Danny Rifkin & Rock Scully

News that Rock Scully, the Grateful’s Dead first manager, died December 16 in his home town of Monterey, CA. The cause of death was lung cancer.

Dennis McNally, Grateful Dead historian and former publicist, said “At the height of his powers, Rock Scully was the charismatic front man for the business of the Grateful Dead, a sophisticated, smooth-talking hippie who coped with promoters and cops and other agents of reality while the band created magic onstage.”

Read the New York Times obit here.