Peter ( `` Pete '' ) Shotton was a longtime friend of John Lennon , who founded The Beatles . He later wrote a memoir , John Lennon `` In My Life '' , that was later retitled The Beatles , Lennon and Me . Shotton is the co-author of John Lennon : In my Life ( 1983 , republished later as The Beatles , Lennon and Me ) , which told the story of their friendship , from the age of six until Lennon 's death .