It had all the earmarks of a swinging trip for Beatle John Lennon and his bride, Yoko Ono: a cruise to the U.S. on the Queen Elizabeth 2 in the company of such other swinging junketeers as Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. But there was a serious bureaucratic hitch. John had been busted last year for possession of marijuana, a crime which invalidated his U.S. visa. John battled with U.S. embassy officials in London right up to the last minute, but to no avail. Sellers and Starr had to sail without him.

"I think the death penalty is completely uncalled for." With that proclamation, Attorney Melvin Mouron Belli put on his crusader's armor and announced to the world that he planned to take over Sirhan Sirhan's appeal. As it turned out, his plan was all news to Sirhan. Stating that "I, Sirhan Sirhan, have full confidence in my present attorneys, Grant Cooper and Russell Parsons," the convicted assassin of Robert Kennedy indicated that he would engage them "and none other."

Like any family, the Roosevelts have had their squabbles. But few ever reached the pitch of last week's affair when James Roosevelt, 61, was stabbed in the back by his wife Gladys, 52, at their home in Geneva, Switzerland. F.D.R.'s eldest son was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery, but the wound was apparently not serious.

A member of Roosevelt's investment firm would say only that the stabbing was "a personal matter," which turned out to include the divorce proceedings that James had initiated earlier in the week. Swiss police said that the incident "was not likely to have serious judicial consequences." Meanwhile, Gladys, James' wife for 13 years, was taken to a psychiatric clinic.

One thing that Author-Candidate Norman Mailer should not lack in his New York mayoralty campaign is hard cash. The feisty little writer has just been promised $800,000 in advance royalties against a projected book on the Apollo 11 moon landing this summer. Mailer says he plans to combine some flavorful reportage on the Cape Kennedy takeoff with his own ideas on the possible repercussions of lunar landings. The book, which will be published by Little, Brown & Co. and excerpted in LIFE, is also likely to net Mailer another large chunk of money in movie rights--that is, when it finally gets written. "I'm devoting all my time to my candidacy for mayor," said Mailer. "The only writing I'm doing at this time has to do with the campaign."

More than 100 dissidents from Enfield College of Technology staged a sit-down outside the London borough's civic center to protest a town-council decision to evict a band of gypsies from their caravan site. They were joined by Bernadette Devlin, 22, Britain's angry young Member of Parliament from Northern Ireland, who devoured soft ice cream and spouted hard politics. The peppery lass harangued the crowd for about ten minutes, declaring: "If the citizens of England allow the gypsies to be evicted without protest, they cannot go to church and say 'I love my brother, Lord.' They will have to say 'I love my brother, Lord--provided he is not a gypsy.' "

After her daughter's first and highly publicized date with Congressman Barry Goldwater Jr., a reporter asked Pat Nixon if she would like to see Tricia marry a politician. Pat's reply came straight from 29 years' experience: "I'd feel sorry for her if she ever marries anyone in politics." Her audience sat stunned for a moment; then someone ventured a tentative "But you've had a good life?" Pat's cryptic response: "I just don't tell all."

They may start calling him Omar the Bridge Player. After arriving in Cannes on business--and what film festival isn't?--Omar Sharif stayed on for pleasure: to play in the International Bridge Tournament in Juan-les-Pins. And while he poses no threat to Charles Goren, he is at least giving it a steady go. Every day he has been rising in his Majestic Hotel suite, driving to Juan-les-Pins and staying at the bridge table until dusk. Omar finally managed to take a break last week for a big night at the Cannes Playboy nightclub with Barbara Bouchet, the blonde German beauty whom Otto Preminger cast in the spotlight (In Harm's Way).

"Meanwhile, Peter had made a lasso, and letting it down v-e-r-y carefully --he caught the wolf by the tail and pulled with all his might!" So spoke the narrator, in tones as satiny as her flowered dress, while young and old alike edged forward in their seats. It was a benefit at Boston's Symphony Hall, and Joan Kennedy gave a thoroughly professional reading of Peter and the Wolf as the Boston Pops Orchestra played the Prokofiev classic. For her efforts, Joan received a Baccarat paperweight from the Pops musicians, yellow tea roses from her children, and the ultimate encomium from Husband Ted Kennedy. "She did well," said the Senator. "She's been listening to my speeches."

"I felt that I was a little needed again," said Mamie Eisenhower as she set sail on the liner United States for the continent that her late husband liberated 25 years ago. Hers was a maternal mission: to help her son John set up house in Brussels as the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. After that, said Mamie, her plans call for visits to a few family friends in Europe before eventually returning to the Eisenhowers' Gettysburg, Pa., farm with two of her granddaughters.

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