An Interview with Pepper Chomsky

Cryptographer Pepper Chomsky has a book coming out called "The Lennon Code." He's invested a lot of time and energy investigating the death of one of the world's largest music icon's, John Lennon. Pepper discusses his interest in uncovering what he believes to be the mystery behind Lennon's death.

Sonya Alexander: Can you talk a little about your upcoming book, "The Lennon Code"?

Pepper Chomsky: Well, it started out as a personal curiosity. I've always been a fan of Lennon and had an interest in history. I wanted to learn more about his mysterious death.

SA: Why is it mysterious?

PC: Because there are a lot of unanswered questions.

SA: When's the book coming out?

PC: I'm currently shopping it.

SA: What kind of research did you do for the book?

PC: I finished the book in 2010. I worked on it for over 16 years. I had a psychic disposition to do this, a sort of communion with the spirit of John Lennon. I attained some "light" from a piece of research, that was a turning point. I realized that Lennon was a very special illumination for the world. He created anthems, not just songs. When he was murdered in 1980, that created a huge gap that left a pervasive question. There was a piece of logic removed from social consciousness. It left no purveyors of truth. Today's youth really don't have any strong, ethical leaders. For instance, what kind of stance would Lennon have taken after 9/11?

SA: Can you talk a little about the "Gimme Some Truth" Campaign?

PC: Well, the question has been asked "Who killed John Lennon?" While it might be obvious since someone was arrested, there's a gray area. There were no US newspapers that picked up personal stories or statements. No papers seemed to care about Yoko Ono's personal questions. Many think that Mark David Chapman was programmed. Why did he have hollow bullets? There's a book by a criminal lawyer that addresses this, but it's now out of print. Some also believe Chapman wasn't a lone gunman. My purpose for writing the book was to decode these theories. There are many subversive messages in the music industry and coded messages in songs, too.

SA: What's your background?

PC: I do cryptography. Analysis of codes, which are their own language. I look into how language has meaning. I hope my book helps answer a lot of people's unanswered questions.