I SAW THEM STANDING THERE

How did you spend your teenage years? Well, no matter what the answer is, Debbie Gendler has all of us beat! She wanted to not only be in the Beatles orb back in the day, but to really know the guys and their fams. And she manifested it all, beginning at just fourteen years of age!

I had to “call for” my best friend on the block, Carol Rampino, just to go to the corner grocery store for a quart of milk! Until I was nineteen!!! No lie. So I’m extra-impressed with all of Debbie’s enviable teen adventures that she shares in her cleverly-monikered new book, I Saw Them Standing There.

I’m absolutely floored by just how much she accomplished in a world before not only email, but cell phones, and even free long-distance calls in general!

As you may have realized over the years, I rarely review books. That lack is because of the incredible amount of time it takes, first to just read them and then to write a thoughtful and informative review. It’s exhausting.

But I just knew that Debbie Gendler’s book would be compelling, so I was more than happy to read this one. And now I’m equally glad to share my thoughts about it with you.

Even for readers who weren’t around for the Beatlemania of the ’60s, (too young, too old to have been into it back then, or just not born yet!,) the history of the group should be fascinating to everyone.

I’ve known Debbie for a long time, so, of course I knew that she had a connection to the Beatles. Heck, I met her because of it!* But until I read this book, I had no idea of all the glorious details. *[Debbie wrote a letter to my TV show back then, and when I called her, she asked me to have her good friend, Michael McCartney, (Paul’s little bro,) be a guest on the show. I almost fainted! If you missed that longer story that I shared recently, the link to it is right here—it begins in the tenth paragraph: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/eventbooks-launch-event-for-debbie-gendlers-beatles-book-i-saw-them-standing-there.]

The book goes to show that unless you’ve witnessed every second of someone’s life, you never know the entirety of their story. Just like many of my friends don’t know that I was in a circus, I didn’t know all of this about Debbie. She’s rubbed shoulders with sooo many famous and powerful people! I had no idea! Friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike will appreciate her stories.

Not only is I Saw Them Standing There a must for Beatles fans, I highly recommend it to everyone who loves good real-life stories.

In addition to that her tales pertain mostly to the Beatles, and Debbie’s love and pursuit of them, they’re also a lesson in perseverance. And business. I can’t believe she did so much so young!

And they’re also an education in being considerate and courteous. She appears to have been the most polite semi-groupie-fan-clubber ever!

Of course, a teen-age girl from New Jersey could not have accomplished all this in Manhattan and England by her lonesome–she had the most wonderful parents I’ve ever heard of! In my life experience, I’ve always been aware that my parents did more for me than anyone else’s had ever done for them, (which you’ll read about when I finally finish my tome!,) but after reading this book, I deem Mr. and Mrs. Gendler to have taken the cake!!! The entire cake. With frosted roses on top. What selfless and loving human beings they were. I would have truly loved to meet them.

Debbie’s writing style makes her words sound just like she’s telling you the stories in person, which is a great thing.  (And, if you really want her to read the entire book to you, there’s an audiobook of the tale coming out later this month, so you can hear it all from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, for yourselves.)

I’m sure that everyone who reads it, no matter their age or level of admiration (or not) for the Beatles, will find something to take away from the book. Even something little that will bring a smile to one’s face, such as, for me, the fact that Mike McCarthy’s January 7th birthday is only a week before my January 14th one! I’ve met him twice through Debbie, but somehow, we never discovered that fun tidbit!

Being a “rest of the story” person, I appreciate that she lets us know what became of so many of the people she introduces us to along the way.

Of course, we all know what happened with the Beatles, in general, as life has gone on for these past sixty years! Some events are happy, some are incredibly sad. And Debbie covers it all. But as I got further into the book, the hardest part for my nutty self, even worse than the Beatles breaking-up and moving on with their solo careers, was Debbie growing up. I can’t take those situations. I’m a babbling mess at the end of every Peter Pan I’ve seen, and Mr. X thought I was scaring the neighbors with my wails which went on for hours at the end of my all-time favorite TV series, The OC. I can’t bear to see people grow-up. Perhaps that’s why I’m still so immature. (Ya think???)

So, thank goodness she doesn’t leave the tale there, at just having grown up. She brings it up to today, all with her never-ending involvement with all things Beatles. That makes it even more entertaining.

In addition to the text, there are two sections of fabulous pix, along with historical documents and images throughout the pages. There’s even a recipe for cookies in there! Debbie thought of everything!

Well, almost everything–the only thing missing from the book is Mike McCartney’s illustrious appearance on my TV show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue, back in the day! So now Debbie might have to do a sequel to I Saw Them Standing There, just to include that tale! Fingers crossed.