Broken Hallelujah

The day Chet Helms died was the day they brought old San Francisco down.

Several years ago somebody wrote the SF Chronicle saying Chet Helms had died. So Chet decided to have a wake and a resurrection. He hired a hearse and a coffin and invited 200 people. He was driven up to the Gold Coast Restaurant in the hearse and the pall bearers were Terance Hallinan, Richard Hongisto and Wavy Gravy. The Coffin rolled into the restaurant and was opened. Chet lay there with flowers and a cellular phone on his chest. The phone rang and he rose to answer it and walked thru the toasting crowd and camera people.

The day Chet Helms died, goes the old eulogy, Owsley returned and gave out real LSD and everyone remembered their last ecstatic romance at the Avalon and began to dance that perfect trance dance that merged them with the divine.

But this past weekend, Chet Helms really did pass away. He died from complications of a stroke in San Francisco surrounded by family and friends; he was 62.

[Extensive info and obituary @ sfbg]