People around the world are eulogizing Bob Weir, founding member of the Grateful Dead, whose death at age 78 was announced Saturday. The legendary musician had a special connection to Southern Colorado — in 1962-63 he attended Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs. But he was asked to leave after a year.
In 2015, he returned to the private high school for an honorary diploma. During his acceptance speech he said he got kicked out for being too rambunctious.
“If that had not occurred,” he said, “I wouldn’t have found the people that I next fell in with, which became my calling. I was ready for that when I left here anyway.”
He also gave credit to various faculty and staff at the school for teaching him to love language and to listen attentively to words and music. He was also a member of the football team, which he said helped teach him about how to be a team player.
“Perhaps the best thing, more than perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me is I was pretty much on my path when I left here. I found that path here. That’s what this place is all about,” he said.
Weir also met the late poet and lyricist John Barlow at the school in Colorado Springs. The two became lifelong friends and songwriting collaborators.
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