Stopping By George's Place

During the wee hours on this day in 1999, Michael Abram, a 33-year-old Liverpudlian, breached the security of George Harrison’s Oxfordshire mansion and stabbed him several times in the chest. Both Harrison’s wife Olivia and his son Dhani helped subdue the attacker by hitting him over the head with a lamp and detaining him until police arrive. George suffered from a collapsed lung but didn’t lose his sense of humor, commenting that Abram “wasn’t auditioning for the Traveling Wilburys.”
But wait, there’s more.
Just a week prior to this incident, Cristin Keleher broke into Harrison’s Maui home. She was discovered by Harrison’s sister-in-law, eating a frozen pizza, drinking root beer, and making long distant phone calls on the home’s telephone.
While Abram was found not guilty by reason of insanity, Keleher was charged with burglary and theft. It was, after all, a DiGiorno pizza that she lifted.
But seriously, what is it about The Beatles and crazy people? What prompts people to seek out and, in some cases, harm the members of this fairly decent pop band? Can’t they target the band’s coattail riders for bringing second-rate facsimiles to the world of music? Couldn’t they focus their attention on the members of the Dave Clark Five so we can stop all this nonsense about inducting them into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame?
While the end of ’99 might have been a shitty way to end the year for Harrison, I think it’s safe to assume that it wasn’t necessarily his worst year.