Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

I don't follow the lives of many actors or musicians. They seem a fickle breed. But one that I always loved and idolized as a kid and teen, and I guess even a little today, is John Lennon . I loved John Lennon of the Beatles, and as I grew up I learned to love John Lennon without the Beatles. I love that Lennon marched to his own drum; defied social norms of his time. Lennon, born October 9, 1940, was killed December 1980, not long after I was born, yet his music continutes to inspire today's generation of musicians, poets, and lovers. I was fortunate enough to travel a lot when I lived in Massachusetts, both within the state and through New England. One of the clearest memories I have of my visits to New York City is walking on a cold December day, stopping to sit in the Strawberry Fields Forever , in Central Park. The area is a tribute to Lennon, created in his favorite part of the park, not far from the Dakota Hotel where he was shot. At that time, in that moment, I was s...

I must have heard The Beatles in the womb and fell in love with them then. I was going to marry Paul McCartney or John Lennon when I was a kid. When my parents told me that John Lennon had been killed a couple of months after I was born I cried as if it had just happened, though it was 7 years after the murder. My Mom loved the early Beatles when the songs were all about love and were thickly laid bubblegum rock. I love these songs too, don’t get me wrong. “I stopped listening to The Beatles when they got into drugs and their music changed,” my Mom told me. “That is when I started listening to them,” my Dad said. I smiled, because at 13 I knew what my Dad loved in the later albums- Revolver , Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band , Abbey Road , The White Album -all the lovely things and the pain too. I will never forget how I felt that first time I heard George Harrison croone “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” on the White Album, it all but blew my teenage mind as I sat there in my horm...