John Lennon - John Lennon Doctor Tackled Stalker

Optometrist Gary Tracy examined Lennon's eyes and provided him with spectacles for four years in the 1970s after the rocker moved to New York with his wife Yoko Ono.

He became friendly with the couple and would sometimes see them walking the streets of Manhattan, and he recalls an incident when Lennon - who died 31 years ago on Thursday (08Dec11) - asked for his help in scaring off a creepy admirer.

In a post on his website, Dr. Tracy writes, "One afternoon, walking back from lunch to my office on Columbus Avenue, I spotted John coming towards me. He seemed shaken.

"He told me that someone had been following him all morning, and asked me to accompany him. He thought that if we drew attention to this person, that they would leave. Pointing to a disheveled (sic) person with a trench coat, John started yelling 'that's the person who's been following me.' I joined John, pointing and yelling 'that's the person!'

"It worked. He sped up and disappeared around the corner. John and I walked to my office, where I locked the door. John stayed until he was sure the person was completely gone."

Lennon was gunned down outside his New York apartment building by crazed Mark Chapman on 8 December, 1980.