I often find myself thinking that John Lennon was a champion of the people for some of the greatest reasons I could think of. Firstly he was amazingly creative. He had a drive for his passions and he an immense amount of talent to be able to convey those skills brilliantly. For me though I have a special reason to admire him.

I was born just down the road from where John was born and I was also brought up not too far from him in Liverpool. As John quite rightly said, "A working class hero is something to be." He was right. It doesn't sit right when somebody from the rough areas of society exhibits creativity or let's their talent shine, as he said they will beat you at home and they will beat you at school. Working class people expect their local heroes to be mens men. Working club comics or footballers. Not to be poets and lovers.

To be successful you had to be tough and John was tough. Being a musician in a rough pub or club was one thing but to start talking about peace and love long before and after the seventies movement was another and John put himself in the firing line for his views.

I myself am a pacifist. I have seen first hand violence that sickens me to the pit of my stomach and I guess John did too. He had more than his fair share of life's hardness with his father abandoning him at an early age and then being brought up by his aunt after his mother also rejected him who then later died just as they were reconciling with each other when he was a teenager. John chose to fight. He fought physically and mentally. I guess it was this rough edge and feeling of easily being rejected that pushed him to do whatever he wanted. It was this entrepreneurial spirit that let his creativity blossom. It was this 'go against the grain' spirit that also led him to realise that ultimately the only real thing that matters in life is love. Peace and love.

So I guess this is another reason that I feel I can connect to John. He had to see a whole world of trouble to come to the conclusion that love is all you need. I personally only saw it locally plus my time in the armed forces, which is a different thing altogether. John never served in the armed forces but he saw the everyday injustices of society and decided he wanted no part in making things worse.

John was a brilliant poet and a fantastic lyricist. I read his words and become inspired everyday. To have these insights, to come from where he came, to live the life he preached after experienced all that the extremities of a life lived in the public eye could bring is hugely impressive and I for one hope his words will eventually mean something to everyone and not just the few and this world will live as one.