Paul McCartney autographs Sherry and Charles Heard’s diplomas marking their completion of a course on the Beatles. Photo courtesy of Sherry and Charles Heard.
Neighbors often say their house is more like a Beatles museum.
They’re Charles and Sherry Heard, and they’re serious Beatles fans.
“They transcend our time,” Sherry says.
Our neighbors are not brokers or sellers; they’re collectors. But they are taking two Beatles-related pieces to Heritage Auctions this week. One is a Bible that George Harrison gave to the band’s manager, Brian Epstein, as a joke gift in 1964. He kept it until he died in 1967.
The Heards aren’t sure how much it will fetch, but they hope the Bible stays in Dallas. It was one of a few given to the band by members of First Baptist Church Dallas.
The second piece is a Grammy awarded to Danny Laine in 1974 for “Best Pop Performance” for the song “Band on the Run.” Paul and Linda McCartney were the other two recipients of the award.
Music lovers across the world have been able to see the Grammy on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, for the past 10 years. The Heards picked up the award, which they had loaned to the museum, in September.
“We could enjoy it all the time, but it needed to be seen by more people,” Sherry says.
They aren’t sure how much the Grammy will fetch either, but they hope to use the proceeds from the auction to help them create more memories as a couple.
The couple both attended the Wings over America concert in 1976 and met shortly after, both collectors. Their shared appreciation for the Beatles, and specifically Paul McCartney, have bonded them, and they have lived in Lakewood for about 30 years.
But their individual love for the band began even earlier in their lives. Once when he was a kid, Charles and a group of his friends ran away from home, riding their bikes to try to find the Beatles on their visit to Massachusetts, where Charles grew up. Sherry remembers listening to “She Loves You” as a young girl at home, and later, as a teenager, being “struck” by McCartney.
Their Beatles collection is expansive. They have lunchboxes, dolls, signed albums, artwork and photographs and more. The items they treasure most are signed books, meaningful to them personally.
The Heards have seen McCartney perform about 50 or 60 times. One event that stands out was the time he invited the couple on stage in Tulsa. They had recently completed an Oxford University course about the Beatles, and McCartney asked them to come up, and he signed their diplomas.
