EUROPE | ARTS + CULTURE
Yoko Ono to unveil Lennon Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland
REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- Yoko Ono urged the world to give peace a chance Tuesday as she unveiled a monument in memory of her husband, John Lennon.
Ono lit up the Imagine Peace Tower on Videy island near the Icelandic capital's harbor on what would have been Lennon's 67th birthday.
The former Beatle was shot dead outside his New York apartment building on Dec. 8, 1980 by deranged fan Mark David Chapman.
Ono was joined at the ceremony by the couple's son, Sean Lennon, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and bandmate George Harrison's widow Olivia.
"We're all here for Johnny's birthday and the big light," Starr said. "I love the light."
The tower is a beam of light, radiating from a wishing well bearing the words "imagine peace" in 24 languages. The plan is for it to be lit each year between his birthday, Oct. 9, and the anniversary of his death on Dec. 8.
Ono, 74, has said she came up with the concept for the light tower in 1965 and that Lennon was interested.
"I got the idea because I just liked the romantic idea of having a building that just appears, emerges once in a while but sometimes it is not seen," Ono said on Iceland's Channel 2 television.
She said she chose Iceland, the world's northernmost country, because it was a very eco-friendly country that relied on geothermal energy.
"It's so beautiful," she said. "There's a certain strangeness to it. I would like to say it's magical."
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On the Net: www.imaginepeace.com
 Should we take offense, order a drink, or what? That depends, of course, on where you think these words turned up. |
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