When all my friends at school were into the Bay City Rollers and David Cassidy and David Essex and The Osmonds (etc. etc.) I was always in love with John Lennon. I'm not pretending this to make a point now - he was my Very Big Deal at age 13 or so. I ordered all his books (like A Spaniard in the Works) through Darlington library, and read them too.
By the time of his death I wasn't a massive fan. I was into the Sex Pistols and the Clash, and Lennon had become quite middle aged. I'm not criticising Lennon, it's just that being young I related to Lennon as a young man, full of spunk, not some married guy with kids.
The guy delivering the post at work just stopped to talk to me about Lennon he was saying 'if only he had survived, we need him now, what with the war in Iraq and everything'. I've never really spoken to this chap before. I wonder if Lennon would have wanted, or been able, to make a difference.