| July 30 |  |
Editor says, what if John Lennon had lived? Peter McNamee's Let Him Be is a new Canadian Independent Movie built on the premise that John Lennon survived the attempt on his life in 1980 and went into hiding for 28 years. In this crossover post we vary this ATL again, imagining that his political activism is fatally reawakened by the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
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In 2003, on this day an unmarked gunman shot and killed John Lennon at a Peace Rally in New York City. His companion at the rally, former Vice President Al Gore said that protests to end the war in Iraq would continue unabated. And the new documentary movie An Inconvienent Truth would be released on schedule across America.
Watch the Youtube Clip of Let It Be 
Shine on until tomorrow, let it beThe fatal shooting of Lennon (believed to have been on the orders of the CIA), was neither the first assassination attempt on the former Beatle, nor even the first successful one.
On the night of 8 December 1980, at around 10:49 p.m., Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times in the entrance of the Dakota apartment building. "And when the broken hearted people Living in the world agree, There will be an answer, let it be. " Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman who had been stalking Lennon since October.
Just forty years old, many people felt that Lennon had the potential to have a profound impact on the world. Certainly his lyrics promoted a deep level of positive thinking. Because in 1972, the Nixon Administration tried to have Lennon deported from the US, as the President believed that Lennon's proactive anti-war activities and support for George McGovern could cost him re-election.
And yet Lennon had survived, choosing to withdraw into a private world of music and meditation. But in 2002, an undergraduate film student, Tim Bennett discovered Lennon, alive and well, living in a small northern Ontario town.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Let Him Be, Peter McNamee (2009)Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Beasts Source: Newsfix Labels: John Lennon, Peace, Political Activism, Beatles, Rock. Editor says, thanks to Kwame Dallas and Robbie Taylor for their decisive contributions to the development of this story
~ John Lennon hiding successfully for that long would be difficult, at best.
How about a TL where Chapman shot Yoko Ono in front of a whole bunch of witnesses...and nobody saw nothin'? To this day, I know Beatles fans who hate her for breaking up the Fab Four.
~ Another interesting POD. Fearing he will lose the Presidential election to the peacenik McGovern, Nixon manages to deport Lennon in 1972. Counter-productively, this outrage embues Lennon and Yoko Ono with greater popular support and renewed vigour to pursue their peace protests around the world including the Far East. McGovern wins the elections and brings the troops home from Vietnam.
~ I don't really think Lennon could have made that big a difference in 1972. Nixon won overwhemingly that year in our history.
Now 1968, on the other hand. . . .
~ Regarding the unlikelihood of JL hiding in a Northern Ontario Town for 28 years. I live in Ontario myself, so I think this is a bit of leg-pulling regarding the quiet / anonymity of the province more than a really serious comment. Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers hid in Canada for four years before they caught him so its not totally impossible so there would have been a precedent Lennon would have known in late 1980.
~ I have to agree with Mr. Oppen...
~ In the time-travel card game Chrononauts, Lennon survives to go on to be a senator, drafting legislation for small-arms gun control in the US.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
