Boy who stole Life magazine with Beatles on cover returns it to library 50 years later

boingboing.net
Boy who stole Life magazine with Beatles on cover returns it to library 50 years later
CARLA SINCLAIR
BoingDoing
MON MAR 4, 2019


Cuyahoga County Public Library/Facebook

50 years ago, a boy named Brian stole a copy of Life magazine from an Ohio library that sported a photo of The Beatles on its cover. But this week he decided to give the book back, along with an apology note: "Hello. I stole this magazine from the Parma Ridge Road library when I was a kid. I'm sorry I took it. I've enclosed a check for the late fee."

Over the decades he racked up more than $1,800 in late fees, according to AP. But fortunately, for Brian, the library puts a $100 cap on library fines, so that is the amount he left them.

The library, now called Cuyahoga County Public Library, wrote Brian back: “To the Beatles fan who "borrowed" this copy of Life magazine in 1968: Thank you for returning it this week and clearing your conscience.”

Via Daily Beast




www.npr.org
Good Day Sunshine: 1968 Beatles 'Life' Magazine Finally Returned To Library
AMY HELD
npr
March 4, 2019


The staff at Ohio's Cuyahoga County Public Library were surprised to receive a 1968 issue of Life magazine featuring the Beatles from someone who said he stole it as a kid.
Cuyahoga County Public Library

Fifty years have passed and the issue is showing some wear and tear, but John, Paul, George and Ringo still loom large against the stark blue backdrop on the cover of the Sept. 13, 1968, Life magazine that is once again in the possession of its rightful owner in Ohio.

Somebody returned it last week to Cuyahoga County Public Library via USPS priority mail, complete with a note of apology and a $100 money order to cover any fines.

The note reads: "I stole this magazine from the Parma Ridge Road Library when I was a kid. I'm sorry I took it. I've enclosed a check for the late fee." Signed, Brian.

"It's a story about doing the right thing," Cuyahoga County Public Library spokesman Robert Rua told NPR. He said this is the oldest item he has ever seen returned, exceeding the reach of the library's records.

Despite the decades that have passed since "Hey Jude," "Hello, Goodbye" and "Lady Madonna" ruled the charts, Rua said the library system does not allow fines to keep accruing and Brian would have owed less than $100.

"There really isn't a Mr. Bookman, no library cop," like on Seinfeld, Rua said with a laugh.

The magazine is a bit yellowed and showing signs of age but remains in fair condition, Rua said. "It is still intact and no pages are missing."

It also still bears the orange Cuyahoga County Public Library ownership sticker, making its provenance clear. But Rua notes that the Parma Ridge Library building of 1968 is no longer in existence, having moved to a new location.




Rua speculates Brian was a teenage fan of the Fab Four at the time, unable to resist the urge to walk off with what would become a collector's item.

"Inside the magazine is the first of a two-part excerpt of the first official biography of the Beatles written by Hunter Davies," Rua said in an emailed statement. "It covers the Beatles early days in Liverpool and the time they spent cutting their teeth playing clubs in Hamburg, Germany's Reeperbahn district."

It is not known whether Brian lost affection for people and things that went before, or whether he felt guilty and was looking to make it better.

The Nowhere Man remains a mystery.

The magazine was mailed through Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, Rua said. And while a signature is scrawled on the money order, the last name is illegible. But Rua hopes Brian steps forward.

"We would thank him for setting a good example — if belated," Rua said. "We just want our stuff back."

The library system, which has some two dozen branches in the Cleveland area, still believes in yesterday. Rua said the plan is to get a case or a frame and put the magazine on display.