The Night John Lennon was killed
by Tess Coffey, Assistant to the GM, XPN
In my lifetime, this moment remains most poignant, and I think it must be one of the foremost memories to many people of my age.
Dave and I had just moved into our home on Oct. 30, 1980. Eric was 16 months old and Nerissa 5. The house needed almost as much TLC as the kids, so we worked around the clock to make it look loved. On December 8, 1980 I was sitting at the top of a ladder, painting the woodwork around our solitary dining room window. Michael Tierson broke into the music that was playing on WMMR and said briefly that John Lennon had been shot in front of the Dakota, and was being taken by ambulance to the hospital. I don’t remember whether he implied that John would be okay, or that it was Tierson delivering the bad news, and his familiar voice reassured me. Nevertheless, I came down the latter to call to my husband working in the basement. He was on his way up the steps having heard the news, too. In the next moment, Michael broke back in to say that John Lennon was dead. He said it as though he didn’t believe it, and still he had to say it. We felt helpless, instantly aware of the loss. In New York City on the feast of the Immaculate Conception (something that seemed sad and ironic to me), the authentic, beautiful, in-your-face, peace loving, ironic, iconic John Lennon was shot and killed.
That night, my cousin had had her first fight with her new husband, so we were driving around Bucks County being single. Getting in the car to go to the next bar, I turned on MMR and we heard Michael Tierson give the news. After that, we just drove around listening to the radio and talking about the Beatles and John Lennon and their impact on our lives already - jumping up & down, screaming at the top of our lungs in our grandparents living room that Sunday night, the photo of us in front of the Washington Monument wearing our John Lennon glasses… The way TV brought everyone together after JFK was shot, that’s how I feel about the radio that night. It was so comforting to have John’s love and power, and loss, acknowledged and be able to listen to the music there in my car in the dark.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:33 pmi was a flower delivery dude that day. Hardy, a guy I worked with said upon my entering work..”your buddy died” “my…buddy?” I gasped. He said with a queer smile”…”yea John Lennon”.
September 2nd, 2007 at 1:12 amAfter I punched Hardy, I went outside and cryed…