JOHN LENNON: God

“God is a concept by which we measure our pain.” — JOHN LENNON

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: That summer in Breezy Point, when he was 18 and out of Madison High in Brooklyn, there was the Beatles on the radio at the beach through the hot days and on the jukebox through the nights in the Sugar Bowl and Kennedys. He was young and he let his hair grow and there were girls and it was the important part of life. Last year, Tony Palma even went to see Beatlemania. And now, last night, a 34-old man, he sat in a patrol car at 82nd St. and Columbus Ave. and the call came over the radio: “Man shot, 1 West 72 St..” Palma and his partner, Herb Frauenberger, rushed through the Manhattan streets to an address they knew as one of the most famous living places in the country, the Dakota apartments. Another patrol car was there ahead of them, and as Palma got out he saw the officers had a man up against the building and were handcuffing him. “Where’s the guy shot?” Palma said. “In the back,” one of the cops said. Palma went through the gates into the Dakota courtyard and up into the office, where a guy in a red shirt and jeans was on his face on the floor. Palma rolled the guy over. Blood was coming out of the mouth and covering the face. The chest was wet with blood. MORE