John Lennon: 25 Years Later
John Lennon was murdered 25 years ago today. That’s a long time; he’s been dead longer than he was a professional musician.
I had just turned 15 at the time and had only recently discovered the Beatles, whose brief but impactful tenure started shortly before I was born and was over well before I had any interest in music.
Interestingly, there’s relatively little coverage of the anniversary in the big papers. The New York Times, from the city where Lennon lived and died, has three pieces buried deep in the paper:
- Dr. Stephan G. Lynn recalls the night he held Lennon’s heart in his hand.
- Jack Mitchell reflects on a photo shoot of Lennon and Yoko Ono a month before the murder.
- Neil Harrison explains why he’s hooked on life as a Lennon impersonator.
The Washington Post has nothing today but has had a couple of stories in recent days.
- An AP piece, “John Lennon’s Death Lingers for Witnesses” from Dec. 4 with the recollections of several people–Lynn, the policemen on the scene, and others–who were there that night.
- Another AP story, from Nov. 28, “Lennon’s Killer Marks 25 Years of Infamy,” that profiles Mark David Chapman.
Bill Nienhuis has a long thought piece looking back on how Lennon’s death affected him and a roundup of other reactions.
Dean Esmay offers his own thoughts, focusing on how his on views Lennon and the Beatles have evolved over the last quarter century.
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About James Joyner
No sense in crying over spilt milk.
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Remembering John Lennon’s Untimely Departure
It was 25 years ago today. At night to be exact.
I was working the night shift at the Wichita Eagle, one of three reports and…
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I am not sure why something is automatically “newsworthy” when it reaches an anniversary divisible by five.
Yesterday was the 64th anniversary of Pearl Harbor–a much more important date of rememberance than John Lennon’s murder. “Interestingly,” your blog carried stories about Al Sharpton’s acting career, the divorce of a heavy metal guitar player, and possible nude photos of a sitcom actress…
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Certain anniversaries–1, 10, 25, 50, 100–are considered more noteworthy than others. The number 64 is not among them.
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Uh, yea…thanks for the tautology. I think Minister Farrakhan shares a your numerology fetish.
Of course, the 64th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor is not noteworthy–but apparently the 63rd anniversary was???: http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/8359
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The number 64 is not among them.
Shame on OTB for its 10-centric thinking!
I didn’t mark Pearl Harbor either, though I did explain it to my 10-year-old, for whom WW2, the Civil War, and the Middle Ages are roughly contemporary.
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Btw, must disagree with T-bird; Lennon was indeed “nut murdered.”
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The best post on Lennon’s death is at Althouse.“>
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Sorry, that Althouse link didn’t come out as a link.
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/12/when-john-lennon-died.html
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