Mind Games

It's so hard to find good help these days. That's the contention of Yoko Ono, whose lawsuit against her late husband's former personal assistant, Frederic Seaman, goes to trial in Manhattan today. The suit, filed in 1999, alleges that Seaman, who worked for Ono and John Lennon during the last 18 months of the ex-Beatle's life, pilfered hundreds of family photographs and other Lennonabilia and sold them to private collectors.

It's not the first time Seaman has faced such accusations. In 1983, he pleaded guilty to second-degree larceny for swiping Lennon's diaries. He was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to return the property.

The current suit, however, says that Ono's ''prior belief that everything stolen by Mr. Seaman had been returned to her has been dispelled, and she fears Mr. Seaman will continue to exploit those personal and family items.''

According to the BBC, Ono claims Seaman still has 374 photos he took of Lennon, the rights to which she wants him to surrender, along with the $75,000 she says he earned from the sale of her husband's manuscripts and letters.

At issue is more than just money, however, but also Ono's public image, as well as that of her late husband, who was shot to death by a deranged fan in 1980. In the last six years, Seaman has published a couple of books, including, ''The Private Life of John Lennon: A Photographic Journal,'' and ''The Last Days of John Lennon: A Personal Memoir,'' in which he paints Lennon as a henpecked househusband and virtual recluse in the family's Manhattan apartment. Ono's lawsuit alleges that Seaman not only stole valuable mementos but also sought to ''defame Mrs. Lennon and falsely attempt to portray himself as Lennon's only true confidante during the last years of Lennon's life.'' According to the Associated Press, Seaman's lawyer has responded to the suit by saying, ''We have serious concerns about any attempt to restrict Mr. Seaman's right to free speech.''

Whether fans will ever get to read those private writings of Lennon's is unclear. However, they will get to hear Ono testify about them, perhaps as early as Tuesday.