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Orange Barrel Publishing Contact

Please send your own comments about the book to: robertdrobatz@aol.com

Comments

I recommend it highly, and I do mean highly. I get all molecular just thinking about it.

- David Gans

Author and host of The Grateful Dead Hour

(read his full review of the book)

The book is funny, sweet, and touching.  It reflects what so many of us try to explain to people who were not there and do not get it.

Steve Gimbel

Chair, Department of Philosophy

Gettysburg College

(read full review here)

Dude, the book is amazing! Read it in a plane this weekend. Laughed my ass off the whole time. And cried at the end too. Awesome. Like Gans said, wish there were a hundred books like this.

1. -Michael Y.
   

New Hampshire

Read the book last night with my friend Nancy as she was my BFF back in my Dead days. We laughed, broke out my ticket stub collection, listened to our favorite bootleg tapes.......the only thing missing was the LSD! Commander, I want to tell you how “Grateful” we both are for an evening spent remembering the many shows and experiences that spanned over 20 years.

- Heidi M.

Marin County

I have to say that this book has made me very, very happy. I have only gotten into the Dead the past summer. The way you describe how you feel about the songs and their lyrics is exactly how I and I am sure many others see it. You have given me a glimpse into something I have unfortunately missed out on. I would  like to thank you for that.

- John D.

Lincoln, Nebraska

Well hey there!

Let me start out by saying thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This book, to be perfectly honest, changed my life. Funny how little things like that can have such a big effect, eh? But just the feeling, the style, and the message of this book has helped me tremendously with how my life’s been playing out these days.

I was loaned this book (a signed copy I might add) by my Father. My Dad and Mom were pretty big Head Heads and just let me say that I believe it can be passed down through DNA, just like you said. Haha!  From a very young age I’ve been listening to Dead music, and loving it all. I have my own favorites and stories attached to certain songs. And it was nice to see in this book that their music has had significance and magic for years and years.

Again, I’d like to say thank you for writing this book. It was a breathe of fresh air and it was just what I needed. “Not Fade Away” has stuck with me since I read the book. I’m still trying to figure out what it means to me, but I’m glad it is there.

Catch you later Commander . :-)

Rachel  (daughter of Dead Heads and a big, big fan.)

A small town in Northern California

Just wanted to let you know that I just finished the book. Awesome! Great stories. I laughed out loud when the Orange Barrel hit the top of the parking garage! What an incredible time in history. Your depth of knowledge and insight into the cultural phenomenon surrounding the band gave me a new perspective for the true magnitude of what they represented. Plus the stories are hilarious! And they are told with such love.

I wish you the best success with the book.

Max

Chicago, Illinois

Dear Commander,

Aside from being totally molecular, I read your amazing book today. Thank you for writing this amazing tale. It was a wonderful journey reading your stories and I most loved how closely some of them resembled that night at Radio City. It was a rockin’ good time. Thank you Starburst Commander of the Universe--you are an inspiration to all.

Sean Hanrahan

New York City

Hey now Commander,

I ordered your book last week..it came... and I devoured it in on 2 wonderful reads. I have so many stories too, about the magic and synchronicity of the deadhead experience. I’ve been a Dead Head since 1970, really got on at the Harding Theater, so it’s been a long strange trip. After I finished reading, I was looking through the whole book again and I found your inscription on the front page., “Looking for familiar faces in an empty window pane.” Yes!! 1 from the song I waited two decades to hear, the song from which my most intense deadhead relationship evolved. Pure deadhead magic, what a dear friend of mine would call the spinal telegraph...the way we are all wired together, neurons firing on the same wavelength, no matter how long it is, the message travels....and we’re linked in a great deadhead consciousness.

Here’s to the unbroken chain in all of us.

and thank you.

Rose

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Contact

Orange Barrel Publications

PO Box 2384

San Rafael CA 94901

Thanks to all the people at Radio City who gave me so much encouragement. And to Jake for the beers and food. And a special

thanks to Carleigh and Sean, who not only gave me water, but opened my eyes to a new younger, vibrant group of Dead Heads  who are definitely keeping the energy alive!

Read more Comments about the book!!!

Hi there Commander,

I learned about your book from David Gans, who, as one of the co-hosts of “Tales From the Golden Road”, mentioned the book on the Sirius XM radio show and gave it an enthusiastic endorsement. Good enough for me--I ordered a copy immediately.

As a proud Dead Head myself, I had very high expectations, for the book. And we all know that the higher the expectations, the greater the likelihood of being disappointed as expectations are not met. Well, my expectations were met and exceeded. This book is pure “mind candy” for any Dead Head.

It occurred to me that reading this book is a lot like going to a Grateful Dead concert. While everything about a Dead show is great (It’s pretty much the center of the universe while you’re there. Nothing else in the entire world matters for those several hours), it’s those moments of magic, when Jerry and the Boys arrive at that special place where the whole of their musical creation is truly greater than the sum of the parts. It’s a place where they actually have frighteningly little control over if and when they’ll get there. But when they do, well, it truly makes for some of the finest moments in an entire lifetime.

So it was for me in reading “Confessions of a Dead Head”. The Starburst Commander (which, by the way, I was totally amused to learn that the name is directly derived from the chewy, tangy, and tart fruit flavored candies) has done a commendable job of articulating what it means to be a Dead Head, what the whole Grateful Dead “mystique” is all about, in a way that most of us struggle to do. That’s the part of the book that’s like the lion’s share of just about any Dead concert. It’s all good no matter what’s going on. But there are several times in the book where the choice of words is so perfect, so apropos, that it could not possibly be improved upon. I found myself moved to tears or moved to out loud laughter or moved to an amazing feeling of joy and excitement coursing through my body, all because of the particular way the Commander has captured in words the essence of the Grateful Dead experience or some part of it. Now that’s the part that I equate to when The Dead reach those sometimes elusive and magical places with the music. It’s rare, it’s wonderful, and it is unforgettable. It’s pure magic.

Like a lot of Dead Heads, I can be downright “evangelical” about my love for The Grateful Dead and what it has meant to my life. So, after reading “Confessions of a Dead Head”, I ordered ten more copies copies from The Starburst Commander. A few will go to special people, fellow Dead Heads that I know will eat it up, but most will be given to those who, for now, are on the “outside” but are curious. This book has the potential to create a “convert” all by itself.

Stew

Missoula, Montana

Wow. So after you gave me the book I read the first line, “I miss Jerry’s voice as much as I miss his guitar.” Fuck! Starburst Commander, your book spoke to me on a deep level. I laughed out loud, I cried and I relived your memories as if I had experienced them right there with you all. You truly have a gift--as I read your book I felt as if you were talking to me. “Confessions of a Dead Head” so clearly depicts why we Dead Heads exist and what we are all about. It is not easy to describe why the music moves you, why live performances are so addicting and what the experience is all about, but you hit the nail right on the fucking head. Your book has become a sacred thing that I will always consider sent by a higher power. And the ending! How perfect--my jaw dropped. Your book is amazing.

-Carleigh

New York, New York