By David Gans

Week of August 30, 1999

This is the first of a three-part GD Hour broadcast in memory of Dick Latvala, the wonderful crazy Deadhead who was hired in 1985 to take care of the Grateful Dead's tape archive, and later became the namesake of the Dick' Picks series of live concert releases.

As you will hear in the program, Dick was working with Blair Jackson, Steve Silberman and me on the boxed set So Many Roads: 1965-1995, filling our heads with possibilities as we struggled to pack thirty years of musical development into a 5-CD compilation, when he had a heart attack. He remained in a coma for several days before departing this life.

Dick Latvala was a hero to Deadheads everywhere because of the work he did in serving this music we all love so much. He is loved, and he is missed.

Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks vol. 14 (12/2/73)
MORNING DEW

TRIBUTE TO DICK LATVALA part 1:
Interview with Dick when Dick's Picks vol 1 was released ... How Dick became a Deadhead ... got paid to take psychedelics in a clinical study ... worked as a mailman ... moved to Hawaii ... What made the Dead more special than the other bands on the SF scene ... how he got into collecting tapes ... kept notes on every tape he collected ... Dick's work in support of the So Many Roads boxed set project ... Phone interview with David Nelson ... post from John Cutler: "Tonight I ask that all who have been touched by Dick and wish to celebrate his unique and special life adopt Bob's toast: Latvala!” Dick's first meeting with the GD at Red Rocks in 1979 ... Closing of Winterland was the most powerful day of his life ... “Primal Dead” ... hired as the archivist ... origin of the Dick's Picks series... how he made his choices and how the process worked ...

Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks vol. 1 (12/19/73)
HERE COMES SUNSHINE

You can browse and/or search the Grateful Dead Hour program logs on the GD Hour web site. Let me know if there's a particular program you'd like to hear, and feel free to post requests and comments here or by email to gdhour@dead.net

Thanks for listening!
David Gans
gdhour@dead.net

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