STINSON BEACH, CA (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Jon McIntire, a former manager of the Grateful Dead who guided the band's career in the early '70s & '80s and helped to foster the Deadhead community died on February 15th from complications with lung cancer. He was 70.
A former systems analyst, McIntire spent two stints as the band's manager, from 1970-1974 which many fans regard as the band's most productive years and then 1984-1990, while serving as a manager for Bob Weir's solo career in the interim.
The Dead's former publicist Dennis McNally told the San Francisco Chronicle that Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter wrote the song "Uncle John's Band" about McIntire.
"Jon was the manager at a critical time for the band," McNally told the Chronicle. "He recognized that it wasn't just a job, but that we were on a mission."
Perhaps McIntire's most notable contribution to the Dead was the insert included in the Dead's "Skull and Roses" album, advertising a mailing list for the band that helped to solidify the fan's legendary fan base into a community. Dubbed the "liner note heard round the world," the insert read:
"DEAD FREAKS UNITE
Who are you? Where are you?
How are you?
send us your name and address
and we'll keep you informed
Dead Heads
PO Box 1065, San Rafael, California 94901."
-CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
