I heard about Jerry's passing driving from my dawn golf match to work. Work is so intellectual and disconnected from any emotions, plus you have to defend yourself for being a deadhead, that I was seemingly unaffected and participated in the intellectual banter. Then driving home with the top down, KFOG was playing the 9-minute version of Bird Song from Without a Net, and it sounded great, and suddenly tears were streaming down my cheeks. Then Jerry comes back from the instrumental and sings Don't cry now, don't you cry, don't you cry anymore. Sleep in the stars, don't you cry, dry your eyes on the wind. Jerry always knew, but in this case I'll cry for awhile longer. Crying feels really good sometimes. It was moving to watch the evening news here -- all the major networks devoted half their newscast to tributes to Jerry. This acknowledgment from the establishment was touching and healing. Channel 4 even had garlands of roses decorating their standard logo-border during the 15 minutes devoted to Jerry. Ted Koppell devoted his whole show to Jerry, and did a good job (admitting honestly he didn't know the music, unlike some of the other anchors). He said;    "Jerry Garcia's death today produced one of those extraordinary reactions that demands attention. Famous people die all the time, but today millions of people feel as though they've lost a friend, a touchstone to something important in their own lives." Channel 4 ended by saying something like "history may well note that the sixties ended on August 9, 1995". I notice that most dead songs are now imbued with different meaning. Great songs can do that. If you need to cry some more, just put on their music and pay attention. Like Standing on the Moon, or the last line in Box of Rain: Such a long, long time to be gone and a short time to be there. I'm glad my short time intersected with Jerry's, David Wilkins 10 August 1995 On a Grateful Dead concert: A Grateful Dead concert provides the experience that church should provide if our religious leaders are in touch with the spiritual needs of the people. A large group of people all feeling a common love and nourishment of the soul, participating in common ritual with their heart and soul, encouraged to each fulfill her/his own destiny, and feeling freedom from accepting each other without judging the speck in your brother's eye (as Jesus put it). Jerry Garcia was the spiritual leader of this worldwide congregation, although he always claimed to be nothing more than just a guy trying to play the right notes. David E. Wilkins