Love Of Beatles Turns Into A Trivial Pursuit

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to call Spizer the ultimate Beatles trivia authority. The 54-year-old New Orleans attorney specializing in tax law and estate planning has been mad about the Fab Four ever since he heard “I Want To Hold Your Hand” on a city school bus in 1964, and has written seven books about the group.

Now Spizer has turned all the Beatles knowledge he’s accumulated over the years into a profitable venture. He created 2,592 questions for the new “Trivial Pursuit The Beatles Collector’s Edition” board game released last week.

Spizer went from listening to The Beatles to writing about the band in 1997 when he scored a big payday settling a class action lawsuit. Instead of luxury automobiles or trips to far off exotic locales, Spizer decided to replace all his Beatles records that had become damaged over the years with new first editions, but quickly discovered discrepancies in several collector’s books regarding release dates.

So he wrote an article about the confusing data, which turned into a book he self-published.

“So in effect, yes,” Spizer said. “I am the tax man and then I got the bug to be a paperback writer.”

Unfortunately for Spizer, he never experienced his beloved Beatles in concert, although he did have a chance to see them play Tad Gormley Stadium, then called City Park Stadium, in 1964. However, concert day was also his big sister’s sweet 16 birthday, and she got to pick the night’s activity. And she wasn’t a Beatles fan.

But Spizer never gave up on the Liverpool lads, and is now recognized as one of the leading experts on everything Beatle-related. He’s appeared on Fox News, the “CBS Morning Show” and “Good Morning America,” and devotes a room in his house to an immense collection of Beatle memorabilia including lunch boxes, tennis shoes, tumblers, and even two “knock-offs” of the group’s stage costumes.

“I did show up in court once wearing the Ed Sullivan suit,” Spizer said. “I don’t think the judge noticed.”

Spizer says USAopoly contacted him last year about creating questions for the new trivia game, resulting in six categories, each with 72 cards containing six questions that are categorized as easy, moderate or hard.

And if you’re wondering what a really hard Beatles trivia question is, Spizer has a brain teaser for you: “What was the name of the Pan Am jet that flew The Beatles to America in 1964?”

No fair Googling the answer.

For more information on “Trivial Pursuit The Beatles Collector’s Edition,” please click here for the USAopoly Web site.