Page 76 - enLIGHTenment - November 2017

give Peace a ChanCe

Decorative elements

that recall the personal
lives of John & Yoko
adorn the suite.

W

hen The Beatles frontman Two months ago – 48 years since the Montreal
John Lennon married Japa- bed-in – the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth un-

nese artist Yoko Ono in 1969, veiled a newly redesigned Suite 1742 to celebrate

the news was covered in that iconic event with an exhibition that captures
every major newspaper on the spirit of the couple’s intention.

both sides of the Atlantic. Using the media a en- It was inside that suite where illustrious visi-
tion to their advantage, the newlyweds staged two tors such as Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers,

week-long “bed-ins” for peace as a way of protest- Dick Gregory, Murray the K, Al Capp, Allen Gins-

ing the Vietnam War. They staged the rst one at berg and others gathered to sing “Give Peace a
the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam, and the second at Chance,” which was recorded by André Perry in

Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal, that hotel room and released as a music single.
Quebec.
Preserving the historical character of Suite 1742

74 enLIGHTenment Magazine | noveMber 2017
www.enlightenmentmag.com