I was lucky enough to meet Jerry on three occasions, the first of course being the most memorable- Early into 1977 I went down to what once was Sophies in Palo Alto- I rode my bike down to Paly and had all day to hang around & be miserable waiting around, so I happened to be there when the truck rolled up, and Parrish and Kidd began loading in the amps & stuff. I got into a discussion (for lack of anything real to discuss?) with Steve, about the "fact" the roadies had had to become members of the Stagehands Union- oops, wrong thing to say: "Don't talk to me about Union Guys!" he sneered. SO I asked who was drumming, & it was Ron Tutt- who I thought was probably the best match of any of the Garcia Band drummers. Anyway I wheeled my bike in & locked it in the back hall, as I had always done when the place was Sophies & which they never gave me any crap about. Done with that, I was there in the hall, and Donna walked through & Steve introduces me- "this guy's been here all day!" Having the chance I got to talk with her for about half an hour over a margarita, with Richard Loren at the table with us, about my own musical ambitions, and all. WHen that time was up she excused herself, & went backstage & the band came out, played & I had a wonderful time singing half-drunkenly along from the side of the stage, up in the front of the floor. ANd had something of a harmonic resonance thing happening with Keith, also- it was just one of those things. Anyway, when the gig was over, I am unlocking my bike in the hall and who walks through but Garcia, just as the Keystone security guy is trying to give me a hard time about leaving my bike there "is that your bike?" "Well, it had BETTER be!" As JErry Ppasses about all I could manage was a "howsit going?" and he gives me a great beaming smile, reahces out & shakes my hand with an enthusiastic "ALL-RIGHT!"- I got the bike unlocked & I'm wheeling it out after him into the parking lot, & there with their lights revolving eerily into the night are about five Palo Alto cop cars. "Aw shit, man, THERE THEY ARE!" It was at this point I seriously had to reconsider the halfhearted idea I had had of Jerry being my 'hero" (after all, if this guy is as afraid of the cops as any of us on the street are, and he can't just dissapear them with a wave of his all-powerful hands, maybe it'd be better thinking of him as "friend" instead of "hero?") He heads over to his Corvair & gives me a "well, see ya!" as he gets in & we go our separate ways, into the insecure nighttime of Palo Alto under the gaze of the policia...I also noticed- this was the first time it had ever happened, meeting Anyone- he seemed to absolutely RADIATE music from his being, as though it was a palpable part of his aura. "you could see the notes flying out of his head if you ran into him in the hall" said Hank Harrison once. Well, that was Exactly the experience. I have had it only one other time (meeting Jorma's friend Tom Hobson) - I think there are folks in this life who really DO have such a gift of music that it really IS the essence of their being, and Jerry really was one of those special people. It seemed each of the other times I met him, he was coming/going from the Stone (in SF) also- at least on one occasion I had the chance after the show to say "thank you, Jer"- having had the chance for THAT, I am really grateful for. -Immaculately Gone 6/27/06 gdforum