We've uncovered new telegrams between Curt and John Lennon that show a dialogue was taking place between them months before the famous meeting at Tittenhurst Park.
In 1971 the main form of communication between America and England was the telegram. Both audio telegrams and paper telegrams were common ways to converse between the countries.
Whilst on mescaline and acid trips at college in 1968 Curt had obsessed over The Beatles White Album and believed that many of the songs were a direct message to him. In 1970 Curt heard Lennon's Plastic Ono Band album and felt the same. He would tell friends and family that he was going to meet John to confirm this.
In early 1971 he started to plan this meeting and through sending cryptic messages to John, in his mind, he would get that invitation.
The first of these telegrams was sent around March 1971, it read
'MESS WITH YOU FIGHT WITH YOU BUT CAN'T LEAVE YOU'
Signed off from 'WILLIAM BUNGALO CLAUDIO' in a clear reference to a Lennon song on The White Album 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill' in which the protagonist takes his gun, finds a tiger and 'shoots him right between the eyes'.
This chilling message must have unnerved Lennon, but he didn't respond. Curt did get a reply from Lennon in April, after many other telegrams were sent. Lennon seemed to want to deter Curt from travelling across the Atlantic to see him, saying 'I WON'T BE HOME, I'M GOING TO VENUS'
A month later Curt would board a flight to England from California to meet his idol and discover whether or not Lennon was who he thought he was. His preconceptions would be challenged for a long time after that.