Daniel Guliano

"Deadhead Stories" is truly a collective creation. There is no single author because thousands of authors contributed to help preserve and pass down Deadhead history through their contributions to a Facebook group aptly called Deadhead Stories. Some spun a tale or two, many offered a memory, others shared their personal photos or artwork. The idea was to utilize everyone’s skills, no matter how large or small. Editors, proofreaders, a graphic designer, illustrators, artists, a printer, and so many more members, were active contributors to this project. In addition, all decisions relating to the book’s production, including title, chapter-layout and production design, were brought to the group to decide as a whole. No one is being paid for their efforts and net proceeds from the sale of the book and related merchandise are donated to worthy charities including the Rex Foundation, SEVA, and the Jerry Garcia Foundation.

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, there is a golden road that winds through all of our stories, a road that welcomed us each home. To be a Deadhead is to be more than a fan of the music of the Grateful Dead, it is to be a part of the Grateful Dead Family. A family for whom race, lifestyle, religion and age are useless constructs. A family in which you are as free to play the part of the grinning fool as that of the business man. A family of technicolor misfits in a gray-scaled world. After 50+ years, the messages of peace, love, laughter and light that we learned on the road and honed in our lives off tour, are still resonating throughout our beautiful community, passed down from generation to generation. It really is a beautiful thing.

We are, and will forever be, Grateful.