Because we should never forget: 12/8/1980

Here is a collection of tributes and memories in honor of John's Last Day. The most compelling to me is the minute-by-minute account of John's last day. Personally though, I can't get through it without my eyes leaking profusely. It brings out such hatred and retributory violent thoughts towards his murderer that I have to break off and think of something beautiful about John. My memory of that day is steeped in tears, sadness and confusion. So while it is a day to never forget, it's also a day I want to pretend never happened. For me, I'm happiest if I think that John somehow survived that day, exiled himself in Bermuda and continues to live in secret, visited by Yoko, Sean & Julian and living out his life surrounded by beautiful scenery and basking in love. God bless John Lennon :-)

John Lennon's Lasting Legacy 
2010 marked the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death. For many fans the memory of John Lennon's death (8th December 1980) is still fresh in their minds. "It seemed like only yesterday that John Lennon was murdered in New York, and it still hurts", a Lennon fan from Liverpool told me recently. It is still very painful for many of us, because John Lennon represented a vision of hope, peace and love, through his powerful empathetic songs.
John Lennon's lasting legacy was the creation of the group - The Beatles, the most successful entertainers of the 20th century. They contributed to music, film, literature, art and fashion. Their songs and images carry powerful ideas of love, hope, help and imagination. John Lennon will be always be remembered for his influential body of music, both with The Beatles and in his solo career, which changed the face of popular music, by giving it a soul, opening up new horizons, and allowing it to breath and expand.
Because of his unique songwriting skills, his songs will last forever, and will always offer meaning to our lives. However, John Lennon was not just a brilliant songwriter and musician, he was also the most famous peace activist of our time. John Lennon's work fighting for peace and love amongst humanity struck a chord with a whole generation, and helped bring an end to the Vietnam war.
"After all is really said and done", John Lennon was real and honest, and that is what we all feel through his music, which will live forever.
"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." (Quotes by John Lennon)


BBC News Report: 8th December 1980 

This is the original BBC news report about the death of John Lennon.
Former Beatle John Lennon has been shot dead by an unknown gunman who opened fire outside the musician's New York apartment.
"The 40-year-old was shot several times as he entered the Dakota, his luxury apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, opposite Central Park, at 2300 local time. He was rushed in a police car to St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, where he died.His wife, Yoko Ono, who is understood to have witnessed the attack, was with him. A police spokesman said a suspect was in custody, but he had no other details of the shooting. 'This was no robbery,' the spokesman said, adding that Mr Lennon was probably shot by a 'deranged' person.
Witness reports say at least three shots were fired and others have claimed they heard six. There are also reports Mr Lennon staggered up six steps into the vestibule after he was shot, before collapsing. Jack Douglas, Lennon's producer, said he and the Lennons had been at a studio called the Record Plant in mid-town earlier in the evening and Lennon left at 2230. Mr Lennon said he planned to have some dinner and then return home, Mr Douglas said. The Lennons are said to have left their limousine on the street and walked up the driveway when the gunman opened fire. It is unclear whether the man had been lying in wait in the entrance to the building for Mr Lennon, or whether he came up behind him. Witnesses describe the gunman as a 'pudgy kind of man', 35 to 40 years old with brown hair.
Other former band members, Paul McCartney, guitarist George Harrison and drummer Ringo Starr are thought to have been informed of Lennon's murder. Fans have already begun arriving at the scene, many still unaware Lennon has died."

In a breathtaking, minute-by-minute format, December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died follows the events leading to the horrible moment.

10am - It is an unusually warm and sunny pre-Christmas day in New York. John's usual morning routine is to have coffee at Cafe La Fortuna near his home on New York's Upper West Side. But on Mondays the cafe is closed, so he leaves the family apartment in the Dakota Building around 10am, to get his hair cut in a Fifties Teddy Boy style at a nearby barbershop.
11am - Photographer Annie Leibovitz and her assistant arrive at the Dakota for a photoshoot for Rolling Stone magazine. John tells Leibovitz that he knows Rolling Stone wants him on the cover by himself but it is important to him to pose with Yoko. The photograph Leibovitz takes of a naked Lennon entwined around Yoko in black, like a child clinging to its mother, is to become iconic. John tells the photographer: 'You've captured our relationship exactly.'
11.45am - Amateur photographer Paul Goresh arrives at the Dakota. Goresh is one of a small group of devoted fans who frequently hang around outside John's home and whom John has got to know and trust. Also waiting is a stranger, 25 year-old Mark Chapman. As Goresh recalls: 'When I got to the Dakota, the only other person there was a guy standing with a long overcoat with a fur collar and a fur hat. He had a scarf on and he was holding John's album Double Fantasy and he says to me, "Are you waiting for Lennon?" 'And I said, "Yeah." He said, "My name's Mark, I'm from Hawaii." I said, "I'm Paul, I'm from New Jersey." 'He asked, "Do you work for him?" I said, "No." He told me, "I came all the way from Hawaii to get my album signed." So I said, "Where are you staying while you're in the city?" And with that he seemed to change his whole demeanour from like a dope to an aggressive person. And he said, "Why do you want to know?" And I told him, "Go back where you were standing and leave me alone." '
12.40pm - A team from RKO Radio in San Francisco, headed by Dave Sholin, arrive at the Dakota to interview Lennon. 'We drive up to the Dakota, which is a very impressive building,' says Sholin today. 'It takes your breath away. And then we were ushered into this incredible space, this beautiful room where you take your shoes off, which is a wonderful custom, sit down on a couch, and Yoko was there. And I looked up at the ceiling and I saw these beautiful clouds that were painted on it. 'Then the door opens and John appears and does this little jump up in the air and says, "Well, here I am, folks, the show's ready to begin." 'He spreads his arms out and comes over. It was like he wanted to make us feel very comfortable and it worked, because in a matter of two or three minutes we were conversing as if I'd known him for years. It was just that kind of chemistry and it was tremendous. In the three-and-a-half hours we were together, he could not have been more upbeat, more excited about what lay ahead both musically and with Yoko and Sean.'
1.30pm Sean Lennon and his nanny, Helen Seaman, plus Sean's bodyguard, return home after spending the weekend on Long Island.
3.30pm - Goresh goes into the Dakota to find out if John has signed a copy of his book A Spaniard In The Works, which Goresh has left for him. 'When I went back to my post outside, the guy with the overcoat was there and he was alone, again on the other side of the archway,' says Goresh. 'He came over and said, "I owe you an apology for the way I acted earlier. But you're in New York. You never know who you can trust these days." '
3.55pm - John concludes his interview with Sholin, saying: 'I consider that my work won't be finished until I'm dead and buried and I hope that's a long, long time.'
4pm - As the RKO radio crew wait outside the Dakota for their limo, John and Yoko come out looking for their car to take them to the Record Plant recording studio in Midtown to work on a new song. Sholin says: 'John was looking around and for a split second, I'm thinking, "Well, this is pretty amazing, here is John Lennon outside in New York." I just dismissed it. In this town, I thought, it's no big deal and that was it.' Goresh adds: 'John said to me, "Don't forget to get your book." And as he was talking to me, the guy with the overcoat approached him from the left. And the guy didn't say a word, he just held the album out in front of John and John turned to him and looked at the album and said, "Do you want it signed?" And the guy nodded. He didn't say a word. 'It looked like a picture, so I snapped a couple of frames and the first picture I took was John signing the album. And the guy nodded and he took the album and he just backed away. And then John turned to me and looked at me as if to say, "That was peculiar."' Meanwhile, there is still no sign of John's taxi. Says Sholin: 'So John is saying, "Well, our car isn't here. You're going to the airport, would you mind giving us a ride?" I said, "Hop on in." And on the way, I ask him about his relationship with Paul McCartney, 'He says, "Well, he's like a brother. I love him. Families, we certainly have our ups and downs and our quarrels. But at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, I would do anything for him, I think he would do anything for me." And we said our goodbyes and dropped John and Yoko off at the studio.'
5pm - John and Yoko arrive at the Record Plant to continue work with record producer Jack Douglas on Yoko's Walking On Thin Ice, which is to be their next single. The lyrics are a 'spoken word poem' by Yoko which, like the song's title, will turn out to have a eerie significance. They are about John and Yoko and how they will be remembered after their deaths. John loves it and tells her over the studio talkback system: 'I think you've just got your first number one, Yoko.' The last music John ever records is the guitar work on this track. 'John was really on top of the world,' recalls Douglas. 'We finished the mix that night and I walked him down to the elevator and I said, "I'll see you at Sterling," the mastering house, at 9am. And he was all smiles. He had a cassette of the song with him. And Yoko was all smiles. And the elevator door closed.'
10.30pm - In the car, Yoko proposes going to the Stage Deli for something to eat before they go home. But John says he wants to go back to the Dakota to see Sean before he goes to sleep. The December night is exceptionally mild. Instead of driving through the arch into the safety of the Dakota's inner courtyard, the limo draws up at the kerb.
10.45pm - As John gets out of the car, Chapman comes forward, still clutching his autographed copy of Double Fantasy. He softly calls out 'Mr Lennon', produces a .38 handgun and, dropping down into a combat stance, fires five shots, four of which hit John. John keeps walking, goes up the stairs into the porter's vestibule, then collapses, scattering the cassettes he's been carrying. A few seconds later, Yoko bursts in screaming: 'John's been shot.' The duty porter, Jay Hastings, rings the alarm that goes through to the police, then kneels beside John to try to administer a tourniquet. This being futile, he removes John's glasses and covers him with his porter's jacket.
10.50pm - Police patrolman Steve Spiro gets a call in his radio car to say there has been a shooting at 1 West 72nd Street. He and his partner, Peter Collin, get there in less than a minute. 'There was a man pointing into the vestibule and he said, "That's the man doing the shooting," ' says Spiro. 'We realised this is for real. I peeked in and saw a man with his hands up, so I threw this guy against the wall and at that point the porter says to me, "He shot John Lennon." And I said, "You what?" 'I saw two of my fellow police officers carrying a man out, face up with blood coming out of his mouth. I recognised John Lennon.'
10.53pm - Patrolmen Bill Gamble and James Moran put John in the back of their car and speed to Roosevelt Hospital at 59th Street near Central Park. Yoko follows behind in another police car.

....continued...

11pm - Emergency Room doctor Stephan Lynn has left for the night, but the hospital calls him back. 'I actually got there before the patient,' recalls Dr Lynn. 'I didn't know exactly what was happening. Through the doors, two police officers came in. They were carrying a body over their shoulders. It was lifeless. We were ready.' Also in the ER, after a motorcycle accident earlier that evening, was a young ABC newsman called Alan Weiss, for whom the events of that night are an indelible memory. He recalls: 'The doctor said, "I'm going to take you into X-ray and see what the damage is." At that moment, the door behind me slams open and a man comes running in yelling, "We've got a gunshot, gunshot in the chest." And the doctor says, "When's it coming in?" He says, "Hitting the door right now." 'She says, "Alan, I'm sorry, I've got to take care of this." I reply, "No problem, I understand." And I can hear footsteps and the door opens up and I look behind me and in come I'm not sure quite how many police officers carrying a stretcher.' Dr Lynn continues: 'We positioned the body in front of us on a stretcher in the resuscitation room. It was clear that there were three gunshot wounds in the left upper chest and one to the left arm. It was also clear that there was no circulation, no profusion. We initially didn't know that it was John Lennon. As part of our normal routine we took his identification out of his clothing and it said John Lenånon but the nurses said, "This doesn't look like John Lennon, it can't be." 'Almost immediately thereafter Yoko Ono entered the emergency department. We knew who we were dealing with. We had a very important person in our midst and it was our job to attempt to resuscitate him.' Still lying on his stretcher in the corridor outside, Weiss overhears two police officers talking. 'One says to the other, "Can you believe it, John Lennon?" I open my eyes and I look up and I say, "Excuse me sir, what did you say?" And he says "I didn't say anything," and he moves away. 'Well, did he say John Lennon? Did he say Jack Lemmon? Did he say some other name of somebody we don't know? 'And I hear crying. And I look behind me and in comes walking an Asian woman in a full-length mink coat. I knew it was Yoko Ono so it had to be John Lennon.'

11.10pm - As Weiss hobbles to a payphone to alert his newsdesk at ABC, Dr Lynn and his team are battling to save John's life. But they find that Chapman's bullets, the kind which expand on entering the body, have destroyed all the blood vessels that leave John's heart, the aorta and all of its branches. 'We tried to find a place where we could stop the bleeding,' says Dr Lynn. 'I literally held John Lennon's heart in my hand and I massaged it to try to get his heart going again and we transfused blood. But it was clear with all the vessels destroyed there would be absolutely nothing we could do that evening. About 11.10, 11.15pm, we pronounced John Lennon dead. I think every one of us in the room suddenly realised what we were doing, where we were and who we were dealing with. A lot of people began to cry. We reminded the staff not to say anything to anybody until an appropriate Press announcement had been made. We told the staff that they couldn't sell their uniforms that might be blood-stained. We made certain that all the linens, all the equipment in the room were secured and that the medical record was tightly secured.' Dr Lynn realises that he will have to break the news to Yoko Ono. Weiss, whom security men have by now moved into another corridor hears the hospital sound system break into The Beatles' All My Lovin'. Two minutes later, he hears a shriek: 'Oh, no, no, no.' Dr Lynn says: 'Her first response was immediate, "It's not true. You're lying. It can't be. I don't believe you." In my mind it literally felt like this was going on for about five minutes. 'She was lying on the floor, she was hitting her head against the floor. I put my hands behind her head to try to prevent damage to her. Yoko Ono was incredibly emotional for quite a long time. And in fact it was when one of the nurses bought in John Lennon's wedding ring and gave it to her that she accepted the fact that her husband was dead. And I was touched by the first thing she said. What she said was, "My son, Sean, is still awake. He's probably sitting in front of the TV set. Please delay making the announcement 20-25 minutes so I can get home and make certain that I tell him what happened before he sees it on TV."

Thanks to the efforts of Weiss, it is ABC that breaks the news of John's death. Sports commentator Howard Cosell stuns millions by announcing it live during coverage of a Monday night American football game between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. Fans begin gathering outside the Dakota Building in their hundreds, then thousands. Some even go on to commit suicide. There are spontaneous vigils in New York and Liverpool. It is the beginning of a wave of grief which will engulf the world. Back in England, John's Aunt Mimi, his childhood guardian, is woken by a phone call at the house John has bought her overlooking Poole Harbour in Dorset. Her reaction is the same as when John was a naughty schoolboy and the headmaster's secretary used to telephone: 'Oh Lord, what's he done now?'


John Lennon's Funeral and Grave
John Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival in the emergency room at the Roosevelt Hospital at 11:07 p.m. on 8th December 1980, by Dr. Stephan Lynn. The cause of death was reported as hypovolemic shock, caused by the loss of more than 80% of blood volume. Dr. Elliott M. Gross, the Chief Medical Examiner, said that no one could have lived more than a few minutes with such multiple bullet injuries. As John Lennon was shot four times using hollow-point bullets, which expand upon entering the target and severely disrupt more tissue as it travels through the target, Lennon's affected organs were virtually destroyed upon impact. Yoko Ono was crying 'Oh no, no, no, no... tell me it's not true,' and was taken to Roosevelt Hospital and led away in shock after she learned that her husband was dead. The following day, Yoko Ono issued a statement: 'There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean.' John Lennon was cremated on 10th December 1980, at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, and his ashes were given to Yoko Ono.
Yoko Ono still keeps John Lennon's ashes in the New York Dakota apartment that they shared together.

On the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's murder, Dr. Stephan Lynn was interviewed by an American radio station. In his interview Dr. Lynn describes John Lennon's death and the scene at the hospital that fatal night. The video below features the interview. (Warning: contains graphic details)

Thank you for posting all this 4iiiis. I will read and watch and share my thoughts as soon as I finish.

Originally Posted by 4iiiis

My memory of that day is steeped in tears, sadness and confusion. So while it is a day to never forget, it's also a day I want to pretend never happened. For me, I'm happiest if I think that John somehow survived that day, exiled himself in Bermuda and continues to live in secret, visited by Yoko, Sean & Julian and living out his life surrounded by beautiful scenery and basking in love. God bless John Lennon :-)

I can roll with that front. Believe me. It hurts like HELL that he is gone and I have been having a hard time this year over it. I think last year was more celebratory and this year it's like I'm hit with a pile of bricks also known as reality. For a long time, I coasted along with some type of semblance of acceptance. But there is just too much sh*t happening in this world where John's voice and actions would have been amazing to experience and hear out.

Thanks for this. I find it important to understand that last day. He wasn't in a bad mood, he wasn't isolating himself from the world. He was positive, clear-headed, happy. He was trying to bring himself out there, and to focus on the values that mattered to him. And for no reason at all, some lardlike d1ck wasn't having it. There are times when you want to think, "If only he had security" or "if only he wasn't in America" but then you realize that there's really no point in "if onlys" because what's done happened. It can't be redone and we won't get that moment again.

So I just sort of want to cry over it all and remember everything amazing he brought to us all.

Originally Posted by 4iiiis

I really like this Paul Goresh guy. He seems like he's pissed the f*ck off STILL and I don't blame him. I'm with you dude. Doesn't make any kind of damn sense.

I'm sorry but, reading all this, I get SO ANGRY. "Combat stance" you say? I don't think this guy was as "crazy" as he was full-bred evil incarnate. I am really glad that he is still in that prison and I HOPE he STAYS THERE until he KICKS. I have no sympathy. I know we're taught forgiveness is the answer, but that's some bullsh1t for me.

I don't forgive cold-blooded murderers or rapists and pedophiles who act with no remorse. I can't forgive the man who killed John and I never will. Am I a bad person? Probably a little but I don't care.

That whole thing is really heartbreaking. Yoko's reaction is typical of someone who is in denial. How harrowing! I feel like it's SO much info, and yet I can't turn away from the details.

Originally Posted by Fly

I'm sorry but, reading all this, I get SO ANGRY. "Combat stance" you say? I don't think this guy was as "crazy" as he was full-bred evil incarnate. I am really glad that he is still in that prison and I HOPE he STAYS THERE until he KICKS. I have no sympathy. I know we're taught forgiveness is the answer, but that's some bullsh1t for me.

I don't forgive cold-blooded murderers or rapists and pedophiles who act with no remorse. I can't forgive the man who killed John and I never will. Am I a bad person? Probably a little but I don't care.

Well, if you're a bad person, so I am....i am trying my best to listen to these recollections of John's last moments...and all I can think is that mother-fucking cocksucking piece of shit does NOT deserve to have been drawing all the breaths he has been breathing all these years, at our expense no less. I understand totally why people committed suicide after hearing the news, because every time I think about John's horrible death, I realize what a fuckedup world it is, and I'm none too happy to be part of it myself. :.....( and I also understand totally those who would gladly martyr themselves to rid the world of John's killer.

It really does hit you hard when someone who's music and art touched you SO profoundly, who may have been like a "second father" in a sense, loses his life FOR NO REASON in a senseless and violent way.

I do understand 4iiiis and Fly.

I have seen the video of Stevie Wonder announcing John's death to his audience in Oakland,CA. Here is a link regarding their friendship.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_828612.html

That was very tough to read. It seems like it was a relatively pretty nice winter day on 12/8/1980 and, for the most part, things were going completely normal.

It's hard for me to really take it all in when I read it this way, because it becomes all the more gruesome. I can't help but think, it makes sense that John wouldn't think anything was odd about this strange man standing there because he was just so nice about his fans.

It's eerie about the Spaniard In The Works and how Goresh went inside to retrieve his copy. Not that Goresh was a freak or anything, but how many superstars, forget it, ICONS let their fans come up and get books and stuff? I know that I'm sounding maybe a little insensitive towards fans, but I feel that that goes above and beyond the level of kindness that should be bestowed upon one.

I don't know what to make of ******. My blood boils to give him too much thought. But his behavior is so strange and yet so seemingly non-strange that I almost feel like he was playing everyone for a fool. I don't think I have it in me to ever give him anything less than contempt. I have not an iota of "sympathy" and nor do I buy any excuses about his mental instability. I think it was all premeditated and evil, quite like Fly said. I actually won't budge and care to analyze him further to discover anything more. Disgust and contempt are putting it mildly.

Poor Sean. John just wanted to see him before he went to bed.

Ugh, this whole thing was SO hard to read. I guess, as a fan of the younger generation, I am more at a distance reading this type of stuff than, say, Maia, wilde, or 4iiiis. I know my dad wouldn't want to! He has said in enough colorful words exactly what he thinks about that "mother******" so I basically understand. But as a younger fan, these types of details are what I have to grieve from and understand from that night. I was only about 2 months old. I want to understand and know what I, should I say thankfully, didn't have to be shocked and horrified into trying to understand and know the same way you all did. I'm so sorry. And this is just a tragic and heartbreaking end to one of the most beautiful and inspiring of lives.

I *love* Paul Goresh. Does everyone here know his story about how John originally befriended him and they became walking buddies? Just another example of John's beautiful spirit and down-to-earth ways (after the understandable initial flash of Lennon temper.)

What makes me hurt for John and Sean even more is that it sounds as if John and Sean didn't get the time to see each other one last time before F*ckface Fat Ass pulled his pathetic bid for immortality. No wonder John wanted to get home--he hadn't seen his kid since Friday, and Sean was everything to him! That detail, which I did not know until now, makes it even more sad.

I once read on some young guy's FB page that he, the kid, "forgave **** ****** ********." Ex-CUSE me? Is it even HIS f**king place to forgive or not? This guy wasn't even BORN when John died!

I must admit that I have sympathy for F*ckface's family and his wife; they didn't do anything wrong except have the misfortune of having that piece of sh*t in their lives, although I think they should have made a greater effort to get this guy the mental help that he clearly needed. They should have committed his fat ass.

As far as I'm concerned, the SAFEST place for him is exactly where he is, and I hope he stays there.

Originally Posted by peanut333

I have seen the video of Stevie Wonder announcing John's death to his audience in Oakland,CA. Here is a link regarding their friendship.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_828612.html

Thank you! His recollections are just a tad off, but he seems completely genuine:

"Whenever we saw each other, there was definite respect and love. I just loved his heart. I just liked his desire to want to see peace, to want to see people come together and live together and make this world a better place. The last time I saw him, I remember he was working on the last album and he and Yoko were getting back together, and, you know, it was just a nice thing."

Originally Posted by wildewoman

I *love* Paul Goresh. Does everyone here know his story about how John originally befriended him and they became walking buddies? Just another example of John's beautiful spirit and down-to-earth ways (after the understandable initial flash of Lennon temper.)

I recall reading it before! I may not have read verbatim the same account as you. I think there is a thread with John encounters from fans and I can post the one I have from Paul G. I like him too! I appreciate his obvious sincerity and love for John. He was a TRUE BLUE Lennon fan. He has absolute hatred and disgust for *********, but he also appears to feel some guilt for ever having conversed with him or perceived him as being just a regular guy. I understand his feelings. The pain in his eyes says it all. He has the most amazing things to say about John as a person, which showcases what an extraordinary man John was to his fans.

Originally Posted by wildewoman

What makes me hurt for John and Sean even more is that it sounds as if John and Sean didn't get the time to see each other one last time before F*ckface Fat Ass pulled his pathetic bid for immortality. No wonder John wanted to get home--he hadn't seen his kid since Friday, and Sean was everything to him! That detail, which I did not know until now, makes it even more sad.

Extremely. Julian recalls that, as soon as Sean was told, it was "tears, beyond tears." But Sean says that when he was told he locked himself in his room and broke down crying SO hard because he didn't want his mom to see him crying. Yoko says that, to this day, Sean has a "lot of anger" over what happened to his dad and he isn't over it. I don't blame him. Honestly, my heart breaks for BOTH John's sons.

Originally Posted by wildewoman

I once read on some young guy's FB page that he, the kid, "forgave **** ****** ********." Ex-CUSE me? Is it even HIS f**king place to forgive or not? This guy wasn't even BORN when John died!

I sort of like what Julian said. (Wilde, I know you aren't Jules' biggest fan, but in his CNN interview he showed a very tough, very mature and fairly awesome side to his personality...) He was asked about whether he has forgiven the man who killed his dad and Jules said, "I'm not going to answer that...those are thoughts I keep with me for my own private time."

Originally Posted by wildewoman

I must admit that I have sympathy for F*ckface's family and his wife; they didn't do anything wrong except have the misfortune of having that piece of sh*t in their lives, although I think they should have made a greater effort to get this guy the mental help that he clearly needed. They should have committed his fat ass.

My husband and I were watching some program with his wife and basically I don't really think she's bad, but I don't like her. I'm sorry. I should be more sympathetic, but I can't. She apparently knew that this monster was planning to kill John Lennon because he said it to her, and she said/did nothing. Just because of that fact, I have never had much of a good thought about her. I know she may have considered he wasn't serious, she didn't know what to do, she was scared, etc. But still...no good thoughts.

As far as I'm concerned, the SAFEST place for him is exactly where he is, and I hope he stays there.

Not that I care where he would be the safest, but as a human being I will say YES. You are absolutely right. I don't believe that he should be physically harmed. It will not bring John back. In fact, this is the only time of the year where I even give his shelter a second thought, but it's the truth...he must stay in that jail.

It's been a long time since I listened to the RKO interview, but something just occurred to me about it. I seem to remember John mentioning that Sean & Helen's weekend trip was actually to Pennsylvania, not Long Island--and it was Sean's VERY FIRST OVERNIGHT TRIP away from his parents. Sean had never been away from both parents - until that weekend.

Yoko kind of teased John about it, saying that it might have been a nice little break for Sean because Helen evidently was a little more lax with the discipline than Dad. And then John said something about how he always expected Sean to "behave like a little gentleman." (Shades of Mimi!)

In that same interview, John related that Sean had told him that when Sean grew up, Sean wanted to be "just a Daddy." Sean wanted Daddy back home full time!

So, so sad...

^ Oh my gawd...