Bonus Track - John Lennon 1940-1980

John Lennon has been a huge part of my life for decades. In this Bonus Track episode, I talk about how his murder affected me then and now. I know it's not the most happiest of topics around the holidays, I probably should have put this out on his birthday. But it didn't make sense to me to do that.

One thing I forgot to talk about during the show was one of my trips to NYC in the late 80s. I went with some friends to the Dakota building, where John Lennon lived and was murdered. I left feeling a renewed sadness about the murder, because the area where he was shot was so small. I had built it up in my head that since this was such an earth shattering event for me, the area where it happened would be bigger somehow. But it wasn't, it was just the entrance to an apartment building, albeit an expensive one. We went to Strawberry Fields in Central Park across the street afterwards, which made me feel a little better, but not much. I wasn't expecting so many flowers and trinkets left by fans on the Imagine mosaic almost a decade after the murder. I think a part of me was hoping to find some answers there as to why this happened, but I was disappointed. I don't think now that there are any answers. I would like to go back to Strawberry Fields someday, but I will stay away from the Dakota.

Regardless of the morose subject matter, I do hope you enjoy the episode and I thank you for listening. We all shine on.

John Lennon's Final Print Interview with Jonathan Cott
Lennon Remembers Part 1
Lennon Remembers Part 2
NYC Radio the night Lennon was killed
John Lennon's Last Radio interview with Andy Peebles

My favorite photo of John Lennon, by Richard Avedon. Unsurprisingly, it appears on the cover of the first Beatles album I was aware of, Love Songs. A copy of this poster hangs in my living room.