Grab a beer and join us tonight as we start our series on Mark David Chapman. Part 1 tracks Mark from a 1955 birth in Fort Worth through a tense home, rocking tics, and the “Little People” fantasy, into a teen slide—drugs, skipping school, a short runaway to Miami—followed by a 1971 born-again turn. We cover his YMCA work (the kids called him “Nemo”), his relationship with Jessica, Covenant College, cheating on his girlfriend and the guilt that sent him into depression, and a failed suicide attempt in Hawaii—where a passing fisherman woke him up. From there we follow the hospital stay, a steadier stretch, meeting and marrying Gloria Abe, and the jobs that didn’t stick. By 1980, the debt is paid off but the mood swings get worse. Catcher in the Rye moves to the center, the Little People come back, and his anger at John Lennon grows—burned records, “bigger than Jesus,” and calling out “phonies.” We end with October 1980: the gun purchase, the “John Lennon” signature crossed out on his resignation, and flying to New York.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices