May, who sips a cola as we chat, says she herself was never one for the excessive life, but will sometimes have just one glass of wine. When John eventually returned to Yoko in 1975, after their separation, May resettled in the Big Apple from Los Angeles. She later became a professional manager of United Artists music business and worked on albums by Bob Marley and Robert Palmer. "I would still see him. He would 'sneak out' from the Dakota and he would come to my apartment on the other side of town, my place on the East River. We would talk about this and that." May has many fond memories - many of them recalled in her 1983 biography Loving John - the Untold Story, which is now out of print. She stands by the book but says she is hurt by accounts written - and still being written - by people who weren't there. "I am either ignored or brushed out," she says. "Many people write a load of rubbish. For example Cynthia - whom I am good friends with - and I refuse to read the book The Love You Make by Peter Brown. He wanted to interview me but I thought: 'No, why should I?' If anyone is going to tell my story, it will be me'. "Now, in the age of the internet, Beatle and Lennon fans will be able to read this ECHO article right across the world. I am putting on record a time of my life." She says she wasn't attracted to John when Yoko suggested that the two go off together. In fact, as a child, she was a Ringo Starr fan. Says May: "I remember Yoko saying: 'May, can I have a word? You don't have a boyfriend, do you?' "Then I am in a lift with John Lennon and this man - who is, after all, my boss - leans over and kisses me and I say 'hey, stand back'." But their relationship grew and they became lovers. "I didn't know what was going on at all. The Dakota had become a strange place. You could go days without seeing anyone. I could often hear the arguments." Does May think that Yoko regretted pairing them together? Or was Yoko playing chess with them? "I guess that's one way of looking at it. There are no two ways around it. I wouldn't have missed the experience for the world. I am proud of my work on the Mind Games album. "When I was with him sharing his life we would have Mick Jagger or David Bowie dropping by. One day the buzzer went and it was Paul and Linda. "John said: 'May, what do I do?' "I said: 'Let them in.' "But we had a lot of fun during that so called 'Lost Weekend' with people like Ringo, Keith Moon and Paul who dropped in the studio to play drums on a session. You don't forget things like that." | 
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