August 13, 1995
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (CNN) -- Rainbow-colored tie-dye was the mourning-suit of choice, and drumbeats and tinkling bells created an atmosphere of somber celebration Sunday in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. And that was as it should be, as 15,000 fans of Jerry Garcia gathered to say a final farewell to the 53-year-old Grateful Dead guitarist.
They began gathering before noon. They stayed, solemnly laying flowers, poems, candles and hand-crafted items emblazoned with Grateful Dead insignia at a rapidly growing memorial in the polo field where The Grateful Dead performed innumerable times during their three-decade career.
"I'll pay my final respects to Jerry, you know," one fan said. "It's been going on for so long this is kinda like the last dance, the last hurrah." (160K .wav sound file)
As at other impromptu memorials held around the country since Garcia's death Wednesday, the fans in San Francisco used this official memorial as an opportunity to reminisce and to share their grief.
"It is therapeutic," another fan said. "A lot of people are getting back and sharing old times and exchanging stories and stuff. ...It's been really cool."
Garcia, who died of an apparent heart attack at a drug rehabilitation center, was buried after a private funeral attended by family and friends on Friday. He was buried in his trademark black T-shirt.
Garcia's widow, filmmaker Deborah Koons, asked that donations in his memory be made to the Haight-Asbury Free Clinic, where Garcia sought help for drug addiction.
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