IMAGINING JOHN LENNON

13 November 2020 #624

Cover Story: IMAGINING JOHN LENNON

“December 1980. I heard the news from the guy running a backpacker hostel in Venice, Italy. He came in shouting: “Crazy man shot Beatle George Lennon.” This made no sense. So I replied: “John Lennon?” Yes. Him.”

“Within days, vigils were held all over the world. I ignored my budget and bought a copy of Time magazine with a cover portrait of Lennon and the headline ‘When the Music Died’.”

Forty years on and fans world-over remember exactly where they were when they heard the news of Lennon’s passing. In our cover story, Alan Attwood celebrates the songs, the life and the legacy of this flawed musical genius, and his enduring message of peace, love and imagination.

Also in this edition:

• We chat with award-winning novelist Sofie Laguna about seeking solace in art and nature, living in her characters’ worlds, and her latest novel Infinite Splendours.

• Something for Kate frontman Paul Dempsey describes being a high-school misfit in his Letter to My Younger Self.

• We take a look at the new Australian documentary that celebrates the revolutionary women’s libbers of the 60s and 70s, Brazen Hussies.

• We talk to hip-hop artist DRMNGNOW about using music to amplify community and country.

• And in Tastes Like Home, Alice Palevsky shares her recipe for fresh, thrifty and moreish Grate Borsch.

• In Click, we revisit the White House in 1961, where Rupert Murdoch met his first president, John F Kennedy. He’s met every president since, bringing his tally to 14 in total, if and when he meets Joe Biden.