Thursday, May 22, 2014

Sci Fi

Anyone know if Garcia ever copped to reading, or more tantalizingly still, might ever have met, Philip K. Dick?

7 comments:

  1. Given Jerry's interest in Science Fiction, I would be very surprised if he had NOT read some Philip K. Dick. Now, as to the other question, while it is true that Dick spent the early 70s in Santa Venetia, next to San Rafael (it is fictively represented in the novel Valis, I believe), he was notoriously reclusive and few people who met him actually knew who he was.

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  2. Curious. I was just reflecting on some of the similar mental pathways and life resemblances between the two, and wondering the same thing. Also. as Phil Dick was a notorous classical music conneisseur in early 60's Berkeley, I wonder about any pathways crossed with our other friend Phil? I've turned up no data in either regard, alas.

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    Replies
    1. I am just starting to read a little PKD, but it has the right feel. Would love to turn up a tie if there is one!

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    2. From a PKD Facebook group:

      Linda Castellani
      July 7 at 11:37am

      My friend, David Gans, who hosts several Grateful-Dead-related broadcasts, sent me the following question. I know that this group has some of the most knowledgeable folks about PKD in the world, so I thought I'd throw it out to you:

      "Somewhere in my research, I came across an account of an all-"Dark Star" reel that got passed to the sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick by some tapers in the mid '70s.

      "I can't find it in my notes, though.

      "Does this ring any bells with anyone?"

      So, PKD fans, any ideas?

      There are a number of interesting replies, but no evidence of a face-to-face that anyone is aware of.

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  3. In 'The Transmigration of Timothy Archer' by Philip K Dick (1982) in
    Chapter 11:

    '"The world is awful." That says it all. This is what we pay composers
    and painters and the great writers to do: tell us this; from figuring
    this out they can earn a living. What masterful, incisive insight. What
    penetrating intelligence. A rat in a drain ditch could tell you the
    same thing, were it able to talk.'

    There is no doubt that Dick was aware of the Grateful Dead. Not only
    did he live in California, in and around San Francisco, from 1965, he
    specifically mentions the Grateful Dead in 'Valis' (1981), Chapter 1:

    '"My favorite Grateful Dead album is Workingman's Dead," Gloria said
    at one point. "But I don't think they should advocate taking cocaine. A
    lot of kids listen to rock."

    "They don't advocate it. The song's just about someone taking it. And
    it killed him, indirectly; he smashed up his train." [Horselover Fat ie
    Dick's alter ego]

    "That's why I started on drugs," Gloria said.

    "Because of the Grateful Dead?"'

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