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 [ WORLD WATCH ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=332)

#  The Word Is Love

December 09 2019

Written by Abby Zimet.

 [Comments](#disqus_thread)

 ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Dec-2019/099b.png)

**CITYWATCH TODAY**--It was 39 years ago Sunday that John Lennon was [murdered](https://twitter.com/search?q=john+lennon&ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Esearch) by a deranged fan in front of his apartment - or, in the bitter [words ](https://www.thedailybeast.com/best-of-breslin-are-you-john-lennon?ref=scroll)of Jimmy Breslin that night, "became another person who died after being shot with a gun on the streets of New York." He was 40.

Yoko Ono [posted ](https://twitter.com/yokoono/status/1203646509339820032)a searing tribute: Alongside her devastating photo of John's blood-spattered glasses, she described his loss as "a hollowing experience" and mourned that 1,400,000 Americans have been killed by guns since his death, or roughly 100 a day. It's difficult to confirm the number - in 2015, other sources cited the figure of 1.15 million - but the proximate reality is, regardless, horrific.

A final, lengthy [interview ](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/john-lennon-the-last-interview-179443/)a few days before his death reveals the buoyant, conscientious, sometimes dark, always forthright human being we lost - on being an imperfect father: "I'm doing me best."

We can only [imagine ](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/john-lennon-imagine-influence/)the art we lost as well. These dark days, God knows we could use his voice, heart, wit and enduring hope: "Imagine all the people/ Living life in peace/ You may say I’m a dreamer/ But I’m not the only one/ I hope someday you'll join us/ And the world will live as one." RIP.

*“Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away."* - John Lennon

*(CityWatch guest columnist, Abbey Zimet, writes for Common Dreams … where this perspective was first posted.)*

*-cw*

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