"It's a simple tale really. A band of misfit guys fall in love, stumble blindly onward and defy gravity. They try to kiss the face of God! This truth is better than fiction... I hope you all enjoy this odyssey as much as I have."

-Mickey Hart

Dennis McNally's new book is the first band-sanctioned biography of the Grateful Dead.

For countless fans spanning three generations, the Grateful Dead were more than just a rock band, they were a way of life. The Grateful Dead embodied the spiritual power boom of the San Francisco music scene during the Sixties and, like no other musical group in history, influenced and defined and entire sub-culture of American youth. What a long strange trip it was. Now for the first time ever, in a special multimedia event you can experience what the 30 year ride looked like from the inside, on- and off-stage, personally and professionally. Long-time Grateful Dead publicist and biographer Dennis McNally invites you to an evening filled with anecdotes and historical accounts backed by a behind-the-scenes slide presentation set to music.

Dennis McNally was raised in a military family before graduating high school in Maine. He attended St. Lawrence University and then received his Masters and Ph.D. in American History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His dissertation, a biography of Jack Kerouac, was published by Random House in 1979 as Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, the Beat Generation, and America.

In pursuit of his next book, a history of the Grateful Dead, he settled in San Francisco in 1977, where he has made his home ever since. He began work on the Dead history in 1980 at the invitation of Jerry Garcia, and in 1984 the Dead hired him as their publicist. He continues to hold this position. The obligations of the job required him to put the book on hold, and he only resumed it in 1997, after the death of Garcia. A Long Strange Trip: The History of the Grateful Dead, is expected to be published in the fall of 2002.

McNally has been married to Susana Millman, a photographer and graphic designer, for 15 years. They have one daughter, Season Ray. Dennis is a board member of two non-profit organizations, the Northern California affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Music in Schools Today.

"Was it important to history? I'm not sure. Was it important to life? I know it was. A great read for those needing to know what happened between the cracks."

- Bill Kreutzmann