A GoFundMe has been set up to help provide support for longtime Grateful Dead monitor engineer Harry Popick as he deals with health and financial challenges.
Popick ran sound with the Jerry Garcia Dead for 20 years as the band’s On Stage Monitor Engineer (M.E.). He worked directly with the band to help fine-tune their monitors so they could hear each other and themselves clearly night after night. He also helped conceptualize the idea of the “Tour Ticket,” which allowed fans to “essentially buy a ticket to each of the band’s tours,” according to the GoFundMe.
“With a quick wit and a constant smile Harry was and still is loved by many fans,” Mel Ortner writes in the campaign description. “He has always reached out and lent a helping hand to those less fortunate than him. Frequently, Harry would walk outside to the ticket line and randomly give out free tickets to unsuspecting and very “grateful” fans. His close friends also got the benefit of his generosity by receiving back stage passes where we could party, share in the food and enjoy the concerts up close. Good times were had by all.”
Harry Popick with Bob Weir
The description goes on to detail how Popick continued to work after Jerry’s death until he had to sacrifice everything in order to move to Florida and take care of his ailing brother, who sadly passed away. A battle with cancer, hip surgery, and other health issues have left him permanently disabled, and he has struggled to secure economical housing on a small fixed income.
“I am posting this in an effort to reach out to the thousands of Grateful Dead fans who knew Harry directly or indirectly and to anyone sympathetic to the hardship Harry is having to endure,” Ortner’s plea concludes. “I hope all of you can find it in your heart to contribute to the fund in an effort to raise enough money for this wonderful, compassionate and generous man.”
Click here for more information and to contribute to the GoFundMe, and head here to revisit Popick’s interactions with fans in a 2018 Ask Me Anything from the Grateful Dead subreddit.
At the time of publication, the GoFundMe has reach nearly one-third of its $100,000 goal. Meanwhile, another GoFundMe campaign was recently set up to help provide financial support for another longtime member of the Grateful Dead road crew, lighting designer Candace Brightman.
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