Death of a Dreamer: The Assassination of John Lennon

100 Pages·2012·10.814 MB·English

by  Alison Marie Behnke

B
E
H
N
K
E
NEW YORK
,
:
DECEMBER 8, 1980
“YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DREAM....
ALISON MARIE BEHNKE IT’S QUITE POSSIBLE TO DO ANYTHING, but not The announcement shocked the world.
is an
author and editor of books for children and if you put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don’t Beatles founder and legendary musician
John Lennon had been murdered in front
young adults, as well as a photographer. expect [Presidents] Carter or Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko
of his New York home. With no warning,
Her books include biographies such as
Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you.
a lone gunman opened fi re, shooting
Jack Kerouac and Pope John Paul II
You have to do it yourself.”
Lennon in the back just as Lennon
and social studies titles including
returned from a recording session with
The Little Black Dress and Zoot Suits: JOHN LENNON
his wife, Yoko Ono. Husband, father of
Depression and Wartime Fashions from the
two, cultural icon, and hero to millions,
1930s to the 1950s, Kim Jong Il’s North
Lennon was dead.
Korea, and The Conquests of Alexander the
“[LENNON] WALKED UP, he looked at me, I tell Around the globe, people mourned
Great. She loves to read, write, and travel.
you the man was going to be dead in less than fi ve minutes, and the loss of a man who had stood for
She lives in Minneapolis.
he looked at me, I looked at him. He walked past me, and then I peace, a man who had given so much
AND I JUST PULLED THE joy to the world through his gift of
heard [a voice] in my head . . .
music. No one had seen it coming...
TRIGGER steady fi ve times.”
except one man—Mark David Chapman,
MARK DAVID CHAPMAN Lennon’s assassin.
What drove this former Beatles fan
to commit such a terrible act? Follow
the lives of both Lennon and Chapman,
T
W
E learn about the political and cultural
N
T
Y settings in which both grew up, and
–
F
IR trace—step by excruciating step—the
S
T
C fi nal moments of John Lennon’s life.
E
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BOOKS N
T
A division of Lerner Publishing Group U
R
241 First Avenue North • Minneapolis, MN 55401 Y
www.lernerbooks.com

PRINTED AND BOUND IN U.S.A.
REINFORCED BINDING
B
E
H
N
K
E
NEW YORK
,
:
DECEMBER 8, 1980
“YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DREAM....
ALISON MARIE BEHNKE IT’S QUITE POSSIBLE TO DO ANYTHING, but not The announcement shocked the world.
is an
author and editor of books for children and if you put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don’t Beatles founder and legendary musician
John Lennon had been murdered in front
young adults, as well as a photographer. expect [Presidents] Carter or Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko
of his New York home. With no warning,
Her books include biographies such as
Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you.
a lone gunman opened fi re, shooting
Jack Kerouac and Pope John Paul II
You have to do it yourself.”
Lennon in the back just as Lennon
and social studies titles including
returned from a recording session with
The Little Black Dress and Zoot Suits: JOHN LENNON
his wife, Yoko Ono. Husband, father of
Depression and Wartime Fashions from the
two, cultural icon, and hero to millions,
1930s to the 1950s, Kim Jong Il’s North
Lennon was dead.
Korea, and The Conquests of Alexander the
“[LENNON] WALKED UP, he looked at me, I tell Around the globe, people mourned
Great. She loves to read, write, and travel.
you the man was going to be dead in less than fi ve minutes, and the loss of a man who had stood for
She lives in Minneapolis.
he looked at me, I looked at him. He walked past me, and then I peace, a man who had given so much
AND I JUST PULLED THE joy to the world through his gift of
heard [a voice] in my head . . .
music. No one had seen it coming...
TRIGGER steady fi ve times.”
except one man—Mark David Chapman,
MARK DAVID CHAPMAN Lennon’s assassin.
What drove this former Beatles fan
to commit such a terrible act? Follow
the lives of both Lennon and Chapman,
T
W
E learn about the political and cultural
N
T
Y settings in which both grew up, and
–
F
IR trace—step by excruciating step—the
S
T
C fi nal moments of John Lennon’s life.
E
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BOOKS N
T
A division of Lerner Publishing Group U
R
241 First Avenue North • Minneapolis, MN 55401 Y
www.lernerbooks.com

PRINTED AND BOUND IN U.S.A.
REINFORCED BINDING
De ath of a
Dre amer
t h e a s s a s sin ati o n o f Jo hn L e nn o n
Alison Marie Behnke
TwenTy-FirsT CenTury Books / Minneapolis
Dedicated to John lennon and all the other songwriters
whose words bring us happiness and hope
Copyright © 2012 by Alison Marie Behnke
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission
of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an
acknowledged review.
Twenty-First Century Books
A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.
Website address: www.lernerbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Behnke, Alison Marie.
Death of a dreamer : the assassination of John Lennon / by Alison Marie Behnke.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8225–9036–1 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)
1. Lennon, John, 1940–1980—Juvenile literature. 2. Rock musicians—
England—Biography—Juvenile literature. I. Title.
ML3930.L34B44 2012
782.42166092—dc22 [B] 2010005550
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 – DP – 12/31/11
eISBN: 978-0-7613-8849-4
Co ntents
inTroDuCTion 4
CHapTer ONE
The POET
8
and The DREAMER
CHapTer TwO
“Give PEAcE
28
a chAncE”
CHapTer ThrEE
STORy of
40
an ASSASSin
CHapTer FOur
DEATh on
52
The DOORSTEP
CHapTer FivE
64
POSTMORTEM
CHapTer Six
“STRAwbERRy fielDs
78
forever
”
TimeliNe 86
Who’s Who? 88
source NoTes 90
selecTeD BiBlioGraphy 92
for furTher iNformaTioN 92
iNDex 94
iNTrOducTiON
An unSPEAkAblE TRAgEDy cOnfiRMED
TO uS by Abc nEwS in nEw yORk ciTy.
JOhN lENNON, outside of his apartment building on the

west side of new york City, the most famous, perhaps,
of all of the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to

roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival.
— hoWarD cosell, DecemBer 8, 1980
a large crowd assembled outside t he Dakota, the new York City
apartment building where rock icon John Lennon had lived with
his wife, Yoko ono, and their five-year-old son, sean, since 1973.
s
portscaster Howard Cosell broke into the live television broadcast of Monday
Night Football as millions of Americans watched and listened in disbelief. In
those early moments, some of Cosell’s details were wrong, but the most important
and devastating fact was true. John Lennon—former member of the legendary rock
group the Beatles and one of the most famous people in the world—had been shot and
killed. Gunned down late at night outside his home by a lone assassin—Mark David
Chapman—Lennon was pronounced dead shortly after reaching Roosevelt Hospital.
Reports of the assassination stunned the world. Fans reacted with shock and
grief. Anchorman Walter Cronkite opened the December 9 CBS Evening News with,
5
away as Hungary, Japan, and
Russia—spread the news. In the
first hours after Lennon’s death,
many mourners simply wanted
to sing his songs and remember
his life. Questions about the
man who murdered Lennon
came later.
In New York City—which
had been John’s home for almost
a decade—some fans gathered
outside Roosevelt Hospital. A
larger crowd assembled outside
the Dakota, the apartment
Police arrested Mark David Chapman within building where rock icon John
minutes of his shooting John Lennon. this mug
Lennon lived with his wife, Yoko
shot was taken the next day, December 9, 1980.
Ono, and their five-year-old son,
Sean. By four in the morning,
“The death of a man who sang and a crowd of five hundred people
played guitar overshadows the news maintained a vigil outside the Dakota.
from Poland, Iran, and Washington The crowd would later grow to about
tonight.” That same night, the U.S. one thousand.
late-night news show Nightline focused Cynthia O’Neal, a resident of the
on Lennon’s life and death. Many radio Dakota in 1980, was at home when one
stations set aside their usual schedules of her sons heard gunshots outside the
to play the music of Lennon and the building. “We turned on the television
Beatles. Newspaper headlines around and watched the horror [of Lennon’s
the United States and Great Britain, assassination] unfold, terrible detail
Lennon’s birthplace—and even as far by terrible detail,” she said. O’Neal
6
DEAThly DEfiniTiOnS
T
he dictionary defi nitions below help clarify what makes an assassination a unique crime.
aSSaSSiNaTE: to murder (a usually prominent person) by sudden or secret attack, often for
political reasons
kill: to deprive of life; cause the death of
murdEr: to kill (a human being) unlawfully and with premeditated malice [intent to do
harm]
Lennon’s death is generally viewed as an assassination. Chapman singled him out because of
the singer’s fame and views on religion and politics.
went on to recall the impromptu tribute that followed Lennon’s death. “People
started arriving outside the building almost immediately. That night was the first of
many when I lay in bed, completely awake, eyes wide, listening to the chanting, the
mantra, float up from the street below....I found it very comforting. I liked knowing
how many other hearts were broken.”
For the rest of the night—and for the next several days—brokenhearted fans
honored and mourned their hero. With candles in their hands and with tears streaming
down their faces, they sang John Lennon’s songs into the chilly night air.
7
CHapTer ONE
POET
The
DREAMER
and The