ADMISSION: 
Admission is free.

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Book signing and reception to follow. Books will be available for sale.

DESCRIPTION:

“By writing this book, Jim Newton informs the rest of the world what Deadheads have known for years: that Jerry Garcia was more than a world-class musician, he was an American icon.”—Trixie Garcia

Join us for a book talk with Jim Newton, author of the 2025 national bestseller Here Beside the Rising Tide: Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, and an American Awakening, moderated by Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life at USC.

Newton’s kaleidoscopic history of the Grateful Dead explores American counterculture through the life of iconoclastic frontman Jerry Garcia, and his merry band. Following the history of the Grateful Dead means tracking American cultural history through a period of radical reconsideration. For three decades, the band explored the meaning and limits of freedom. 

The radical message of the Dead, to reject the mainstream and build a bohemian community, radiated across the world, manifesting itself in art, music, business, and politics. Here Beside the Rising Tide tells the story of those disparate shafts of light, putting Garcia into a broader context while tracing his eventful life.

Presented by the USC Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. Co-sponsored by USC Visions and Voices.