What were you doing the night that John Lennon was
shot?
Like many of my generation, I was up
one Monday night watching Howard Cossell, Frank Guiford, and Dan Meredith of
ABC Monday Night Football calling a game between New England and
Miami. The show had huge ratings back then. It was the biggest
game of the week and something that all of us looked forward to.
I don't recall exactly when, but I
fell asleep and missed the bulletin about John Lennon's shooting. It was
read on the air by Howard Cossell, who knew Lennon personally. Here
is the link if you want to see it.
I heard it the very next day when
the radio went off at 6am! Lennon was killed by Mark D. Chapman, a troubled young man:
After committing the murder, Chapman
waited calmly outside, reading a copy of The Catcher in the Rye.
Chapman was a troubled individual
who was obsessed with Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J. D. Salinger's
novel about a disaffected youth, and with various celebrities. While working as
a security guard in Hawaii, he decided that Lennon was a phony and, while listening to
Beatles tapes, Chapman decided to plan his murder.
Chapman purchased a gun in Hawaii
and then traveled to New York.
Although he called his wife to tell her that he was in New York to shoot
Lennon, she ignored his threats. Unable to buy bullets in New York due to
strict laws, Chapman flew to Atlanta and purchased hollow-nosed rounds to bring
back.
On the day of the murder, Chapman
bought an extra copy of The Catcher in the Rye and joined fans
waiting outside The Dakota, Lennon's apartment building. That evening, as
Lennon walked by on his way into the building, Chapman shot him in the back and
then fired two additional bullets into his shoulder as the singer wrenched
around in pain.
Lennon's assassination shocked most
of us who had grown up listening to the Beatles. Frankly, I was surprised
that he'd be so unprotected and walk around so freely without a
bodyguard. After all, he was one of the best-known people in the
world. Chapman would have never been able to approach him if Lennon
had simply had a bodyguard. Over the years, I've talked to people
who ran into Lennon at Central Park or just walking around New York
City.
Lennon had just returned to the
music world after a five-year exile when he was shot by Chapman. His new
album "Double Fantasy" and single "Just like Starting Over"
were breaking into the music charts the night he was killed.
I was reminded of Lennon's shooting
when I heard of the attempts on President Reagan (March 1981) and Pope John
Paul II (May 1981) a few months later. Thankfully, Pres. Reagan and Pope
John Paul II survived.
It just does not seem that all of
this happened 34 years ago. However, watching that Howard Cossell link on
YouTube, I was reminded of a time in our lives when there was no ESPN,
internet, or cell phones.
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