You Won't See Me

Trouble With The Law

Friction with local authorities [excerpt from "Lennon, imagined" by James Heaney - Buffalo News, 5/28/00]

So who is Giuliano?

"Geoffrey Giuliano" is a pen name. He changed his legal name in 1997 from Jeffrey Juliana to Jagannatha Dasa Puripada.

He did stints as the Magical Burger King and Ronald McDonald in the late 1970s and early 1980s, became a major collector of Beatles memorabilia and eventually parlayed his interest into a writing career. In 1986, Giuliano wrote the first of his 23 books on popular music, 18 of them on the Beatles.

Giuliano said he practices what he describes as "devotional yoga," similar to orthodox Hinduism. His brick house across from the Erie Canal doubles as a Hindu temple, guest house, animal sanctuary, recording studio and vegetarian food pantry.

Through his Spiritual Realization Institute, Giuliano said, he buys and distributes food and clothing in northern India, where he travels two or three times a year. Most of his book royalties go to that and other charitable work, he said.

Giuliano has had his share of run-ins with the local authorities. He pleaded guilty in 1998 to a noncriminal violation and received a one-year conditional discharge after authorities accused him, along with his wife and oldest daughter, of trying to avoid $21,672 in bills from New York State Electric & Gas. Something Fishy Productions, one of his corporations, pleaded guilty to a felony count of fourth-degree grand larceny in the case.

The Giulianos, according to authorities, tried to avoid paying their bills from 1990 to 1997 by changing the name on the account every time NYSEG threatened to shut off service for nonpayment. Giuliano agreed to pay $15,629 in restitution, though he said he is refusing to pay the last one-third of the debt.

He insists he was unfairly prosecuted - "they had nothing on me" - and that he pleaded guilty only because it was cheaper than fighting the charges.

Giuliano has been the subject of several complaints filed with Lockport police since 1995, including accusations from a tenant that Giuliano followed and threatened him, and later broke into his apartment and trashed his furniture; a report from workers who delivered appliances to Giuliano's house that he threatened to "split their heads open" after they damaged a door; and an obscenity-laced confrontation with police after they picked up his daughter on a driving violation.

"They were simply allegations," Giuliano said of the incidents. "Charges were never filed."

His difficulties, he said, are rooted in the bigotry of local authorities and "goon squad" tactics of the Lockport police.

"They don't know what to make of me, dude. They're squares," he said. "It's kind of an inversion of ignorance. It's the blue-collar oblivion in which they live."

The house he and his family live in also has been the focus of attention. The property taxes and water bills haven't been paid on time in five years, public records show. Currently outstanding is a $3,332 water bill. Giuliano recently told the Washington Post that he owns the house and that it's worth $700,000. Public records show that his in-laws own the property and that it's assessed at $86,400. Giuliano maintains that he was quoted out of context and that he has made improvements to the property to boost its value.

Mintz said Giuliano's background further erodes the book's credibility.

"People like Giuliano want to suggest it was all darkness, that John and Yoko had a loveless relationship and he was a creep of a guy. I imagine it makes for better copy in an age of cynicism," he said.

"I ask the reader, "Who are you going to believe?' "

Beatles author arrested
September 2, 2000

Lockport Literary

The Lockportian who has written multiple books about the The Beatles was arrested Thursday, 9/1 by Lockport Police for "obstructing governmental administration." 47-year old Geoffrey Giuliano was charged at his Lower Market Street home and temple after police responded there for a reported domestic dispute between Giuliano's son and the son's girlfriend. Police say they were ordered off the property, called "Robo Cops," and "stupid idiots" by Giuliano. Giuliano was released on $500 pending a court appearance. (9/2/00)
<http://www.lockport-ny.com/Features/literary.htm>

The World Beatles Forum – Volume Six, Number Two – September / October 2001

A Repugnant Ruse Rendered On A Grieving World

by Brad Howard

On Friday, September 14, 2001 – 7:54 PM, I (and others) received the following message from Geoffrey Giuliano’s (Jagannatha Dasa – GG’s Krishna name) personal e-mail account:

Indigo Editions today formally anounces [sic] the death of author Geoffrey Giuliano in the tragic attack on the World Trade Center in New York on his 48^th birthday, September 11, 2001. He is survived by his wife Vrnda and four children. No body has been recovered. An Indian funeral is planned near New Delhi.
INDIGO

Indigo Editions is GG’s sales company for his books, CDs, and tapes.

I verified that the message did indeed come from GG’s personal e-mail account. At 12:45 AM, Saturday, September 15, 2001, I sent this message to his address (using GG’s original e-mail information stored in my address book):

My heart goes out to Geoffrey’s wife and children. I am truly devastated over this announcement. I truly am sorry.
Brad Howard

I received an odd reply at 7:24 AM, Saturday:

Thank you so much. He had just finished a new book on the Beatles called Revolution.

I sent another message to GG’s e-mail at 8:09 AM, Saturday. This time, I sent it to Jagannatha, without realizing that this was GG’s Krishna name. My grieving sentiments were genuine, at the time.

Hello Jagannatha,

I am publishing a small, personal tribute to Geoffrey in our next issue of The World Beatles Forum. I still cannot believe that he is gone. He was a good man. I will miss him.
Brad Howard

One final “GG account” response was received by me at 9:37 AM, Saturday:

God Bless You Brad.

These communications really shook me. I now could put a face to one of the 6,600 victims of the World Trade Center disaster – or so I thought. I even wrote a two column obituary to honour Geoffrey (now, replaced by this article).

I sent out the announcement to various news sites and discussion groups. After the message was published, I started to receive queries from disbelieving Beatles fans. Then, someone published a denial of GG’s death on a WHO news group, alt.music.who (Wednesday, September 19, 2001 – 12:39 AM):

Geoffrey Giuliano, author of the Townshend biography, reported dead in the WTC attack, is apparently alive and well. A contact of mine in the news business says a reporter who was researching Giuliano’s “death” spoke with him by phone today. The author said he has been swamped with calls from people trying to get in touch with his family due to his supposed demise. He was in NYC at the time of the attack meeting with his publisher, but was not at the WTC.

Several people started investigating Giuliano’s death. Someone from Entertainment Weekly claimed to have spoken with GG, but no one could verify anything one way or the other. I checked with the Buffalo News and the local Lockport newspaper for obituaries and death announcements. They were conspicuously absent of information on GG.

On Saturday AM, September 22, 2001, Steve Marinucci (abbeyrd Beatles news site: http://www.best.com/~abbeyrd/fabnews.htm) spoke with Geoffrey Giuliano, via telephone, at his home in Lockport, NY and confirmed that he was alive. GG speculates someone in his ashram used his e-mail account to send the message to get him. Under these circumstances shouldn’t someone be charged with, at the very least, public mischief? Something is just not right.

Here are some facts:

1. I verified, by going into the original e-mail’s properties and source, that this message was not forged. It did come from GG’s address.

2. Just in case, I sent replies or messages to GG’s e-mail address, using my address book where I had his account information from previous communications. All of these messages were sent and received nearly 4 days after the WTC disaster.

3. No retraction, denial, nor apology was sent to me or anyone else, as best as I can tell, by GG or his company. I even sent a request Thursday, September 20 – 7:19 AM to Indigo Editions (30 hours after it broke that GG might be alive) asking them to publish something on their web-site. They were silent – no reply. This hoax was perpetuated by their continued silence.

4. It took 8 days to uncover and denounce this insensitive and spurious announcement.

It is incomprehensible that someone would deliberately and falsely announce a death – tagged to this horrific WTC tragedy. How could anyone perpetrate this sick joke on a mourning world? Over 6,600 real people, innocent victims, died real deaths. Is nothing sacred? My personal apologies go out to the entire world for any part I naively played in spreading this repulsive and irresponsible fabrication.