It was 25 years ago today.....

December 8, 1980. I was 16 - a junior at Ames High School. The news came on the early morning shows that John Lennon had been shot to death by a crazed "fan" named John Chapman. It was surreal. The Beatles were larger than life. The death of a Beatle just didn't fit one's frame of reference.

Now, 25 years later, Lennon is an icon. If he was alive today, doing interviews with Barbara Walters in grey hair and a pot-belly, would he still have the same iconic status?

Lennon was a gifted songwriter. Lennon was a troubled soul. Lennon was a seeking soul. But not worthy of the iconic status he has received. I think he would be the first to downplay and reject it.

I imagine I will hear Imagine on the radio 100 times today. Guess I'll break out some Beatle C.D.'s and have my own remembrance.

John Winston Lennon 1940-1980 R.I.P.