John Lennon's 70th Birthday a Family Moment
It's hard to imagine John Lennon as a senior citizen but had he lived he'd be turning 70 on Oct. 9. Would he still be relevant? He has more than 600,000 fans on Facebook. His music and his words live on.
Thirty years after John Lennon's death fans still flock to his memorial in New York City's Central Park.
"I think he is a real icon, an icon for peace," says Anne from New Zealand.
To mark Lennon's 70th birthday, all of his solo albums and have been remastered and re-released. A new PBS documentary chronicles his years in New York. And a new film, "Nowhere Boy," brings to life the young John Lennon, Paul McCartney and the birth of the Beatles.
"If we're gonna do this, we should write our own stuff," says an actor playing Paul in "Nowhere Boy." "I write stuff," answers John.
CBS News business correspondent Anthony Mason asked Paul McCartney in 2009, "Why do you think you worked so well together as a team?"
"John and I, you have to say, it was very special," McCartney told Mason.
As McCartney put it then, "We did have some kind of magic. That's not for me to say, but I just said it."
Paul McCartney Carries the Legacy On
But the most remarkable Lennon event may have occurred last month, when his first wife, Cynthia, and the women he left her for, Yoko Ono, and their sons Julian Lennon and Sean Lennon made a rare appearance together in New York. At 47, Julian is already seven years older than his father was when he died.
"I'm actually looking at my age and his age going, 'Jesus, what happened!'" said Julian.
Julian Lennon lost his father first when he left and again when he died, much the way John Lennon lost his mother. In the film "Imagine," John says, "I lost [my mother] twice. Once as a 5-year-old and once again when I was reestablishing a relationship with her."
She died when John was 17. Lennon left Julian when he was 5. He died when Julian was 17.
"It's scary, that one," said Julian to CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason. "Something I didn't want to repeat. That's why it was a conscious decision of mine not to have a family so early. I mean, believe me, that was the reasoning behind it."
So for John Lennon, who only in his last years became a devoted family man, this may be the greatest tribute of all:
"Both of them are very talented sons," said Yoko Ono as she stood between Sean and Julian.
Julian, standing with his mother, Cynthia Lennon, Yoko Ono and his half-brother, Sean, said, "Who'd have ever thought?"
