[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 367]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        IN HONOR OF ROCK SCULLY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 9, 2015

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and 
accomplishments of a truly remarkable man and to mourn the passing of a 
dear friend, Rock Scully. Rock passed away just before Christmas 
following a long battle with cancer. The world knew Rock as the man who 
managed the Grateful Dead from their inception in San Francisco through 
their rise to prominence to become music legends. I knew Rock as the 
new kid in the 6th grade who became my lifelong friend. Rock taught the 
Dead about business. He taught me how to ski. We grew up together, 
spent time together exploring the wonders of Carmel-by-the-Sea, and 
later traveling together to serve in interfaith peace camps in Germany 
and Austria in 1958. Some of my fondest memories were created with 
Rock. As a Member of this House, I rise to honor Rock's contribution to 
American culture. But as Sam Farr, I rise today to shed tears for the 
loss of a friend who I had known for 61 years.
  Rock was born in Seattle in 1941. I first met him when he moved to 
Carmel in 1952. We became friends in grammar school and went to Carmel 
High School together before he moved to Switzerland to finish his 
senior year. Rock attended Earlham College in Indiana before moving 
back to California for graduate school in San Francisco.
  Rock began his public career in the early 1960s, while studying at 
San Francisco State College. He helped organize civil rights 
demonstrations to fight discrimination in San Francisco including the 
now famous sit-ins at the Sheraton Palace Hotel and at automobile 
dealerships on Van Ness Avenue in 1964. The sit-ins were successful in 
improving hiring practices and creating agreements of non-
discrimination. They also caused Rock and others to spend 30 days in 
the San Bruno county jail for disturbing the peace.
  At the same time, Rock found his calling in San Francisco's fledgling 
rock music scene. He became the manager of The Charlatans, one of the 
originators of what became known as the San Francisco Sound in the 
1960s. He also helped support the fledgling rock scene as part of a 
collective known as the Family Dog.
  Just before I left to join the Peace Corps, Rock called to tell me he 
was going to quit graduate school to manage a new band full time. 
``You're crazy!'' I said. Rock told me they were amazing and definitely 
going places. ``Besides,'' he said, ``they have the coolest name: the 
Grateful Dead.'' Rock may have been crazy but he was right. The Dead 
was a local Bay Area act when he started managing them in 1965. The 
band became an American icon in the two decades he was with them. Bob 
Weir of the Grateful Dead put it beautifully in a message he posted 
upon learning of Rock's death, ``Rock helped explain the Dead to the 
world.''
  Rock chronicled his twenty years with the band in his book ``Living 
with the Dead.'' He became a voice for the narrative history of 
musicians and artists that changed the cultural landscape of 
California. In many ways he was part of the broad and varied movement 
that helped shape California's openness to innovation, creativity, and 
diversity. That movement can be traced at the University of California, 
Santa Cruz, whose library houses the complete archives of the Grateful 
Dead.
  Rock played such a huge part in so many lives, but especially to his 
family and friends. I want to extend my condolences to his daughter, 
Sage Scully and stepdaughter, Acacia Scully; half sisters, Norah Scully 
and Kate Scully; step sisters, Julie Mayer Vognar and Amanda Mayer 
Stinchecum; and his brother, Dicken Scully, who travelled with us in 
Europe in 1958.
  Mr. Speaker, I know I speak for the whole House in celebrating Rock 
Scully's amazing spirit and in offering our best wishes to his family 
and friends. To quote the band that Rock managed for two decades, ``A 
box of rain will ease the pain and love will you see you through.''

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