THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090309
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW DELHI, INDIA LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
In a private goodbye to a public man, Jerry Garcia's widow sent his ashes swirling down the Ganges River on pieces of paper bearing farewells from members of his Grateful Dead band.
Deborah Garcia and Bob Weir, a guitarist with the legendary band, waded into the swirling waters of India's holy river and released the ashes as dawn broke Thursday after a lunar eclipse.
The ceremony was held secretly near the holy city of Rishikesh on the upper Ganges because Deborah Garcia was afraid that if word leaked out, thousands of fans in the United States and Europe might have come to India and spoiled the private occasion, said the British newspaper The Independent.
The Rishikesh police force learned about the ceremony after Deborah Garcia, Weir and five others conducted it, a police officer said in a telephone interview Monday.
Band members who stayed behind in California had written farewell messages to Garcia, and his widow and Weir poured some of his ashes on each message before setting it adrift in the currents, said the Independent, which first published the story Monday.
Garcia died Aug. 9 of a heart attack at age 53 at a northern California drug rehabilitation center. Earlier news reports had said his ashes were likely to be scattered at sea off Marin County, Calif. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Deborah Garcia, widow of Jerry, above, was afraid if word got out,
fans would have ruined the occasion.
by CNB