Interesting behind-the-scenes account, pretty predictable except for the Muzak bit.

i was alone, sitting in my car on plainfield avenue, slurping take-out pizza and beer, and thinking about more beer. the news came on the radio. i thought "oh wow, man, that's fucked up." then i got more beer.

I was eleven years old when it happened, and I didn't know about it till I got to school the next day.

From the article:

Dr. Stephan Lynn walked to the end of the emergency room hall where Yoko Ono was waiting in an otherwise empty room. It was his job to deliver the word that John Lennon, her soulmate and spouse, was dead.

Man, do I feel for that guy. Have you ever had to deliver news of someone's death? It SUCKS. My partner's father passed away unexpectedly while we were on a trip to Key West. Nobody could contact us- many of the guesthouses down there don't have phones in the rooms, and this was in the pre-cellphone era.

I finally called home to check on the guy who was taking care of our dogs, and he told me, and then I had to tell my partner. It was hands-down one of the worst experiences of my life.

Ugh, boringpostcards. That it horrendous.
:-(
My kid caught a picture of John Lennon in Newsweek the other day and started asking questions. (She's a big Beatles fan.) I try to be honest with her, so I told her that he had died, that he had been killed by a man with a gun, but that we still have his music. She burst into hysterical tears. For the rest of the day, she'd get all choked up and just mutter, "That man was mean. It's just mean to shoot John Lennon." It was heartbreaking to see how much impact the news still has. For her, it was as if it had just happened.

(Yes, I'm the worst mother ever. )

Yes, I'm the worst mother ever.

Not true, jrossi4r. You will be reaping the benefits of your no-lie policy in the future. At the age when most kids realize that their parents are lying to them at least half the time, yours will still be listening to you. And that will be good.

My son was born almost exactly 11 years & one day after the minute that John Lennon died. Sometimes I wonder why I know this, but I do.

I was living in Spain when he died; walking down to the center of the village when someone came running out of a cafe to tell me. I was so young and shocked - I was 16. A bunch of my friends in bands posted a memorial in the local paper; I still have it - signed by the Sex Beatles, the Kevin Ayers Band & the Pa Am Boli Band.

Wow. Suddenly, looking at the memorial, I realize that at the time I thought John Lennon was really, you know, old and stuff, and now I'm older than he ever got to be.

Thanks, taz. That makes me feel slightly better about traumatizing the poor little thing.

I'm sorry he got killed and all, but John was always my least favorite Beatle.

Who's your #1 then, Doohickie?

You've just reminded me of a sketch from the eighties comedy puppet show Spitting Image.

There is a room full of stereotypical Russian women (remember that Russia is still very much Communist at this time). Photos of the moptop Beatles are all over the walls. They're dancing around the room to She Loves You. Another Russian woman bursts into the room:
Woman 1: "I've just heard terrible news about John Lennon!"
Woman 2: "Oh no! What is it?"
Woman 1: "He's married!!!!"

A-hem, anyway...

I wouldn't have so much of a problem with Lennon if people would just stop trying to canonize the guy. He could be a genius song writer that's for sure but he was also, quite frankly, a bit of a tosser. The fact that Lennon's elevation seems to have come mostly at the expense of Paul McCartney (a man equally brilliant and flawed) seems doubly unfair.

On my first trip to New york City, my 78 year old mother said, "be sure to visit the Dakota, because that's where John died".