The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes

Lucy in the Sky with diamonds has died from an infection stemming from her bout with Lupus.

Lucy began her legacy, unwittingly, when John Lennon’s son, Julian brought home a painting he had done in school in 1966. “That’s Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” he told his dad. The rest is history.

She only recently admitted to being the inspiration for the legendary song, telling BBC radio,

“When I told a couple of friends that Lucy in the sky with diamonds was about me, they said, ‘No, it can’t be, it’s to do with LSD.’ I was too embarrassed to tell them that I didn’t know what LSD was.”

“I remember Julian and I both doing pictures on a double-sided easel, throwing paint at each other, much to the horror of the classroom attendant… Julian had painted a picture and on that particular day his father turned up with the chauffeur to pick him up from school.”

Julian has said, “I don’t know why I called it that or why it stood out from all my other drawings, but I obviously had an affection for Lucy at that age.

“I used to show dad everything I’d built or painted at school, and this one sparked off the idea for a song about Lucy in the sky with diamonds.”

She and Julian had lost touch, as most elementary school friends do, but upon hearing of her illness, Julian was quick to respond. He sent her flowers with a personally written card. He later learned that she enjoyed gardening. So he sent her gift vouchers for a garden centre.

“I wasn’t sure at first how to approach her. I wanted at least to get a note to her,” Julian Lennon told The Associated Press. “Then I heard she had a great love of gardening, and I thought I’d help with something she’s passionate about, and I love gardening too. I wanted to do something to put a smile on her face.”

Vodden developed an infection while on vacation with her husband of eight years. She was rushed to a hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk where she died on September 22, 2009, with her husband, father, sister and brother at her bedside. She was 46, Julian Lennon and his mother, Cynthia, released a statement saying they were “shocked and saddened” by Vodden’s death.

She was in such pain when she was sick, that she found it difficult to go out. Though one time when she did, she heard her song playing in a shop.

“That made me giggle,” she said.

The St Thomas Lupus Trust campaign director Angie Davidson paid tribute to Vodden.

“Everyone at the Louise Coote Lupus Unit was dreadfully shocked by the death of Lucy,” Davidson said. “She was a great supporter of ours and a real fighter. It’s so sad that she has finally lost the battle she fought so bravely for so long.”

c.2009