The Lives of John Lennon released to the public. Lennon's widow Yoko Ono threatened to sue for libel, claiming the book made her briefly consider suicide, but never pursued any legal action, later explaining that she wanted to maintain a positive attitude and that her lawyers had advised her a civil action would only draw more attention to the book. Lennon's first wife Cynthia Lennon denounced the book, stating "Every single person was annihilated. My mother was called a bulldog and a domineering woman, which was nothing—"nothing"—like my mother. And he called "me" a spaniel. I thought, I'd rather be a spaniel than a Rottweiler,
John Lennon second version, told by McCartney, is that in late 1965, Ono was in London compiling original musical scores for a book John Cage was working on, "Notations", but McCartney declined to give her any of his own manuscripts for the book, suggesting that Lennon might oblige. When asked, Lennon gave Ono the original handwritten lyrics to "The Word". Ono began visiting and telephoning Lennon's home and, when his wife asked him for an explanation, Lennon explained that Ono was only trying to obtain money for her "avant-garde bullshit". While his wife was on holiday in Greece in May 1968, Lennon