Jerry, August 9

Every Deadhead of an age to remember knows exactly where he or she was when the news came around that Jerome John Garcia had left us, August 9, 1995. It seemed so surreal and impossible. We had just seen The Grateful Dead in May, one show in Seattle and two in Portland. While Jer was definitely not on his A game, it was still a Dead show, and there is nothing like a Dead show. A highlight of the final show, a warm one in the high 80s at Portland Meadows, was that Tom cooled herself off walking into the water misters wearing her tie dyed dress. When we got home, we found that the dyes had transferred to her gorgeous body...and that's a tale for another blip...maybe.

Twenty one years later, we still love the music of this incredible artist, and the scene he invoked. So many words to say about Jerry and the Dead,
but for now I'll leave it with the final verse from "Brokedown Palace":

"Fare you well, fare you well,
I love you more than words can tell,
listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul."