Guest guest Posted December 2, 2001 Report Share Posted December 2, 2001 Annie Richardson and Nicholas Maling - Sunday Star Times Auckland NZ www.stuff.co.nz Sunday 2 Dec 01 front page ******************************************************************8 NEW ZEALANDER AT DYING BEATLE's BEDSIDE A New Zealand-based Hare Krishna devotee and longtime friend of George Harrison was at the bedside of the cancer-stricken Beatle when he died. Mukunda Goswami, who has lived in Auckland for two years, chanted and prayed at the Los Angleles house where Harrison, 58, succumbed to brain throat and lung cancer on Friday. Goswami met Harrison in Lonodn in the late 1960s, when The Beatles lead guitarist embraced the Hare Krishna movement. They had been close friends since and produced an album of Hare Krishna music. In a statement yesterday to followers, Goswami and fellow devotee Shyamusundar Das said that during Harrison's last days "Krishna devotees were by his side and he left his body to the sounds of the Hare Krishna mantra." "George Harrison has probably done more than any other single popular cultural figure during these past decades to spread spiritual consiousness around the world," they said. Goswami, a member of a renounced order of devotees within the Hare Krishna movement, came here after retiring from official duties in America. He now writes Hare Krishna books. "He is a very thoughtful and sober person, but he has a unique slant on life in general," a Hare Krishna spokeswoman said in Auckland last night. Hare Krishna followers in New Zealand will dedicate their annual festival next week to Harrison's memory. Similar tributes flowed from New Zealand musicians and fans yesterday. Musician Tim Finn who met Harrison in the 1980s, said he was shocked by the death. "It reminded me about the way I felt about The Beatles when I was a kid singing their songs." Aucklander Jim Sparey, a fan of the band since 1963, heard the news of Harrison's death at a work Christmas party, when he slipped aside to check the cricket on television. "I said to my wife,'I feel like I have lost a brother.' It is like losing a member of the family. I was so involved in their music." Harrison was cremated within hours of his death under meticulous arrangements drawn up during his final days, British reporters said last night. *************************************************************** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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