Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of John Lennon's death.

On Dec. 8, 1980, the former Beatle was shot to death outside his New York City apartment building by an apparently deranged fan, Mark David Chapman. Lennon was 40 years old.

His career was marked not only by his work with the Beatles, but also a timeless volume of work as a solo artist.

Drummer Ringo Starr requested for "every music radio station in the world sometime today play Strawberry Fields Forever."

Lennon owned a waterfront estate overlooking Cold Spring Harbor, where he had developed an interest in sailing. Tyler Coneys, whose family owned Coneys Marine in Huntington, believes he sold John Lennon his first sailboat in May 1980, and was teaching him how to sail in the months before his death.

"He was so excited he got a boat. It was like his dream come true,” Coneys told News 12. "We took the boat to Bermuda in June.  And then he started working on his record album again because he was inspired by the whole thing."

Some copies of home videos of Lennon and his family have surfaced on YouTube in recent years. Tyler says the time he spent with the musical icon are burned in his memory. He says Lennon was just a regular guy who became a friend. 

"The world is a better place because of people like him. He really was a good soul," said Coneys.