cannabisnews.com: John Warnecke Jr: Early Manager for Grateful Dead John Warnecke Jr: Early Manager for Grateful Dead Posted by CN Staff on July 14, 2003 at 09:41:15 PT By Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Staff Writer Source: San Francisco Chronicle A funeral will be held in San Francisco today for John Carl Warnecke Jr., a former newspaper reporter and early manager for the Grateful Dead who died of a heart attack at his home in Belmont. Mr. Warnecke died July 4. He was 56. According to his family, he had a lifelong passion for politics and music. He was involved in peace protests during the Vietnam War and headed up Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign in Northern California. In the mid-1960s, he befriended members of a fledgling band known as the Grateful Dead and became their promotion road manager from 1966 to 1968, handling bookings and advance work. The oldest son of San Francisco architect John Carl Warnecke Sr. and Grace Cushing, Mr. Warnecke was born in Oakland and attended Lowell High School in San Francisco. During his campaign work for Kennedy, he met John Seigenthaler, editor of the Nashville Tennessean, who was impressed with the young man's work. After Kennedy's assassination, Mr. Warnecke moved to Nashville to become a reporter for Seigenthaler, working at the Tennessean from 1968 to 1971. While there he met another young reporter named Al Gore, and the two became fast friends. But Mr. Warnecke also was behind allegations during Gore's 2000 presidential run that the former vice president regularly smoked marijuana while working at the Tennessean and during Gore's congressional race in 1976. Gore admitted to taking drugs only occasionally, and a spokesman said he stopped taking drugs once he entered public office. Mr. Warnecke's own credibility came under scrutiny because of his admitted cocaine and alcohol use, which he acknowledged was out of control in the 1970s and forced him to get sober for good. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/14/BA258670.DTL Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Monday, July 14, 2003Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle - Page B - 4 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles:What Did Gore Know & When? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7561.shtmlThe Other Lawbreakerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7553.shtmlThe Choice 2000 Interview With John Warneckehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7250.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment