parents knew he was gay or if the Beatles
knew about him being gay, all those ques-
tions are kind of put to rest in the book,
because everybody says they knew all the
time and it was no big issue. His parents
knew of it, even when he was very young."
Geller describes Epstein as very close to his
warm, clutching mother" and somewhat
distant but very respectful of his "super-ego

MARTIN NATCHEZ
Special to the Jewish News

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IN MRS LIFE:

DEBBIE GELLER

EDITED BY ANTHONY WALL

"In My Life: The Brian Epstein Story" tells the saga of Epstein's life
through the reminiscences of his _friends and family.

12/8
28
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0

"

•

Author Debbie Geller writes the story of a
tortured Brian Epstein, the man who
made the Beatles bigger than Elvis.

C":

I

'm absolutely sure that, if it wasn't
for Brian Epstein, we never would
have heard about the Beatles," says
Debbie Geller, whose book In My
Life: The Brian Epstein Story (St. Martin's
Press, $24.95) exposes a secreted, personal
life that the group's manager
hid behind a fastidiously tai-
lored and smoothly mani-
cured facade.
Born on Yom Kippur, in
1934, Brian Samuel Epstein
was the first-born son of a
well-to-do Liverpudlian Em-
ily of Jewish-Lithuanian
decent. His father, Harry,
owned a successful London
furniture store, and his
.000004
mother, Malka, was always
referred to by her
Hebraically translated nick-
name, "Queenie."
Both parents marveled at
their golden child's success as
Epstein relaxes with John Lennon.
the guiding force of the
There were rumors they were lovers.
British music explosion in the
early '60s.
Geller's book probes
Epstein's upbringing in an
anti-Semitic society, his
closeted homosexuality and
an unbalanced appetite for
drugs that presumably led
to his death at age 32.
That hushed subject mat-
ter is not weighed by the
author's perspective, but
rather addressed and
detailed by nearly 30 of
Epstein's close friends,
remaining family members,
Brian Epstein: Letting his hair down near
business associates and well-
the end of his life.
known music icons. Among
the contributors are Paul
McCartney, record producer Sir George
father." The family, which included a
Martin, Marianne Faithfull and Gerry
younger brother, Clive, was observantly
Marsden (of the British band Gerry & the
Jewish and kept kosher.
Pacemakers).
But the eldest son's childhood experiences
Their eyewitness accounts, which were
with anti-Semitism in school caused him to
originally solicited for a British film docu-
become increasingly indifferent about
mentary that Geller and co-producer
Judaism, possibly providing the reasons why,
Anthony Wall- began in 1996, hinged upon
as an adult, he raised a shield against intoler-
a lessening of discretion that occurred after
able memories of being a religious outcast.
the death of his mother.
"Essentially, Britain's mainstream culture
"A lot of people felt they could talk,
was anti-Semitic, so being identified as an
because Queenie Epstein had died," Geller
outcast wasn't accepted in the '50s and '60s,"
says. "So there's a frankness about his sexual
Geller notes. "I never knew about anti-
life and his drug usage that was really more
Semitism until I went [to England]. People
covered up before. People did not want to
still say the most anti-Semitic things all the
talk about it, out of deference to her.
time, and its really shocking."
•
"As for any kind of speculation about if his
Epstein found social salvation in manag-
ing, grooming and guiding the careers of
some of the top British music acts of the
Martin Natchez writes about classic
'60s. Those bands included the Beatles,
rock from his home in Grand Blanc.