It's time to pay our respects to the late, great F. Warren Hellman, who passed away after battling lung cancer this past weekend. He's the bluegrass-loving billionaire who poured his fortune into the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park and became a crucial force in keeping Slim's, Great American Music Hall and Berkeley's Freight & Salvage thriving. All that, and he could finger-pick a banjo along with the best of them in his band The Wronglers with Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
Click here to view a live telecast of his (already packed) memorial service happening right now at Temple Emanuel, or plug in and watch above. In the coming weeks, a community celebration of Hellman's amazing and music-filled life will be announced, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, the Hardly Strictly website and Hellman's family is asking mourners that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the San Francisco Free Clinic, The Bay Citizen and the San Francisco School Alliance. Also, consider a donation of blood or platelets to your local blood bank.
