Join guest authors, local poets, and "Hunter heads" for a riveting reading and discussion of Robert Hunter's literary work. Experts share excerpts from Hunter's prose, his poems and translations of Rilke, and a reading in his own bardic voice. Then enjoy a deep dive into Hunter's creative influences and lineage. Learn about Hunter's relationship to a vast network of inspiration.

Guests include: writer Jesse Jarnow, co-host of the official Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast, surveying Robert Hunter's still-emerging "secret" bibliography/discography; scholar Dr. Natalie J. Dollar on the Grateful Dead community's cultural communication, meaning,  and "coding" through the power of Hunter's words; and librarian David Dodd, author of The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics on the rich ecosystem of Hunter's influences and interests. Q & A and book signing.

ABOUT JESSE JARNOW

Jesse Jarnow is the author of Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America (2016),  Wasn't That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle for the Soul of America (2018), and Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock (2012).  He is the co-host of the Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast, the Grateful Dead's official podcast, and has contributed liner notes for numerous Dead and Robert Hunter projects. His writing has appeared in Pitchfork, WIRED, Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, Dupree's Diamond News, Relix, and elsewhere. Since 2008, he has hosted The Frow Show on freeform WFMU.  Da Capo will publish The Invisible Hit Parade: A Taper's History of Music next year.

Website: JesseJarnow.com

ABOUT DAVID DODD

Retired librarian David Dodd is the author and editor of three books about the Grateful Dead, most notably The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics, which includes a foreword by Robert Hunter and an afterword by John Perry Barlow, as well as The Grateful Dead and the Deadheads: An Annotated Bibliography and The Grateful Dead Reader. Dodd authored the weekly blog, Greatest Stories Ever Told,  about the songs for dead.net and has contributed to various publications, including the program notes for First Fusion, a symphonic collaboration by the Marin Symphony with Bob Weir, for which he also sang back-up for Bobby! He also played in the Grateful Dead tribute band Dead Again.

ABOUT NATALIE J. DOLLAR

Natalie Dollar, Associate Professor of Speech Communication at Oregon State University, teaches in the Speech Communication, Social Science, Liberal Studies, and American Studies programs. Professor Dollar serves on the board of Grateful Dead scholars and Phish Studies, and is the Anthology Editor of Concepts We'll Ponder: Identity, Improvisation, and Community in the Phish Experience, also publishing in "Reading the Grateful Dead" (N. Meriwether, Editor) as well as a chronological account of Deadheads' cultural communication code in "The Grateful Dead in Concert: Essays on Live Improvisation" (McFarland Press). She was awarded the OSU-Cascades Teaching Award for 2011-2012.