Description: This listing is for a very rare, 1st edition, signed copy of occasional Grateful Dead lyricist Bobby Petersen's, "Far Away Radios." Cover art by Stanley Mouse. This book is in very good condition, and is nearly impossible to find, particularly given its limited original printing by a small publisher, Bug Press (Arcata, CA). The book has light staining and mild yellowing to its white margins, and has a very light crease in the lower right front cover. The binding is tight and the pages are all clean. The book was inscribed on the flyleaf, "Michael - I'm too tired to think or see" and signed "Robert M. Petersen." The signature makes this rare book that much more rare and valuable. I was lucky to find a copy of "Far Away Radios" years ago, and I haven't seen one available since – anywhere. This would make an incredible addition to any serious Grateful Dead enthusiast's collection. The 28 page book is a collection of poems by Bobby Petersen, including, "Blues for Dismas," "Austin Creek," "San Joaquin," "For Lady Day," "El Guerrero Negro," "Bobby Hutton," "Moonstone Heights," "For Janis" (to Janis Joplin), "End of October," "Oregon Graffiti," "He Was a Friend of Mine" (to Ron "PigPen" McKernan), "five from Lama Mountain," "For Lucio Cabanas," "This Night," "Portrait: Laughing Gull," and "Breakfast at Eliodoro's." Robert McLane Petersen (1936-1987) was a poet best known for the four lyrics he wrote for the Grateful Dead: "New Potato Caboose" (Anthem of the Sun, 1968), "Pride of Cucamonga," "Unbroken Chain," (both from Grateful Dead and the Mars Hotel, 1974) and "Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues" (unpublished). Born in Klamath Falls, OR, Petersen moved to Sacramento, CA, as a boy. In the 1950s, he hopped the freights, played jazz saxophone, and attended the College of San Mateo, where he became friends with Phil Lesh, and was an active participant in the Palo Alto/peninsula post-Beat bohemian scene in which the Grateful Dead emerged. He married Cecilia Jane Adams in 1962; they had one child, Didrik, born in 1964. "Sometimes he lived on the mountain. He knew the lore of the West, its local and natural history. He practiced freedom, and bridged the beat scene of San Francisco to the rock era, like his sometime companion, Neal Cassady. His poems are lucid testimony of culture in transformation." – Alan Trist, 1988Petersen served two prison terms; his first produced the unpublished chapbook "Blue Petre," later included in Alleys of the Heart: The Collected Poems of Robert M. Petersen . In his first published collection, Far Away Radios , he wrote that his poetry had been published in several small press and alternative publications. A participant in the Grateful Dead community until his death, Petersen attended concerts and traveled with the band on their spring 1986 tour. He died in San Francisco in January 1987 after experiencing a stroke, following the Dead's New Year's Eve performance. He was returning to Cottage Grove, OR, where he was living at the time.See more about Bobby Petersen and "Far Away Radios" at: deaddisc.com/books/Far_Away_Radios.htmdeaddisc.com/GDFD_Robert_Petersen.htmoac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8jd500h/entire_textwmwc.umwblogs.org/2009/02/10/robert-m-petersenThanks for looking - "Listening for the secret, searching for the sound..." !
Price: 499 USD
Location: Doylestown, Pennsylvania
End Time: 2024-11-12T00:03:44.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
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Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Binding: Softcover, Wraps
Place of Publication: Arcata, CA
Publisher: Bug Press
Modified Item: No
Subject: Americana
Year Printed: 1980
Original/Facsimile: Original
Language: English
Illustrator: Stanley Mouse
Special Attributes: 1st Edition, Inscribed
Author: Robert Petersen
Region: North America
Topic: Grateful Dead
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States