Paul McCartney on his Wife Linda

ByABC News via logo
May 2, 2001, 12:48 PM

N E W   Y O R K, May 2 -- For Paul McCartney, even past her death, his beloved "lovely Linda" has meant magic in his life.

It has been three years since McCartney lost his wife to breast cancer, but he told ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer that he never stopped feeling her presence.

"After Linda died, I think all of us in the family would hear noises, or see things, and would say, 'That's Linda, that's mom,' and a lot of things happened like that," he said in an interview with Sawyer which aired today on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.

"And I think in some ways it's very comforting to think she's still here. You'd like to think that, and you do."

Serendipitous events convinced McCartney that his wife was still around him.

"It's the magic of little things," he says.

One day, as he worked in an edit room, a fragment of a recorded sentence simply "appeared."

"The soundman hit the button and Linda's voice just said, 'I'm in heaven.' So it's that kind a thing. It's the beautiful moments, inspirational moments, you know," said McCartney.

McCartney says there have been many moments since her death in which he has felt his late wife's spirit. In the end of his poem "Her Spirit" he mentions a rare meeting with a white squirrel.

"I was on a horse ride. I was on my own now, because Linda taught me to ride and she was a great rider. And one day, after she died, I saw this white squirrel in the woods. I mean, this one was looking right at me, didn't move.

My mind just went, 'That's probably Linda. Somehow her spirit's got into that'," he said. "And I think it's very comforting.

"I don't know if that's true, but it sure is a great thought."

'Her Spirit'

McCartney read excerpts from his poems on Good Morning America. His poetry is collected in a newly released book, Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics, 1965-1999.

Her spirit moves wind chimesWhen air is stillAnd fills the roomsWith fragrance of lily

Her eyes blue greenStill seenPerfectly happyWith nothing

Her spirit sets The water pipes a hummingFat lektronic force be with ya sound