In 1995. August 9, a good friend of mine died…

I heard the news on the radio… I was working an a bar at the time and was getting the place ready for its opening.

“…Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia died today due to…”

This news affected far deeper than I had expected. Jerry and I, while never ever having bad words, had drifted apart over the years due to vast differences in lifestyles.

At the time I was just learning to use a computer (Windows 3.1) and the writing program Word.

I had been wanting a stream-of-thought topic to use to practice the program so I decided to write down some memories of my old friend and musical companion. I had the idea of keeping the result as an archive for my clan and as a documentation of my friendship for those who might be interested. But I had no intention of sharing it with the world.

This took me several days and during my second rewrite my boss asked me what I was writing about with such focus. When he found out what it was he asked to read it.

I expected him to give it a cursory scan and make a polite comment and give it back. After checking on him in an hour or so I couldn’t help but ask him what he thought.

“Mesmerizing” he said….

So I did a third editorial rewrite and this is what you see here.

I thought perhaps maybe ten or fifteen people might show a little interest and, long story short, it has been read by hundreds of folks…

I offer it here as a PDF download. Offered free because Jerry believed in doing things for free from time to time.

He would like the idea I think.

Please download and enjoy…
Reflections on the Garcia (207k) pdf

One man’s string of memories made upon the passing of a friend…