Lennon honours mom with book
NEW YORK Julian Lennon is looking to nurture a new generation’s commitment to the environment, with a little help from a white feather.
The first-born son of the late John Lennon has co-authored Touch the Earth (Sky Pony Press, 2017), a picture book for kids as young as three, about the world’s water problems, from polluted oceans to the need for clean drinking water in the developing world.
Out later this month, the book from Sky Pony Press has a group of kids loaded into a plane called the White Feather Flier as they span the globe and learn about the need for filtration, irrigation and ocean life protection.
“We’ve failed miserably in looking after our environment. I think this is a great way to approach children into realizing what’s at stake, and to help educate and help them make decisions about the right things to do for the future,” Lennon said.
Lennon, 54, has taken on environmental issues in song, including his 1991 Saltwater, and in film, including the 2006 documentary
So what’s up with the white feather for Lennon, the former Beatle’s son with his first wife, Cynthia? He shares the story at the back of the book.
“On the odd occasion when I saw Dad he mentioned once that should he ever pass, a way he would let me know that he was OK, or that we were all going to be OK, would be in the form of a white feather,” Lennon said. “I thought that quite peculiar. I told Mum about it, too, and we just sort of went on with life.”
Later, while on tour in Australia, he was presented with a white swan feather by an aboriginal tribal elder of the Mirning people.
“It was a freaky moment, but one I took to heart immediately,” he said.
He spent 10 years making a documentary about the Mirning people and established his foundation, visiting Ethiopia with the head of a clean water initiative and touring schools and health clinics in Kenya. A portion of the books’ proceeds will go the foundation.
Lennon’s father was shot to death in 1980. His mother died two years ago of cancer at age 75. Her loss remains tender. Lennon dedicates the book to Cynthia, and established the Kenya scholarships in her name.