“George Was Here Photo Exhibit”
by Todd McFliker, photos by Jim Rassol and/or Larry Marano
The memorable “George Was Here Photo Exhibit” took place on November 7 and 8 at the Johnny L. Tigner Community Center in Deerfield Beach. Displayed at the free event were eighteen never-before-seen photographs of the Quiet Beatle getting away from the limelight for roughly ten days in November 1970. After finishing All Things Must Pass, George, his wife Pattie Boyd and Beatles road manager Mal Evans stayed at the Shore Road Inn (today’s Pier Walk), a small hotel about a block from the ocean. They also visited his maternal aunt and uncle, Mimi and Edmund French, in their one-story, L-shaped apartment building. Rather than simply letting the photos do the talking, Deerfield Beach natives Jeff Fisk and Tom Craig put together quite a Fab exhibit of George’s stay in South Florida.
Fisk, the Music Production Manager, Board Member and Historian at the Deerfield Beach Historical Society, and professional photographer Craig created a month-by-month timeline for the guitarist’s life that year to place between the timeless images. These monthly bullet points aligned with the expressions on George’s face in the rare photos to tell a story about his memorable year. Craig scanned all eighteen 4-by-4-inch, black-and-white gems at a high resolution and printed 24-by-24-inch with their original borders. He did a fabulous job restoring the photos that kept more than 600 visitors enthralled. Images included George sporting a lengthy beard chilling out on the grass in a folding patio chair beside Lynn. While the photos did the talking, Dark Horses performed modern classics, including “I Want to Tell You” and the first post-Beatles Number One single “My Sweet Lord.”
The young woman hanging out with George in the black and white shots is Pompano Beach resident Lynn Radigan. “That is the lady that we got these photos from,” explained Craig. “Until today, only six people had ever seen these photos, not even the board of the Deerfield Beach Historical Society. They had only seen one. But that changed when Jeff found her. She said that she had these images of George at his aunt and uncle’s apartment building in Deerfield Beach, just south of Hillsboro Blvd.”
“These photos were uncovered from a 5-year search starting when Covid started,” said Fisk. “Tom and I had actually heard about this story right after Harrison was here. I was in 5th grade when I was told the story. There were two local surfers that went to high school with my brother Vince, Pierce Gregory and Paul McCartney (no relation). Supposedly, Paul lost his surfboard. He ran into George and recognized him. He said, ‘You’re George Harrison.’ ‘Yes, I am,’ the rock star replied. ‘You’re not going to believe this,’ the kid answered. ‘I am Paul McCartney. That’s when George got a little perturbed, turned around and walked away. But that story never actually happened. Although when I did talk to Paul at his 50-year high school reunion, he did say that he and the whole surfing community knew about George visiting our beach, so there was a buzz in the city.
“When Covid kicked in, I had been telling that story I heard on the playground for 50 years with no proof,” Fisk said. “So, I decided that I was either going to prove or disprove that it actually happened. That’s when I dug in. I started finding a couple of articles. I found some pictures online that were horrible, but in the comments, they did indicate that they were taken in Deerfield Beach apartments. I couldn’t find anything on them until I searched eBay. I found postcards of the right apartments. Then I knew the shape of the apartments owned by George’s aunt and uncle. I scanned aerial photography shots all over Deerfield Beach until I found this spot. I verified it later with old phone books. I stumbled upon all of this information in April 2024. I was talking to Tom about it, and he invited me to a Pattie Boyd book signing for My Life in Pictures at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach. I said ‘sure.’ There were about 300 people at the lecture. Maybe 120 people got in-line for the book signing. I stayed way in the back. That’s when I showed her the two articles and the three pictures that I had found. One was with George in the courtyard with a group of people. Then there was one with George and the mountain lion. Still, she wasn’t really remembering it. As soon as I showed her the picture I had with her and the mountain lion, it clicked. “She said ‘Oh my God, now I remember.’ She said ‘George went down to pet that thing like it was somebody’s pet cat. I was terrified!’
“The second article that I found came out in 1990,” Fisk stated. “It was about Lynn going over to the apartments and knocking on the door. Pattie Boyd answered and Lynn asked if she could meet George. She went in and did an interview with him. They sat in the courtyard for almost 3 hours. Pattie’s dad showed up and took these photos with a 126 Instamatic camera,” he said. “They are very clear pictures, and they scream 1970s Florida.
“That article came out, and I tracked down where Lynn lived. For almost two and a half years, she stayed at an apartment in Pompano Beach. I would go by, but I couldn’t go up to the door and knock on it. But I could go on the intercom and leave a message. I would leave messages with no returns. After I met Pattie Boyd, I figured out a new strategy, the maintenance man. The maintenance man knows everybody. I got his phone number from another resident and I called him. He said ‘She actually has Alzheimer’s. Her friend Vincent is her caretaker, and I will forward your information to him. I thanked him very much, got in my car, started leaving, and I saw the first fella that I had talked to earlier. I stopped to thank him, and he was talking to Vincent. Then Vincent and I hit it off. We scheduled a date, and I got an interview with her. I recorded that interview. And seeing these pictures in a photo album for the first time... it was stunning.
“Finding the story behind the legend that George was really here has been amazing because it’s so educational,” Fisk said. This was the only time in 1970 that George had to sit back and chill. He had a lot of highs and a lot of lows too, especially with his mom passing away. This was a family event, and he was able to hang out with his aunt and uncle after his mother passed back in July of 1970. By the way, George’s sister Louise Harrison Caldwell (also a Liverpool native) also came over from Sarasota for the same visit.”
Free lecture on November 19 at the Old School House in Deerfield Beach about the uncovering of this whole story. The 5 years of research that I’ve done.
