This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)
Tomorrow will mark the 26th anniversary of the death of a man who shaped music for his generation and beyond, John Lennon.
His widow Yoko Ono ran a full-page advertisement in the New York Times last week, calling for peace and healing ahead of the anniversary.
The arguments will go on forever over whether it was Lennon or Paul McCartney who was the most talented Beatle but the genius of John Lennon can’t be denied, even by the most diehard McCartney fan.
If you want to know more about the man himself, there’s a fairly comprehensive package at Wikipedia.
There’s also the official John Lennon (johnlennon.com) website, where you can read the full text of Ono’s plea for peace and forgiveness, and even more info here. The Liverpool Lennons, including first wife Cynthia and first son Julian, used to also have a site but it appears to have dropped off the web.
Absolute Everywhere is a multi-media site that aims to look at all aspects of Lennon’s life with and without The Beatles and offers fans a place to chat with each other.
Lennon was also known as an artist, with his work receiving critical acclaim both before and after his death.
Of course, there were (and still are) conspiracy theories and controversies, including the now infamous “we’re more popular than Jesus” incident. The Lennon-FBI files site is interesting reading. Some of it seems a little off the wall but there are some interesting ideas explored.
Bagism has a nice range of info, forums, history and quizzes set in peaceful surrounds. If you’re not sure what the name means you might like to take a look here.
There’s an online push to have Lennon honoured with both a stamp and, so much more appropriately, an international day to mark his birthday (October 9) and celebrate peace and love.
Imagine that.