Elaine Taylor remembers when she first met Merl Saunders, Jr. Michael Vosse was the ABC7 producer setting up to do a feature on Camp Sunburst, the HIV/AIDS camp, when Elaine did her “ride along” with Cheryl Jennings. After they returned, Vosse connected Elaine with Saunders, who at the time was working at Gibson Guitar in Oakland and a board member of Music in Schools Today (MuST). It was Elaine’s passionate plea for donations for The Taylor Family Foundation’s annual Day in the Park (DITP) fundraiser that sealed the deal, getting Saunders involved in the foundation.
Saunders took a guitar off the wall and asked his friend, music historian Dennis McNally, who had interviewed Jerry Garcia countless times, to get the Grateful Dead to sign the guitar for TTFF. At first McNally protested, but he eventually agreed and worked his magic. About a week after receiving the guitar, Elaine was watching the news and heard that Garcia had died, making that instrument one of the last pieces of memorabilia signed by Garcia.
Out of respect, the following year Grateful Dead band member Bob Weir came to DITP and explained the story of the guitar and it was auctioned off, raising $35,000. In an amazing act of charity, the buyer donated it back to be auctioned off again, raising another $25,000.
That guitar was just the beginning of a lasting relationship between Merl Saunders, Jr and TTFF. He brought his love of the foundation with him when new opportunities arose. When he worked with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, he put together a live auction package featuring tickets to the Grammy Awards plus admission to the exclusive pre-telecast before the show and the member’s only after-party that was only available to nominees, raising well over $100,000 over the course of the next four years. To sweeten the package, TTFF supporter Joe Tomkinson flew the highest bidders to and from Los Angeles in his private plane.
Elaine reflects, “Merl has been a Champion Ambassador for TTFF. By connecting the dots of friends and colleagues who knew both of us, we created a triple decade friendship of compassion and caring for those who needed a kind heart and hand of help!”
Did You Know:
Saunders’ father played piano and keyboards professionally and had collaborated with Jerry Garcia in the early 1970s. He sat in with the Grateful Dead and played live concerts with Garcia, as well as Tom Fogerty, Sheila E. and Mickey Hart. It was the senior Saunders who helped Garcia relearn how to play the guitar after he had suffered a diabetic coma.
Dennis McNally’s wife, Susana Millman, has photographed Day in the Park for more than two decades. Her credits include work for Arista Records, Rhino Records, BBC, Grateful Dead Productions, Oracle, Rolling Stone, TIME, and the NY Times among others. We are so lucky to have her capture memories year after year.