Jerry Garcia's letter to Vogue cover model going up for auction

'This is the first letter I've written in years,' late Grateful Dead frontman writes

A rare handwritten letter by the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia to a Vogue cover model is going up for auction.

In the two-part letter, postmarked June 22, 1982, Garcia, who met the model at a party in New York City in 1980, thanks the unidentified woman for sending him postcards from Europe, then clumsily explains why it took him so long to respond.

“Thank you really for sending that postcard, I feel like it’s sort of our first ‘official’ communication somehow," Garcia writes. "I’ve been hoping we could get together ever since we first met at Al’s that winter nite so long ago (sigh)... I hope it doesn’t seem like I’ve been avoiding you, although I admit I’ve kind of been waiting for the opportunity (that is, the ‘right’ opportunity) for us to meet in some kind of neutral context that would be comfortable and relaxed and free of any pressure.

Part of Garcia's letter (RR Auction)
Part of Garcia's letter (RR Auction)

"Oh! also in spite of never having been alone with you, I somehow feel close to you and I’ve looked forward to and enjoyed those times, however brief, that we have been in the same general vicinity and spoken slightly (New York, Germany, Calif etc.) you know—so..."

The multipage letter will be offered during a live auction in Boston with other rock-and-roll rarities (including Johnny Ramone's 1965 Mosrite guitar and a signed photograph of Elvis Presley in an Army uniform) on Jan. 22. Minimum bids start at $500 and are expected to reach $10,000.

"The rarity of this handwritten letter cannot be overstated," Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, said in a release. "Research indicates no others ever being on the market — even Garcia himself noted, 'this is the first letter I’ve written in years.'"

In a second part of the note, written on letterhead from New York's Hotel Parker Meridien, Garcia continues:

Now, weeks later I’m in N.Y.C. Received your 2nd postcard (gasp) and I’m just getting (that is) around to mailing my first letter. Partly, it’s a sort of mail fright, like stage fright and partly editorial misgivings (Let’s see, is it legible? Spelled correctly? Am I constructing these sentences properly? God I hope she doesn’t think I’m an idiot for running off at the pen like this) Oh well.


In another passage, Garcia informs her the Dead had "just played our first outdoor show of the year at a place called the Greek Theatre (a nice amphitheatre in back of The University of Calif. in Berkeley kind of like this)," and proceeds to draw a sketch of the venue.

A closeup of Garcia's sketch (RR Auction)
A closeup of Garcia's sketch (RR Auction)

The legendary frontman touches on everything from the invasion of the Falkland Islands to the birth of Prince William to fear of performing acoustic.

"Latest news from England is of course the Royal birth," Garcia writes. "I’ll bet the locals are enjoying it immensly [sic]."

"I’m on the road again," he continues. "This time with my own band & also doing some more of those two piece shows... I’ve done a few more of them since I last saw you and am starting to adjust to and become aware of the musical possibillitys [sic] of that acoustical format. It’s exciting tho still scary. I wish you were here now that I’ve got a little time here (for once) but ... bye for now."

The letters were signed, "Love, Jerry." Garcia died in 1995 at age 53.

Part of Garcia's letter (RR Auction)
Part of Garcia's letter (RR Auction)