May Pang, the late John Lennon’s sweetheart during his separation from his wife Yoko Ono, is coming to Legends Gallery in La Jolla on Oct. 13-15 to set the record straight about their relationship and the man behind the legend.

“John was human, he had all the frailties,” divulged Pang in a phone interview with La Jolla Village News. She noted that, while his musical attributes are well known, his modesty about them isn’t. “He was a great songwriter and he could sing, though he never thought he had a great voice,” Pang said adding John, like everyone else, “had his ups and downs.”

Dispelling John’s larger-than-life image, Pang said: “He wasn’t God. He never thought of himself as a superstar or rock star. He never thought of himself as a legend.”

Why is Pang chronicling their life together nearly 50 years later? “I wanted people to see our home life the way it was,” she answered. “This is the John I remembered. The photos I took – that’s how I saw John. It (the relationship) was complex in certain ways, but we enjoyed each other. He was definitely separated from Yoko at the time. We had our own place together. We lived together.”

Pang was Lennon’s lover during his infamous “Lost Weekend” lasting 18 months from late 1973 through 1975. During that time, with May’s help, Lennon had his most artistically and commercially productive period post-Beatles producing the albums “Mind Games,” and “Walls and Bridges,” which included his only No. 1 hit single “Whatever Gets You Through the Night.” During this time period, Lennon also collaborated with fellow rock legends Elton John, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Mick Jagger, and Ringo among others.

During this highly creative time for Lennon, Pang took candid photos of him in a comfortable, relaxed environment. A collection of these private photographs will be on display and available for purchase at Legends Gallery, 1205 Prospect St., Suite B.

Pang also is coming forward now to dispel the many myths about John and Yoko’s relationship, one being that she controlled him. “Yoko did not pull strings, snapped her fingers and he came running home,” Pang said. “John and I had separate lives. We saw her on different occasions. We would run into her on her birthday, or at an event. But he was separate.”

La Jolla Village News asked Pang the most frequently asked question about John Lennon. Namely, would he ever have collaborated again with Paul McCartney?

“Absolutely,” answered Pang. “Paul and Linda were always our visitors in New York City. Paul was telling us once they were going to be in New Orleans to do a new album (“Venus and Mars”). A couple of days later John asked me, ‘You think I should write with Paul again?’ I said, ‘That’s a great idea.’ He asked, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘You guys are so good when you get together and write. It takes things to another level.’”

Pang has a laundry list of tales to relate about her and John Lennon during their time together. In one, she talked about how John and Yoko were both heavy cigarette smokers. She smoked Kools and he smoked a French brand.

Pang said Yoko called one time when they were together telling John, “I have a great way to quit smoking with hypnosis. He wanted to quit smoking because it was affecting his singing. It (John quitting) lasted all of a couple of weeks.”

The breakup of her relationship with John, who returned to Yoko, was completely unexpected for Pang. “We were about to buy a house in Long Island, and he was saying things like, ‘Let’s make plans to go see Paul and Linda (McCartney),” she said. “I had no inkling he was going back (to Yoko).”

Pang also encouraged Lennon to reconnect with his family and his friends. She also arranged for Julian Lennon to visit his father for the first time in almost three years. In fact, one of Pang’s photographs of Julian Lennon graces the cover of Julian’s latest album titled “Jude.”

“The Lost Weekend – The Photography of May Pang” also coincides with the upcoming digital release of the feature film documentary “The Lost Weekend: A Love Story” which will be released on the same day as the Legends Gallery opening on Oct. 13. Watch the film’s trailer on YouTube.

Admission to Pang’s photographic exhibit of Lennon is free to the public and all works are available to purchase for three days only while she is in La Jolla.

JOHN LENNON’S LOST WEEKEND

Where: 1205 Prospect St.

What: May Pang’s photographic work will be on exhibit Friday, Oct. 13, and Saturday, Oct. 14 from noon–7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 15 from noon– 6 p.m. Pang will be on-hand to greet customers and tell stories behind her limited-edition photographs of Lennon.