 JOHN Lennon was close to only a few women in his lifetime. There was his beloved mum Julia, his two sisters Julia and Jacqueline, Aunt Mimi, Cynthia, Yoko ... and someone called 'me'. May Pang is the 'me'. She is very clear about that fact, as she explains in a soft trans-Atlantic accent. "I know," she says, "because I was there." May first met John and Yoko Ono while working in music boss Alan Klein's office in New York in 1970. Her first request from John and Yoko was to buy a prop for one of their first avant garde films - flies. They were to be used in the production simply entitled Fly. "A Beatle wanting flies ..." May still laughs at the irony. It was a bizarre introduction to John and Yoko's world, but events would soon turn more complicated. Working for one of the world's most famous couples shaped May Pang's life leding to an 18 month love affair with John, which gave John some unwelcome publicity. Today, however, sitting in Liverpool's Hope Street Hotel - where Yoko Ono recently stayed in a suite on the floor above - May is delighted to be back in John's home town. She was very touched to be given a small statue of John by the tourist information office on her arrival. The Beatles Story welcomed her like an old friend and visiting John Lennon Airport was another moving moment for the late Beatles' onetime girlfriend. May has been to Liverpool before for Beatles conventions - even introducing the bands in some cases. "I feel at home here," she says, looking out at the view of Liverpool. It is a view her former lover John knew so well, taking in the Liverpool Art College, as well as local pubs such as Ye Cracke, and the music venues where he played his heart out before going to Hamburg and tightening up a skiffle band who, in his own words, were going to "make it very very big". And John's love for the city wasn't the only thing that rubbed off on May - she has also picked up a nice line in Scouse. | 
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