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Letter to Bob Weir (Grateful Dead)
by Mary Moore
July 1998
BOHEMIAN GROVE ACTION NETWORK
P.O. Box 296
Occidental, Ca. 95465
Phone: 707-874-2248 or 707-829-2417
Dear Bob Weir:
It was shocking to hear a rumor that you and others from the old Grateful Dead were planning to play this year at Bohemian Grove. With all due respect, if this is true, please don't do it!!
My name is Mary Moore and I have been an activist since 1962 through the civil rights, womens, anti-war, environmental and anti-nuclear struggles. In 1980 I was part of the group that began protesting and calling attention to this very exclusive, all-male gathering that takes place every July five miles from my home. At that time we were a small group in Sonoma County, mostly from the statewide Abalone Alliance. We began doing research on the men up at the Grove with ties to the nuclear industry.
Within just a few short years we were a coalition of 72 groups involved with all the above issues and more. Because of a lot of national media coverage and almost 20 years of protests, we have begun in a very limited way to get the word out to the public about how the real decision making takes place in this country and on this planet. Unfortunately our voice and our resources are very small compared to theirs.
Over the years we have developed an informative slideshow which has been shown across the country, as well as in China in 1995 at the U.N. Global Womens Conference. At that time I made contact with a network of women—mostly women of color from all over the world who have invited me to show the slideshow at a worldwide womens gathering in South Africa this August. Because these women have experienced first-hand the results of their countries' involvement with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.)—well represented at the Grove), they were very receptive to and interested in what we have to say. I have seen the interest grow elsewhere as more people begin to understand the relationship between our government, the Fortune 500, the banks, the military and the rest of us who are so affected by their policies.
The Bohemian Grove, while not the only gathering of the white male elite, is one of the longest (119 years) and most exclusive. I know nothing of your personal philosophy but I have always considered you the conscience of your group because of the support you have given over the years to many causes I am involved with. I am very surprised and disturbed at the thought that you would involve yourself with a place that is so opposite to these values. I heard this rumor while being interviewed on a local radio station here in Sonoma County. The host of the show told me off the air during a commercial break. I then contacted David Gans at KPFA who gave me the number of your publicist who felt perhaps you were doing this in an attempt to influence some of these men on their ecological policies.
Bob—I'm afraid that even if these men had a change of heart about some of their environmental decisions (it is in their own best interest after all) they are not going to change their policies on the human rights issues because their bottom line is, always has been and always will be, making a profit. If some people have to stay poor to keep these men rich then so be it. Their opening ceremony is after all the "Cremation of Dull Care"!!!
There is so much more I could tell you about these guys after studying them for so many years. We have had every aspect of the movement for peace, social justice and a clean environment protesting at their gates and I just can't imagine the reaction and disappointment if people find out you are playing up there. I am already receiving many media inquiries about who is coming this year (we have people inside who get us the schedule of the Lakeside Talks) and aside from the one radio personality who told me this rumor I have not mentioned it to anyone else in the media. I thought it was best to contact you first and let you respond.
If this is just a rumor, please let me know so I can do some damage control. If it is true, please re-think this decision. In my heart I can't believe that you would attend and support this gathering with your talent and presence if you understood who they are and at whose expense they make their money. We must build solidarity among those of us who care about this planet and the people and critters on it. Your attendence at Bohemian Grove would work against this goal.
My numbers are 707 874 2248 (H) or 707 829 2417. I'm a very early riser if you want to call before 8:00 A.M. I hope we can connect before July 17 which is when I will be contacted by most of the media. If you want to know more about Bohemian Grove and what we've done over the years you can check out our website at www.sonomacountyfreepress.org/ Look under Features on the cover page and scroll to Bohemian Grove. There is also a picture of their Cremation of Care up there.
Hopefully, in solidarity,
Mary K. Moore
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