When Yoko Ono sold a cow for $250,000

A woman wearing a face mask stands in front of the legendary graffiti-covered John Lennon Wall in Prague, Czech Republic.

It’s testimony to the popularity of the Beatles that 40 years after the murder of John Lennon, a death most random and unfair, books are still being written on the subject. The latest work on Lennon, the Beatles and the events of December 8, 1980, when Lennon was gunned down by his deranged fan Mark Chapman in New York, is by renowned crime writer James Patterson. The book, titled The Last Days of John Lennon, was published this month.

Many believe that the last days of John Lennon were some of the best days of John Lennon, even though the world-conquering Beatles had pulled a plug on themselves. In 1980, Lennon was 40, and his partying, drinking and abusive relationships were by and large behind him. Five years earlier, he and Yoko Ono, his artist wife, had their son Sean. Lennon took a five year hiatus from music and the spotlight and devoted himself to domesticity, bread-baking and raising the baby. Ono wore the pants, investing Lennon’s approximately $150 million fortune into property, art and yes, Holstein cows.

"When I was cleaning the cat shit and feeding Sean, she was sitting in rooms full of smoke with men in three-piece suits that they couldn't button," Lennon told Playboy in one of his last major interviews, which appeared in the magazine’s January 1981 edition. He was, however, working on his comeback when he was killed.

Ono has often been blamed for the disintegration of the Beatles. Indeed, she would refer to the band’s other members - Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison – as the three ‘in-laws’. But Patterson doesn’t agree with that view.

Lennon’s wealth was too vast and complex to comprehend easily. For the longest time the couple did not know exactly how much money they had. But Ono was clearer about her investment strategy.

Lennon’s wealth was too vast and complex to comprehend easily. For the longest time the couple did not know exactly how much money they had. But Ono was clearer about her investment strategy.

"To make money, you have to spend money,” she told Playboy. “But if you are going to make money, you have to make it with love. I love Egyptian art. I make sure to get all the Egyptian things, not for their value but for their magic power. Each piece has a certain magic power. Also with houses. I just buy ones we love, not the ones that people say are good investments."

And then there were cows, reportedly $6 million worth of them. Lennon told Playboy, “Sean and I were away for a weekend and Yoko came over to sell this cow and I was joking about it. We hadn't seen her for days; she spent all her time on it. But then I read the paper that said she sold it for a quarter of a million dollars. Only Yoko could sell a cow for that much."