Lennon Remembered on Anniversary of Murder

On the fifth anniversary of his assassination, the death of former Beatle John Lennon was remembered yesterday by many in the Harvard community.

The senseless murder of any person is a tragedy, but the loss of "someone who made so much meaningful music that meant so much to so many people," is especially to be mourned, said Michael E. Rosenberg '85, former station manager of WHRB.

Lennon was shot outside his apartment in New York City on December 8, 1980 by Mark David Chapman. Chapman later told authorities he had felt slighted when the musician had earlier in the day refused to give him an autograph.

"I remember getting up, getting dressed and hearing the DJ on the radio say, 'Today is December 8, 1980 and John Lennon is dead,'" said Carolyn R. Bertozzi '88, keyboardist for the Harvard band "Bored of Education."

"I went into a Beatle craze after he died," she recalled, adding that "the junior high school band I was in decided to play a lot of Beatle songs." At their final concert of the year, Bertozzi said, the lead singer of her group cried as he sang Lennon's "Imagine".

"He was my hero." said Bobby Hall, the assistant buyer for the Coop's record department. "I can't believe it has already been five years since he died."

Hall, who in previous years had gone to the Dakota to commemorate the anniversary of Lennon's death, vividly remembers the day he heard that his idol had been slain. He said he was so distraught upon hearing about it that he almost lost his job.

"I was working in a record store then, too. People were coming in and asking to hear John's music, but I just couldn't bring myself to play it."

That hasn't been a problem, though, for some local disk jockeys. WBCN, for example, played a heavy mix of Lennon's music throughout the day, as well as several pre-recorded tributes to the former Beatle.

But some of his fans expressed anger at what they called attempts to commercialize Lennon's death. Most cited the recent NBC-TV movie about Lennon, which, ironically, was originally supposed to star a young actor named Mark Chapman, as only the latest in a series of attempts to capitalize on Lennon's death.

Most of those interviewed echoed the thoughts of one Coop record shopper, Steve Meyers, a schoolteacher from Marlboro, who said, "He was the greatest and I loved him, but I think people should let him rest in peace."

A more fitting way to remember Lennon, many said, is the park recently built in Central Park in his memory. The park, named Strawberry Fields, was built with money contributed by Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono.

The park is filled with plants and trees donated from all over the world. This is an appropriate tribute, his fans say, to a man committed to world peace and unity.

Five years after Lennon's death, and fifteen years after the Beatles broke up, sales of Lennon's Beatle and solo albums are still big sellers, according to area record dealers. Rob Nadeau, manager of Strawberries Records and Tapes on JFK St., said sales have picked up in the last week or so, calling it a tribute to Lennon's staying power as a popular performer.

The idea most prevalent among those interviewed was that Lennon had died a needless, wasteful death, and that his murderer had deprived the world of a great creative force