The pioneer gangsta rap artist Tupac Shakur was tight with Trixie Garcia, Jerry’s youngest daughter, who had this to say about Shakur in a 2014 interview with talk show host Pete Holmes: “Tupac was the only friend of mine ... who even had any reverence for my dad or appreciation of him.”
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Although they never met in person, the lives of Jerry and Shakur intersected in a manner that Garcia may, or may not, have been aware of.
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Shakur, however, was more than aware of who Jerry was and his storied place in music, culture and history.
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In 1990, Shakur and his posse got seriously loose during a wild party thrown by Trixie inside her dad’s Marin digs while the Grateful Dead were on the road.
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Trixie was closely-guarded about her personal life and Shakur only realized who her father was after seeing Jerry on the cover of a magazine and making the connection.
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Tupac was born in 1971 and raised by two parents who were card-carrying members of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which informed his music, lyrics and life code.
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Shakur’s father, Billy Garland, was an active member of the Black Panthers, his godfather was a high ranking Panther, and his stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list from 1982-86.
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His mom, Afeni Shakur (photo below middle right), spent the first eight months of her pregnancy with Tupac in prison, facing 150 counts of “conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks” in the New York Panther 21 trial.
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While in jail, Afeni read History Will Absolve Me by Fidel Castro and successfully defended herself in the Panther 21 trial, getting acquitted on all counts. She was released from prison in May 1971 and a month later her son was born on June 16.
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Growing up in East Harlem, Shakur was educated by his parents about the community social programs and health clinics overseen by the Black Panthers in Oakland and across the nation during the mid-to late 1960s as well as the armed patrols that followed police officers on duty in the Bay Area in 1967.
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He was also taught about the hard-core principles and values of the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army by his extremist mom and her friends, nearly all of whom had served jail time for offenses committed as members of the Black Panthers, charges they were later largely acquitted of.
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Tupac’s upbringing played a major role in establishing the ethos of gangsta rap.
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The Shakurs recognized they owed it to their three children to remove them from the violent world of New York City and to provide each with the opportunity to grow up in a civilized society that was not ruled by guns, gangs, hard drugs, death and hopelessness.
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On New Year’s Eve 1981, Jerry married his second wife, Carolyn Adams (“Mountain Girl”), backstage at the Oakland Coliseum between sets of the Grateful Dead’s annual gala. Garcia and Adams had been living together in Marin County, where they were raising three daughters.
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In 1988, the Shakur family went in search of a community with a safe environment, a good school system, and a reputation for intellectualism and heady idealism. The Shakurs relocated to Mill Valley in Marin County, where Tupac attended Tamalpais High School.
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Free of the overwhelming despair of New York City, he flourished as a student, performing in school plays and excelling in English composition while also attending classes by poet Leila Steinberg (photo below upper left) in Oakland.
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Ms. Steinberg had a gift for working with at-risk students and became a mentor to Tupac and, later, his first manager.
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At Tamalpais, Tupac made a new friend, a younger student who could relate to his penchant for real and actual revolution, as her dad possessed the same anarchistic streak: Trixie Garcia.
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Trixie became good friends with Tupac and his buddies, dating Teron Jones, the Oakland rapper known as Del the Funkyhomosapien (photo below upper right).
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In the fall of 1990, while the Grateful Dead were touring, 16-year-old Trixie held a party at her dad’s home (Jerry and Adams split in 1986), inviting Tupac and his crew.
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Trixie talked about the night during an “Ask Me Anything” discussion on Reddit.com on June 27, 2017: “Yes, Tupac came over to Jerry’s house when Jerry was on the road. They didn’t destroy it, but I have a distinct memory of people handing keyboards through the windows.
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“Let me clarify. Tupac certainly wasn’t a thief and his friends weren’t thieves. It was a party that got out of hand. It was my good relationship with Tupac and his boys in Marin City that allowed me to get all that stuff back.
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“And Jerry never noticed. Or Jerry might have noticed but he was such a non-confrontational kind of dad that he never told me that he noticed.”
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Garcia had his own set of anarchistic values with his principle belief being: No one has the right to tell another person how to live.
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Like Jerry, Tupac would also establish his own code, one that was cast in stone as well.
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In the words of one writer, Shakur’s life and art were fueled by “the contradictory themes of social inequality and injustice, unbridled aggression, compassion, playfulness and hope.”
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— Scott
November 21, 2025
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Happy Friday, weekend and frigid November ! Warm weather, please don't be a stranger ! Hope you, your family and posse have a fun, wonderful weekend !
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In the song “Shakedown Street,” the Grateful Dead famously sing, “Tell me this town ain’t got no heart, just gotta poke around.” In Aspen, CO, you don’t have to poke around to find the Grateful Dead; the band is everywhere.
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In 2025, there were over a dozen Grateful Dead /Jerry Garcia-related shows in the Roaring Fork Valley. Over the next 11 days, there are four more Grateful Dead-related events to add to the notches on your “stealie” belt:
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https://www.aspendailynews.com/arts_and_entertainment/grateful-dead-events-flood-the-valley/article_08e19187-edcf-49c3-9439-b447c1699dea.amp.html
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I appreciate your respect and support for my essays and page.
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Thank you for your kindness.
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I have completed an update of my Aces Back to Back book that updates the Grateful Dead's history through November 2025 !
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We still miss and love you, Phil, Donna and Bill Walton.
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❤️🩹 . 🏀 . 🫡
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Please "Follow“ my AB2B page.
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🅰🅱2️⃣🅱 ‼
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Thank you.
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My books are written by a Deadhead for Deadheads !
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My Grateful Dead biographies are the most accurate, in-depth, informative, interesting and current histories of the Dead ever written.
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📚
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I am the author of Aces Back To Back: The History of the Grateful Dead (1965 — 2016), the most comprehensive, detailed, fun, honest and up-to-date history of the Dead in in ever written — chronicled through January 2017 !!
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Aces Back to Back is available on Amazon:
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https://www.amazon.com/Aces-Back-History-Grateful-Anniversary/dp/1478719435/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
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"Aces Back to Back is simply the greatest book ever written about the greatest band in the land."
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— Dan L.
Deadhead
Eugene, OR
November 14, 2018
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📗
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Additionally, I'm blessed to be the author of Songs to Fill the Air Tales of the Grateful Dead, an engaging read that completes the story, and history, of the Dead in an informative and compelling manner, updating the band's history through August 2017.
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📒
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Songs to Fill the Air is available on Amazon:
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https://www.amazon.com/Songs-Fill-Air-Tales-Grateful/dp/1478791284/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512358641&sr=8-1&keywords=songs+to+fill+the+air
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“The book is a pleasure to read and is filled with funny and interesting stories, anecdotes, first hand accounts, and sometimes profound observations."
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— Rob P.
Deadhead
Freehold, NJ
August 8, 2016
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✍️
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Were They Ever Here at All ? More Epic Tales of the Grateful Dead updates the band’s history through July 2024 and is my third installment in my written histories of the Dead.
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Were They Ever Here at All ? is an informative and positive look at the individuals, events, songs and concerts that shaped our world as Deadheads:
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📓
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Were They Ever Here at All ? is available on Amazon:
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https://www.amazon.com/Were-They-Ever-Tales-Grateful/dp/1977248500/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1646104418&sr=8-2
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“Scott has a wealth of knowledge of the Grateful Dead. I had a Relix subscription from the mid-80's to 1999. His stories are unique, insightful and captivating.
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"Any Deadhead will want to have these books as part of their collection.”
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— Steve C.
Belvedere, CA
November 12, 2022
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✏️
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All of my books are priced at $2.99 in the Kindle edition (or, as low as Amazon will permit me to sell them in this format) so they're accessible to everyone.
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I wrote and worked for Relix magazine as a Senior Writer, columnist, and feature article writer from 1984-92. My work with Relix is preserved in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum, which houses the first 100 issues of the magazine.
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In 2017, my essay on the Grateful Dead's show on May 8, 1977 was published by the Library of Congress and the National Recording Archives.
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Feel free to visit Bob Minkin's page to purchase his great new photography book, Just Phil, and to view and buy his amazing photos of the Grateful Dead, Jerry, Eric Clapton, Phish, Santana and many more incredible artists and bands:
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https://minkinphotographystore.com/?fbclid=IwAR1X32wB9wAaOxYfq3zomiYUn6bIecIYHGr9S7iWt-_SAzBzVENEvCwnR
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📸
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Photos used below taken by, and used courtesy of, all of, or one of, the following: Mr. Herb Greene, Robbi Cohn, Bob Minkin, Will Matsuda, James R. Anderson, Jay Blakesberg, Susana Millman, Rosie McGee, Ron Rakow, JamBase, Brooks Kraft, Richard Pechnar, Stephen Dorian Miner, Mark Bowman, Hannah Hopkins, Larry Reichman, Guitar Aficionado, Getty Images, Ray Manning, Wolfgang's Vault, Sunshine Kesey, photographer unknown, David Gans, Bill O'Leary, Manasha Garcia, Chris Allen, Amalie R. Rothschild, Peter Stupar, Clayton Cali, Mark Bowman, S. Jacobsen, Steve Walker, Chloe Weir, Ed Perlstein, San Francisco Chronicle, Marc Millman, photographer not given, Morrison Hotel Gallery, Fine Art America, Fred Ordower, me, Donald Wanamaker, LIFE, Leo Haub, TIME, please give me your name & I’ll add you, Chris Stone, Ebet Roberts, Jim Marshall, Corbis, Peter Simon, Linda McCartney.
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📽️
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Thank you as well to the great videographer Voodoonola, Kevin Tobin, Christopher Hazard, Youtube, and the extremely vital and endangered Archive.org for the use of audio, video and archival materials.
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Please help the invaluable resource Internet Archive stay afloat with a minor donation of $2.75 that will benefit this seminal and critical sound library:
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🔊
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Nous sommes du soleil
"We are the sun”
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💥
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Terrapin
if anyone should ask of you who made this
song
say the Jack O’ Roses and all who played
who rise, climb, fall to win
Terrapin
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🐢
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May God protect, provide for, guide & bless all Deadheads.
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🎶
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I turn and walk away then I come 'round again
It looks as though tomorrow I'll do pretty much the same
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I must turn down your offer, but I'd like to ask a break
You know I'm ready to give everything for anything I take
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Someone called my name you know I turned around to see
It was midnight in the Mission and the bells were not for me
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Come again, walking along in the Mission in the rain
Come again, walking along in the Mission in the rain
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Ten years ago, I walked this street my dreams were riding tall
Tonight, I would be thankful Lord, for any dream at all
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Some folks would be happy just to have one dream come true
But everything you gather is just more that you can lose
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Come again, walking along in the Mission in the rain
Come again, walking along in the Mission in the rain
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All the things I planned to do I only did halfway
Tomorrow will be Sunday born of rainy Saturday
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There's some satisfaction in the San Francisco rain
No matter what comes down the Mission always looks the same
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Come again, walking along in the Mission in the rain
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YXqqMCVbts
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"Mission in the Rain,"
the Jerry Garcia Band
Capitol Theatre
Passaic, NJ
March 17,1978
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⚡️ . 🪐 . ⚡️ . 🧶 . ⚡️ . 🍭 . ⚡️ . 🎯 . ⚡️
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🌶️
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🧠
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🕸️
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🍻
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⬇️
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https://youtu.be/XYRsK1wY8iM?si=aAJgM6A8oG0OLhr0
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😳
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⬇️
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https://youtube.com/shorts/0ngIgQiPDis?si=apv6jkMkN5KKXbl3
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🍄
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🐞
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🔥
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🎯
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❤️
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💯
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