booklet of ‘Four Spiritual Laws’ upon which I wrote ‘this might help ‘…That is why John sent back a matchbook from St. Regis…I always thought John was open minded and open to sharing his ideas; his angry response was totally unexpected.”

The letter was consigned by a private collector who purchased it from a document dealer in the 1990s.

“John Lennon made no bones about his personal feelings towards religion or, more specifically, Christianity,” said Bobby Livingston,  executive vice president at RR Auction.

Online bidding for The Marvels of Modern Music Auction from RR Auction will begin Nov 12 and conclude Nov 19. For more information, go to www.rrauction.com.