A great musician whose legacy will be that he was an abusive crackhead. What a drag.

An article I read one time, called "The Monster," talked about what a jerk and raging anti-semite Wagner was - just a total bastard on a personal and public level. the essay then went on to say that what was of more importance historically, though, was that he created glorious music, and was one of the most important composers in history.

Apply this to so many of our other great artists, who were drug addicts and womanizers and lousy spouses and parents. does it matter?

When Garcia died, arch-conservative columnist George Will wrote a screed in Time that no one should celebrate the life of Jerry, because he was a pathetic role model and a drug addict. I wonder if he would have said the same about Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Bix Biederbeck, or Mozart, all of whom destroyed their lives with booze or drugs, or Sylvia Plath? Or Mickey Mantle, for that matter?