ROCK LEGEND'S DEATH STILL UNIMAGINABLE.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

Where were you?

It's one of those things many Americans remember, similar to when we heard about JFK and MLK and RFK; when we watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon; when Elvis died; when the terrorists struck on Sept. 11.

The news 25 years ago today that rock 'n' roll icon John Lennon had been shot to death in front of his New York City apartment building affected many of us in the same way: shock, disbelief, horror, the end of an era.

For many, it was a pivotal moment not only in rock history, but in their lives. At least three fans were reported to have committed suicide in the days after his death. A hero had not only died young, he had been murdered.

"I was affected by it because a lot of kids my age were affected by it," said Greg Sutherland, who works at the House of Records in Eugene. "I went to school (the next day) and kids were crying. It just seems like it was a defining moment for a lot of people."

Sutherland was a 15-year-old sophomore at Crater High School in Central Point when he, like millions of other Americans, first heard the news from Howard Cosell on Dec. 8, 1980. The announcement came during a Monday Night Football game in Miami between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots.

Neither a Beatles fan nor a Lennon fan before that moment, Sutherland soon became one. Today, as Lennon fans and Beatles fans gather in New York City's Central Park near the Dakota apartments where Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, still lives, Sutherland will be playing songs from his favorite Lennon album, "Mind Games," at the House of Records on East 13th Avenue.

Asked his age now, Sutherland paused for a moment and said, "I'm 40. I'm the same age as John Lennon (when he died) ... That's an odd thing."

Local guitar teacher Bill Harkleroad, named one of Rolling Stone magazine's "100 greatest guitarists" ever in 2003, admired Lennon more for his social and political views, for taking "risks to say what he thought," than for his musical legacy.

Harkleroad, better known as Zoot Horn Rollo when he played guitar for Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band more than three decades ago, said Lennon and U2's Bono are among the few rock legends who had the ability to use their fame that way.

` `Imagine' was a cool tune, but it was more (Lennon's) political work that I admired," Harkleroad said.

Eugene's Ellen Walton, who describes herself as "a chartered Lennonite," said she wishes "he were still here," even though he would be "so disgusted" with the current state of the world.

"But not without hope," said Walton, who has been part of a local group who has celebrated Lennon's Oct. 9 birthday every year since his death.

Larry Lynch, a Eugene forester who has been part of the local Lennon birthday celebrations for the past five or six years, was a student at Oregon State University when Lennon was killed.

Lynch, now 49, remembers his mother calling him to talk about the news. He noted that after years of inner turmoil, personal problems and tragedies, Lennon had begun writing music again with Ono and was enjoying being a father to his 5-year-old son, Sean.

"What was so sad about it was that he was finally in a good place," Lynch said. "All his music had kind of a twist to it. He had a really tough childhood, he had problems with alcoholism, he was dealing with devils and demons. But he was able to transcend that, and that's what was so cool about him."