Jerry Garcia
"May you have peace Jerry, and travel to the stars"-A farewell by Bob Weir
In 1942 in San Francisco, a boy was born. Jerome John Garcia. At first Jerome's life seemed pretty normal...of course that would not last long. When he was in his early childhood, his brother accidentally chopped off Jerry's right middle finger,leaving Jerry with a "mild" handicap on his future guitar stylings. Also when Jerry was five his father took him on a fishing trip, but the boat was in an accident that Jerome barely survived, and his father did not survive. Jerry continued through school until high school when he dropped out in 1960. Also this year he met the first members of The Grateful Dead, and began building friendhips with them. At this point in Jerry's life, he could best be described as a lazy guitar playin' hippy. Two years later in 1962 Jerry was married. In the years to come, Jerry and The Grateful Dead made music at an awesome pace, releasing 31 albums within a period of 28 years. During the early part of this time, The Grateful Dead became well known in San Francisco, and world wide for thier performances at Ken Casey's Acid Tests, as well as their loyal legion of "heads" that followed them to each show. As Jerry started to age, he began to "improve" his lifestyle. He quit smoking, and tried to eat healthy but despite his efforts he had a devastating heart attack in 1995 which unfortunatly was to take his life. His funeral took place on April 4, 1996(The birthday of Buddah)also there was a total eclipse of the sun the same day. His ashes were scattered in the Ganges river, and also in San Francisco Bay.
"He has always been our most improbable pop-culture idol,somebody to whom the playing mattered more than the posing. Hunched over his guitar and scarcely moving a muscle, he became a larger instrument through which the music traveled. While the crowd focused on the notes that drifted from his fingers into the air, he did his best to disapear."
The Dark Memorial
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