Gary Kemp uses Epstein's address book to write new book on Beatles — SkimNews
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- Gary Kemp, guitarist of Spandau Ballet, won Epstein's 160x100mm black Twinlock address book at Sotheby's for £10,710, becoming its fifth owner after Epstein's brother, nephew, and one prior sale
- Epstein's address book contained 57 pages and 404 entries cataloguing his 1967 network, ranging from David Bailey and David Frost to most of the Rolling Stones, which Kemp and filmmaker Simon Halfon used as the spine of a new HarperCollins book
- Epstein died alone aged 32 on 27 August 1967 from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills, having locked himself in his Chapel Street bedroom after a bank-holiday guest failed to show; Kemp believes the address book was likely on his bed as he tried calling people that night
- The book documents Epstein's unraveling in his last months — merging NEMS Enterprises with Robert Stigwood's agency that January, his use of uppers and downers, gambling, stints at The Priory, and a volatile affair with American actor John "Dizz" Gillespie, who had stolen $20,000 and incriminating photographs from his Los Angeles hotel room in August 1966
- The Beatles themselves are conspicuously absent from the address book, which Kemp attributes in his introduction to security concerns, particularly after Gillespie's theft
Why it matters: By reconstructing Epstein's world through 404 names rather than a conventional narrative, Kemp and Halfon deliver the most granular portrait yet of a manager long overshadowed by his clients, exposing the loneliness, drug dependency, and gay identity pressures that surrounded his death at 32. The book's release returns Epstein to public attention during the 60th anniversary year of his death, potentially reshaping how historians frame the Beatles' early empire.
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