Grateful Dead leads to father and son reunion
From the Marin Independent Journal article written by Brent Ainsworth:
The mesmerizing music of the Grateful Dead and their offshoot rock bands have been credited with bringing people together for almost 45 years, but the way Tom Pope and Jafar Thorne connected has to be exceptionally rare.
Pope, 55, and Thorne, 32 – both avid Grateful Dead fans – just learned they are father and son with the help of a blog dedicated to Dead bass player Phil Lesh.
The two men – Pope, of San Anselmo, and Thorne, of Walnut Creek – met for the first time last week at Thorne’s home.
“It’s just sinking in,” said Pope, whom Thorne tracked down in part through PhilZone.org. “I’m in the clouds.”
“It’s about as weird and cool as it gets,” Thorne said.
Thorne created a thread – “How to tell my dad he has a son” – on the Web site last month, one day after his mother told him who his father was.
He was reaching out to his Deadhead friends for advice on what to say, and it flowed freely. Finally, Thorne posted a letter and e-mailed his father via Facebook.
“Howdy,” he began. “I imagine you’re sitting, but you may want a drink in hand as well before reading what follows “… in fact I strongly recommend it.”
Pope read the whole thread from his son, breaking into tears.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Pope posted. “I just found out. I’m still crying. I knew this day would come.”
Read the full article here:
Grateful Dead connects man with father he never knew
Good to father and son!