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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 24 ,2 02 2 | 18 !dlihc ruoy rof tnemnorivne efas a seetnaraug noitpo tuo-kcol lortnoc/dlihc ehT sllems evomer ot ytivac sezirodoed :noitazirodoeD F°524 - F°001 morf serutarepmet htiw nevo raluger a sa noitcnuf ot evaworcim swolla ekab/tsaor noitcevnoC rewop gnikooc fo sttaw 0001 ,yticapac )L 82( .tf .uc 0.1 !ecived eno siht htiw secnailppa 5 fo krow eht oD eB oT deeN t'noD secnailppA ,detimiL si ecapS nehW 6-SSB0601WMDD - NWOHS LEDOM 7491 ECNIS moc.ybnaD ta sevaworcim rehto hcraes ro serutaef eht lla tuo kcehC John Arnone was nine and on a bakery run for his grandmother when he fell head over heels in love with The Beatles. "There was a commotion at the Kresge's store in the Toronto neighborhood where I grew up. Inside, they were playing the just released "Let it Be" album. I lis- tened to every song and, as they say, that's all she wrote," said the former longtime Oakville resi- dent, who now lives in Etobicoke. "I caught Beatles fever with a warm loaf of focaccia tucked un- der my little arms." That was more than 50 years ago, and his love of the Fab Four has never waned. "Beatles music, songwriting, production, art and their person- alities lit my imagination and at times helped me to find balance as the soundtrack of my life, loves and careers. I just love these guys." Retired from Mitsubishi Mo- tors, where he was head of public relations, and his winter escape travel curtailed by the pandemic, Arnone decided to act on a seed that had been planted years ago. When he toured Liverpool's The Beatles Story museum in 2010, Arnone had noticed a couple of Canadian references. "One had a typo and the other needed context, but generally I thought Canada was underrepre- sented. I hold a journalism de- gree and have been writing my entire career so, in a burst of con- fidence, I thought 'I could do bet- ter than this.' " "I spent many, many hours in real and virtual libraries, online and reading volumes and vol- umes of reference material." The most fun "by far," howev- er, was interviewing people who either had a direct connection or, were connected to someone with, a link to The Beatles, he said. The result is the 312-page book "Us and Them: Canada, Ca- nadians and The Beatles," fea- turing close to 40 photos and a myriad of little-known Canadi- an connections and anecdotes. For example, there's the Hamil- ton woman who "facilitated the band's first experimentation with LSD and unwittingly helped launch an entirely new and daring approach to their songwriting and recording," or the harmonica player from Guelph who helped George Har- rison record a solo album. Arnone gives Canada "a solid, second-tier footing in the band's history, next to the U.K. and U.S.A." The most obscure story in the book is also the most beautiful story, he said. John Lennon spoke to Cree el- der Lillian Shirt offering his help as she protested Indigenous liv- ing conditions in Edmonton. "She didn't know who John was and unsure what to suggest until she remembered a prayer her grandmother taught her in Cree. She recited it to the Beatle and, lo and behold, the prayer's theme was all about imagining a better world, imagining peace and, well, you get it," said Arno- ne. "To think a remarkable wom- an from Canada's proud, foun- ding people may have influenced John Lennon's greatest composi- tion. Wow." Beatles music has forever ap- peal; it is transcendent and multi- generational, he said. "Their music still matters and there are many wondrous links to Canada that have helped to make their songs timeless, mak- ing their Canadian legacy a story that's never quite done being told." For more details and to find out where "Us and Them" is avail- able, visit https://www.beatle- sandcanada.com/ EXPLORING CANADA'S CONNECTIONS TO THE FAB FOUR KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com BOOKS OAKVILLE NATIVE PENS NEW BOOK ON THE BEATLES John Arnone visited the Penny Lane roundabout on a trip to Liverpool. John Arnone photo