Carolyn Garcia

Carolyn Elizabeth Garcia
Born	May 6, 1946 (1946-05-06) (age 65) Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.A
Other names	Mountain Girl, Carolyn Adams
Occupation	Merry Pranksters icon

Carolyn Elizabeth Garcia (born Carolyn Elizabeth Adams on May 6, 1946), also known as Mountain Girl, is a former Merry Prankster and wife of the late Jerry Garcia.

She was born and grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York,^[1] and travelled to Palo Alto, California in 1963 with her older brother Don shortly after she was expelled from high school. In early 1964, Garcia met Neal Cassady, who introduced her to Ken Kesey and his friends, one of whom gave her the name "Mountain Girl". Cassady took her to La Honda, California, Kesey's base of operations, where she quickly joined the inner circle of Pranksters and became romantically involved with Kesey, having a daughter by him named Sunshine.^[2] The Grateful Dead song "Here Comes Sunshine" may or may not be an allusion to Garcia's and Kesey's daughter – the Dead were fond of lyrics having double, often personal meanings. When Kesey was a fugitive, Garcia had a relationship with another Prankster named George Walker who would become her husband in 1966. The marriage between Garcia and Walker did not last long and they separated in December 1966 and were divorced in 1978. She took up with Jerry Garcia after splitting with Walker, but they did not marry for many years after.

Before marrying Jerry Garcia in 1981, they had two daughters.^[1] The family had a house in San Rafael, California as well as a beach house in Stinson Beach, California, but separated after Garcia began a relationship with Deborah Koons. Jerry and Carolyn Garcia divorced in 1984,^[1] but remained friends until his death the following decade. After the divorce, he married Deborah Koons. He died 18 months later.

After Jerry Garcia's death, Carolyn Garcia was involved in litigation to obtain payments as per their divorce settlement agreement, ultimately agreeing to a $1,250,000 settlement to avoid further legal costs.^[3][4]

Garcia wrote a book on marijuana cultivation, called Primo Plant: Growing Sinsemilla Marijuana, first published in 1976 by Bookpeople.^[5] Garcia currently sits on the boards of the Rex Foundation, the Furthur Foundation, and the Women's Visionary Council, and is on the advisory board of the Marijuana Policy Project.^[6][7][8] Garcia lives near her daughter Annabelle and the Kesey family farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon.

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Robins, Cynthia. "She Never Got Off the Bus: The hard life and high times of Carolyn Garcia."
2. ^ Wolfe, Tom. (1968). The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
3. ^ Doyle, Jim. (October 15, 1998). "Garcia's Ex-Wife To Get $1.25 Million: ‘Mountain Girl’ had sued star's estate." San Francisco Chronicle. p. A21.
4. ^ Ingram, Erik. (December 12, 1996). "Grateful Dead star's death leads to battle where it's… GARCIA VS. GARCIA." San Francisco Chronicle. p. A23
5. ^ Mountain Girl. (1998). Primo Plant: Growing Marijuana Outdoors. Quick American Archives. ISBN 0932551270
6. ^ Rex Foundation Board and Staff page, accessed December 14, 2010
7. ^ Furthur Foundation web site, accessed December 14, 2010
8. ^ Women's Visionary Congress speaker biographies, accessed December 14, 2010

Furthur reading

• Jackson, Blair. (1999). Garcia: An American Life. New York, Viking. ISBN 0670886602. A biography of Jerry Garcia, which also has information about Carolyn Garcia.
• Wolfe, Tom. (1968). The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0553380644 Describes the early years of Garcia's relationship with Kesey and adventures with the Merry Pranksters.

Persondata
Name	Garcia, Carolyn
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 6, 1946
Place of birth	Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.A
Date of death
Place of death