At the end of my interview with the Montreal radio station, the DJ shifted into a solemn tone and said he wanted to ask about a very serious anniversary. The air changed immediately, and so did my thoughts. I assumed automatically he meant the École Polytechnique massacre from the late ’80s. The timing fit. The weight seemed unavoidable. I thought he was going to ask about the City of Wood record and the Mendelson Joe painting. Instead, he asked about the anniversary of John Lennon’s death. Which is, of course, also serious. No argument there. But it landed oddly. Confusingly. We were in Montreal, speaking hours from the anniversary of a mass murder that happened a few blocks away, nearly the same date. The solemnity was genuine, but the reference felt out of alignment, like only one history coming into focus when there are two in the room. Like last week when another radio station celebrated Cecil’s tours of Europe in the 60s and the 70s as a great accomplishment, which is true, but at the same time he was there because his work was so marginalized in his own country.