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Friday, December 9. 2005
'I was dreaming of the past' - John Lennon (Oct 9 / 1940 - Dec 8 / 1980)
25 years ago... John Lennon died from the shots of a man and fan he had shaken his hand with and signed an autograph.
It was December 8, 1980 in New York City. Mark David Chapman met Lennon as he was leaving the Dakota building for a recording session.
Lennon signed Chapman's copy of 'Double Fantasy' while Chapaman stayed around. At around 10.50pm, Yoko Ono (Lennon's wife) followed by Lennon stepped out of the limousine to proceed to the Dakota building. As Lennon was entering the building he glanced at Chapman and proceeded on to go through the entrance of the building.
At that moment Chapman crouched a "combat" position and fired five bullets. Four of them penetrated Lennon's body, one of them will be fatal.
Lennon shot at the aorta managed to take six steps up to the concierge booth, where he finally collapsed gasping the unfamous words: "I'm shot, I'm shot".
Chapaman without an arm after it was being taken away by Jose Perdomo, stood calmy and read Salinger's novel, "The Catcher in the Rye".
When Perdomo asked him "What have you done, what have you done", he simply replied:
"I just shot Lennon".
25 minutes later in the police car, since it was being judged that waiting for an ambulance would put Lennon's life more at risk, Lennon passed out.
With over 80% of his blood lost, Lennon was pronounced dead at his arrival at the hospital.
Howard Cosell, legendary football announcer, announced on ABC Lennon's dead against wishes of his producers:
This, we have to say it, remember this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps of all the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead…on…arrival.
One famous quote from Lennon is from 1960 after he was being asked how he thought he woulddie he replied:
"I'll probably be popped off by some loony."
Another interestng fact is in his last interview where he said that he often felt that somebody was stalking him (federal agents in the 1970s trying to deport him and later the obsessed fan in 1980.)
And here it goes how the life of someone that could have changed the world disappear....
(More on Lennon when I start the Articles section... )