GIVE PEACE A CHANCE: JOHN & YOKO’S BED-IN FOR PEACE (Wiley, $24.95; April 2009), presents more than 80 photographs by renowned Life magazine photographer Gerry Deiter, many of which have never been published before.   

Life magazine photographer Gerry Deiter was present for all eight days of the Bed-in, capturing both large, boisterous gatherings of journalists and celebrities, and the smaller, more intimate moments between John and Yoko. The result was an archive of almost 500 images, many of which were never published – until now. 

The story Deiter was working on was bumped by Life in order to cover escalating events in Vietnam, and Deiter hid the photos for 35 years. His friend, and curator of the collection, Joan Athey has compiled them into an entertaining and moving portrait of the times. Deiter passed away in 2005.   

The large format book captures candid shots of Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary and his wife Rosemary, New York writer and jazz critic Nat Hentoff, pioneering New York  DJ Murray The K, and the aggressive hostility of right-wing cartoonist Al Capp. Personal recollections include journalist Alison Gordon, rock entrepreneur Donald Tarlton (aka “Donald K. Donald”), record producer André Perry, DJ Chuck Chandler, Crawdaddy! rock writer Paul Williams and Capitol Records’ Richard Glanville-Brown. 

In addition, Yoko Ono has contributed a personal statement that gives modern day relevance to the events in 1969 on the 40^th anniversary of what has become an historic moment in rock music history.