Our friend Ric Downey passed away this morning around 1:20 am. He was 61 years old.
Above is photo of him in happier times. Ric touched the lives of many people in a positive way, both publicly and privately. He was a well loved and highly respected member of his community and will be missed by all who truly knew him. His stories and wit were legendary. I for one will miss our talks. You could tell Ric anything. I am lucky and grateful to have had Ric as a close friend and mentor. Goodbye my friend.

Pathbreaking Comedian Richard Pryor Dies - Yahoo! News

The above photo shows John Lennon signing a copy of the last album released prior to his death, Double Fantasy, for the obsessed Catcher in the Rye reading fan who would murder him later that evening - still a chilling image.

I was only 11 years old and I remember it very well. I knew who the Beatles were as I appreciated their music even at such a young age. I could not sleep that night, and in Nova Scotia at the time our AM station was not on all night, so I used to play with my purple transisitor radio and were able to pick up far away stations. That night I ended up listening to stations out of New York talking about Lennon's being shot and then announcing his death sometime later. Having had the birthname Christopher Jude, I related to the Beatles song "Hey Jude" closely and very much loved (and still do) all of their music.

Although too young to understand the significance of that night and its events. Now I am just grateful to remember.

Here are some of today's web articles remembering Lennon 25 years later:

Lennon's death lingers for those who were there - MUSIC - MSNBC.com

Northern Songs - John Lennon in Canada, 1969 - CBC

Liverpool, NYC remember Lennon - CNN.com

On This Day - December 8 - BBC

We still miss you John.