30 years gone

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It was thirty years ago today that five shots rang out in the New York City air, when the echoes had diminished that December night John Lennon lay dying in front of his hotel residence the Dakota.

His death, short hours later a punctuation mark that no one it seems was safe from the kind of mindless violence that Lennon so often spoke out of, a stark reminder that not everyone heard his clarion call for peace, love and understanding

It was an unimaginable passing that touched people world wide, leaving them in shock at the sudden, violent end of a life to an artist who had sought to bring people together.

John Lennon would have been seventy today,  an age when career retrospectives would normally begin to  roll in, acknowledgment of a life's work that resonated around the world.

Instead today we remember a life cut far too short,  one with so much accomplished  but yet one that promised much more to come. A celebration of a messenger silenced, but one with a message that endures to this day.

The murder of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman has been chronicled over the decades in books and movies, become the topic of political discussions and formed  the focus of any number of conspiracy theories over the years.

His death as was his life a part of  the culture of an era.

His music and words heralded a new direction from the time he and three band mates from Liverpool first arrived in North America.

His days with the Beatles changed music forever, the subsequent split from the band and his call for action changing America and beyond during some of its most tumultuous times.

His music was a soundtrack of that hoped for change, his lyrics the anthem for many in a generation looking for a different approach to the troubles of the world. He the leader of the hopeful, asking us all to Imagine, if we try.

Thirty years later it's a message that still needs to be delivered more than ever,  thirty years later it would have been comforting if John Lennon was still there to remind us of the path to take.
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The rembrance of his murder has provided a wealth of reminiscences, a brief sample of some of them can be found below.

John Lennon's Final Interview Remembering John Lennon
Yoko Ono remembers John Lennon on the 30th anniversary of his death
Thirty Years After Lennon's Death, 'RS' Let's Us Hear Voice Again
John Lennon's Death Still Raises Questions 30 Years Later
On 30th Anniversary of His Death, John Lennon's Final Interview Released
Who was John Lennon?
The night a Beatle died
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