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Fans remember John Lennon 20 years after his death

memorial
Fans gather at the memorial mosaic in New York's Central Park at Strawberry Fields, on the 20th anniversary of Lennon's death  

In this story:

'Something to tell our friends'

Gathering at apartment building

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NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The spirit and memory of John Lennon drew fans from around the world to New York's Central Park on Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of his slaying by a crazed fan.

Throughout the day, hundreds of people braved wintry temperatures and light snow to pay homage to the former Beatle in Strawberry Fields, a section of the park dedicated to his memory with a sidewalk mosaic that reads "Imagine" after one of his best-known songs.

Fans huddled close together around the mosaic, carrying flowers and photographs of Lennon, lighting candles, and softly singing Beatles songs to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar and a tambourine.

Lennon's memory brought Cathy Watters, her mother and two sisters from their home in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to the memorial, where they dropped a bouquet of roses.

  MESSAGE BOARD
 
  ALSO
 

"He was a great man, just a great spirit, and he had a great message -- give peace a chance -- which is what we want," Watters said.

Visitors Alan Whitelaw and Amanda Drummon said they came for the event from Glasgow, Scotland, while tourist Viviana Ratner of San Juan, Argentina, said she had set out to find Lennon's apartment building across the street from Central Park and encountered the memorial accidentally.

'Something to tell our friends'

"It's today!" she said on learning that the day was the anniversary of Lennon's death Dec. 8, 1980. "That's something to tell our friends at home."

Lennon was shot to death outside his apartment in the Dakota building by Mark David Chapman, who is serving a life sentence in prison. Chapman was denied parole earlier this year.

The death of Lennon -- who wittily mocked the Establishment, sang about "Power to the People," paid for advertisements advocating an end to war and held news conferences in bed with his wife, Yoko Ono, to promote world peace -- marked for many fans the end of a period of youthful hope.

And they have met for a vigil every year since they first gathered outside the Dakota the night of his death.

"Just read the words to his music. There's a serious message there," said Eric Paulin, a New York musician who attends each year. "He had so much to say and different things to say at different times."

This year's crowd was larger than usual, and the event was expected to reach its peak at about 11 p.m. EST , around the time Lennon died.

The memorials used to last through the wee hours of the morning, but the administration of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has taken to enforcing a 1 a.m. park curfew and has vowed that this year will be no different.

Some fans had asked that he suspend the curfew.

Gathering at apartment building

Outside the nearby Dakota building, fans also left flowers and pictures, and tourists snapped photographs of one another posing at the site of the murder.

Lennon's widow still has their apartment in the Dakota and lights a candle in the window every December 8.

In an interview published in Britain's Sun tabloid, Ono said that she would never leave the apartment they shared and that it had been left virtually untouched since his death.

"All the memories of John are here, and I don't want to leave the place we created and things that he touched," she said.

She said Lennon would have liked to know that the Beatles were still topping the charts. Their new album of greatest hits, "1," became the fastest-selling album ever this week.

While fans recalled Lennon in his adopted home of New York, his hometown of Liverpool, England, also paid its respects.

Flowers were laid at the Lennon statue at the original site of the Cavern Club, where the Fab Four played their first sets in the early 1960s, and a plaque was unveiled at the childhood home where he lived with his aunt Mimi from 1945 to 1963.

In Los Angeles, a peace activist group planned a candlelight remembrance with music and singing in front of the Capitol Records office tower, near Lennon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



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Mayor says Lennon vigil will end at 1 a.m.
December 7, 2000
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