John Lennon would have been 82 yesterday (Sunday). The same age as my mom. I remember where I was when news broke that he had been assassinated in the street outside his New York home. I can remember my reaction when someone ran into the bathroom in my Penn State dorm and shouted that Lennon was dead. I dropped my toothbrush. Stood before the mirror and stared.
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John Lennon would have been 82 yesterday (Sunday). The same age as my mom. I remember where I was when news broke that he had been assassinated in the street outside his New York home. I can remember my reaction when someone ran into the bathroom in my Penn State dorm and shouted that Lennon was dead. I dropped my toothbrush. Stood before the mirror and stared.
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I find it strange now that it hit me as it did, almost as hard as when my grandfather died. I know more about Lennon now than I did then. Can see the flaws, the damaged man that he was, and I get angry that he took his anger and disappointment out on those around him.
Lennon was a lot of things, including being an often shitty person. But in his contradictions lied a desire that the world be better than it was.
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© 2022 Hank Kalet
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Author: hankkalet
Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.
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Hank Kalet 