John Lennon

He may have been a raving communist liberal - and his wife is certainly a strange cookie - but he made some incredible music.

He died, shot to death by a deranged fan, 24 years ago tonight. When it happened, Howard Cosell broke the news to a stunned nation during a Monday Night Football broadcast (this was in the day's before cable, when there were only three networks plus PBS (and 3 other local stations - Channel 5, Channel 9, and Channel 11) in New York City.

I missed the announcement however, having just gone to bed (I was in 3rd or 4th grade). My father, like most people, was a big Beatles fan at the time. As a little kid, I used to love driving around New York City with him listening to Beatles albums on his 8 Track cassette radio. He broke the news to me in the morning.

There is a very touching piece on Lennon and Ono in today's New York Times. Lots have been said about their relationship and Yoko Ono's role in breaking up the Beatles, not to mention the crappy way she has treated Lennon's first wife and oldest son Julian since his death, but if Lennon was happy with her, who am I to really criticize his choice of mate (the fact that he was a shitty father to Julian though is another matter)