Ken was a Deadhead, an artist, a poet and a traveling salesman. He died on May 23, 1995 on his way from the Las
Vegas Grateful Dead shows to the Seattle shows.
KEN'S INTEREST IN THE RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK (RAN).
When Ken died we wondered where to direct any contributions that people
wanted to give. Ken's brother Jeff told us that the Rainforest Action Network
was his favorite charity. He also told us that not only was it his favorite charity,
it was his only one.
The story goes that Ken called RAN on their 800 number and told them he really
appreciated their work and sent them $10, which was all he had at the time.
When we send RAN contributions, we always tell them that Ken's family and friends
want to add to Ken's original $10. There is more to this story - stay tuned.
We decided to have a series of fundraisers and send any donations to RAN.
A group of Ken's friends (from high school) had a band called "Why Not". They
had stopped playing because one of the members moved away. Over the last
two years, when that member would come to town, they would have a reunion.
We would sell raffle tickets for reproductions of Ken's artwork, and we also
sold t-shirts with his designs. We have raised several thousand dollars this way.
In May of 1997 my wife and I stopped at RAN's Headquarters in San Francisco.
We met with Randy Hayes (the Executive Director). Randy was very gracious and told us
of the Grateful Dead's involvement with RAN.
He had a poster of the Dead hanging in his office signed by the band members.
Randy told us that Jerry Garcia asked Randy about the work Ran was doing.
Randy said he gave Jerry three books about environmental issues. Jerry came
back a few months later, and Randy said it was obvious that he not only had read the books
but also understood the issues and RAN's role.
Bob Weir is still an active supporter of RAN, and in fact he is on their Board of Directors.
In communications I had with Randy prior to our face-to-face meeting, I would
always ask him if RAN was doing any work in the area of preserving the
Redwoods. I asked because Ken really loved the Redwoods. Randy would always answer that they were not doing anything
special.
It was therefore, of great interest to us to find that RAN is now actively
involved in the preservation of the Redwoods.
WHERE IS RAN TODAY IN ITS EFFORTS TO SAVE THE REDWOODS?
Get an update (then press your browser's back button to return here) by clicking here.
We will be gathering at Ken's Tree on June 26, 2005. This will be the 10th anniversary of Ken's death. Email us for details..
Ken's Tree is in Boulder Creek, California. It's on King's Creek Road, half way between the Mountain Store and the Vajrapani Institute (a Buddhist Retreat).
Past celebrations at Ken's Tree have included Deadheads, family and friends from all over the country. In 1997 and 1998 we were honored by Buddhist Monks who blessed the site.
An interesting thing happened at the tree when we were there in May of 1998. Background...In 1995, when we spread Ken's ashes around the tree, Dad Putnam passed around a crystal that Ken had given him. Somehow the crystal disappeared. We looked everywhere in 1995 and in subsequent visits. We could never find it. On May 25, 1998 the crystal reappeared at Ken's Tree. There is lot more to this story. For the rest of the story click here.
Email us for more information about this site. The address is at the bottom of this page.
Thank you for visiting. Please tell all your Deadhead (and non-Deadhead) friends about this site.
TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!!!
Peace, Love and Happiness - The Putnam Family (Dave, Karen, Steve and Jeff)
