[ENTERTAINMENT]Quietly, all things must pass

Known as the quiet Beatle, George Harrison left this world on Nov. 28, 2001, making us all feel a little bit older. Harrison, who was 58, died in the same modest way that he lived his life. He became the second member of the Fab Four to have passed on, following John Lennon's death in 1980.

The public first learned of Harrison's battle with throat cancer in 1998. The world was shocked the following year when an intruder entered his London home and stabbed him in the chest. Despite the series of operations and treatments he underwent, Harrison began to show signs of a malignant brain tumor a few months ago. He finally lost his long and hard battle at a friend's house in Los Angeles last week, comforted by his wife Olivia and son Dhani.

Harrison was born in Liverpool, England, in 1943. Early on he was the rebellious one in his family; but his defiance was tempered by the world of music he entered after his mother bought him a guitar at age 13. Later he met McCartney, who was one year ahead of him at the Liverpool Institute. After stints in separate bands, the two eventually joined forces to start the band that was destined to become the most popular in the history of music.

Although Harrison's popularity paled beside that of his more outwardly charismatic bandmates, most fans were aware that he was the heart behind the sentimental side of the Beatles, as well as the mediator between John Lennon and McCartney. Although discord sometimes arose when certain of Harrison's songs were passed over in album track selections, the likes of "I Need You" and "You Like Me Too Much" stand as two of his major contributions, and affirmed his status as a major singer and songwriter.

The song "Something" Mr. Harrison wrote was once praised by Frank Sinatra as the greatest love song ever written. And Mr. Harrison's talents on the guitar even prompted Lennon to hit him up for lessons.

Mr. Harrison became quite interested in the spiritualism of the East after a trip to India in the late 1960s. That influence was manifested in his early solo hit "My Sweet Lord," off his "All Things Must Pass" album. Also, after the group's breakup in 1970, Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh, the precursor of the many star-studded charity performances that have come since.

The quiet Beatle retained his strength even during his last months. With his son he co-wrote a new song, "A Horse to Water," and recorded it last month as a duet on Jools Holland's collection of duets, "Small World, Big Band." Mr. Harrison also put together a 25-track album, "Portrait of a Leg End." Because the word "legend" is invariably attached to the Beatles, Mr. Harrison inserted a space for comic effect. It will be interesting to see whether "Portrait" will be as successful as Mr. Lennon's last album, "Double Fantasy."

A devoted Hindu, Harrison was cremated in the Hindu tradition. His wife and son spread his ashes in India's holy city of Varanasi and in the Ganges River.

by Park Jeong-ho