Jerry Garcia had a particular way of describing the musical preferences of Grateful Dead fans. McNally, who wrote the 2002 book A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead, has been one keeper of that collective legacy. When Garcia died in 1995, the Grateful Dead formally ceased to exist. In the absence of any formal Grateful Dead band this summer, Mason's Children is finding like-minded fans in listeners of their generation. "I think that will very much be the case with Grateful Dead fans.