DONOVAN: Here's a nice story that comes to mind concerning my time with the Beatles. It was 1968 in India, we were all gathered together in the Maharishi's bungalow, four Beatles, one Beach Boy, Mia Farrow, and me. Maharishi was on the floor sitting cross-legged, but the rest of us were all standing around as we'd just arrived. Anyway, there was a kind of embarrassed hush in the room and John Lennon - always the funny one - decided to break the silence, so he walked up to the Maharishi, patted him on the head, and quietly said, "There's a good guru."
GEOFFREY: How do you remember Lennon?
DONOVAN: John certainly had a wicked tounge all right, but he was honest to a fault. His work proved that. Therefore, many people considered him to be hard and forward. Actually, that's how he protected his sensitivities, by saying exactly how he felt. He was a very sensitive man inside and it was a great loss to the world. Everyone remembers exactly where they were when it happened. As far as I'm concerned he ranks with Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Gandhi as a figure for peace in the world. His passing produced a great shock wave across the world and people felt it right to the bone. You never know what you've got until you lose it. Like in the old blues tune they sing, "You never miss your water till your well runs dry." And that's what happened. We didn't miss John until he'd gone. We didn't really appreciate him until he'd gone.