Washington, DC
While not withdrawing from George Washington Univ I basically stopped attending classes — except “The American Presidency” taught by Prof. Steven Wayne; unbeknownst to my parents, in the aftermath of their divorce and busy with their own lives to repair, I decided to see as many Grateful Dead concerts as possible for the foreseeable future. It was easily the most interesting and profound experience I could find at the time.
As politics and campaigns still captured my imagination, so too did traveling around the country seeing shows. When not on tour, I waited tables at the Third Edition and Nathan’s in Georgetown to remain barely solvent.
The most important habit I developed at the time was to expand my daily newspaper reading. I was a news junkie, and regardless of the city I was in, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal were available. I spent a good part of each day devouring their collective political, international, economic and sports news.
I may have been wandering around the USA chasing the Grateful Dead, but I was also highly informed about the world around me. I was too busy having fun to worry about the implications of blowing off college.
1981 and 1982 would be my heaviest touring years — seeing a total of 54 shows from coast to coast.