THIS DAY IN NEW YORK CITY HISTORY
EOTAW and others noted this one a little earlier today (it’s still the 8th for another 20 minutes!) but it’s certainly worth covering ourselves. I reported on the murder a few days later in my 6th grade class newspaper, which I edited and reproduced on brand spanking new Xerox technology. Here’s the 11:00 NBC news from this day in 1980.
I’m sure there were crowds at Strawberry Fields today. The closest I’ve come to being at one of the annual Lennon memorial singalongs came when George Harrison died, and crowds spontaneously gathered to the same spot. I’m glad I had my kids with me that day — seeing what a group of musicians could end up meaning to the world is something I’d hoped would stick with them, and I think it has.
Apologies that the news clip had to finish with President-elect Ronald Reagan. As if the news of Lennon’s death weren’t bad enough on its own.