I cannot believe it’s been 34 years since we lost John Lennon to an assassin’s bullets. To me it still seems like yesterday.

Susan Wood, Getty Images
Susan Wood, Getty Images
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I’ll never forget that night for as long as I live. I was working the overnight shift on another radio station, when our newsman came in to the studio where I was preparing the show to tell me that John had been shot. At first I thought he was kidding, then the bells on our newswire which signify a major story went off, and my worst fears were confirmed.

John Lennon was and is one of the few people I’ve ever looked up to. He got me through my adolescence. His songs and interviews to me were like little pieces of advice. In a lot of ways, they still are. I pass them onto my sons, one of whom is named Lennon.

I believe that night that God put me in the only place I could possibly be to be able to deal with such a tragedy - on the radio where I could grieve with people who truly understood.

Dave Hoeffel broke the news of Lennon’s death at 11:45 pm interrupting the playing of Stevie Wonder’s “Masterblaster.” I then spent the next 6 hours breaking the news over and over to everyone who was joining us. I did this while playing both John’s and Beatles music as well as taking listener calls and putting them on the air - something that was never done in 1980.

Around 4:10 am I took a call from a listener who sarcastically asked me why I was playing so much Beatles music. I angrily replied: “Because John Lennon’s dead!” That was followed by silence, then sobbing on the other end of the phone as I was reminded that people were continuing to find out what I had been constantly repeating all night.

I never knew John Lennon, but I have read and continue to read everything about him. There is no one I can think of that was more influential. His dream of peace and what he stood for continues to be passed on through the generations. All he wanted was peace and it ended up costing him his life. He could have easily just sat back and collected the money, but instead he wanted to make a difference.

He continues to make a difference in my life.

What are your thoughts and memories of John Lennon?

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