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Letter from Mary
regarding merchandise
Dear Friends:
So many of you have been requesting
availability of Jeff Buckley T-shirts, photos, posters and other items, I have
lent my approval and assistance to several projects, which are currently in the
works.
I really only had one problem to overcome
in going forward with these projects: "How do I get these kinds of items to
the fans without creating an 'exploitation situation'?" I know that Jeff
had always handled his merchandising in a very conservative way, and I wanted to
observe that as much as I could. I also wanted all royalties or profits received
by this estate to go to a charity or nonprofit agency, so I looked about for one
or two beneficiaries that would be meaningful to me and might have been to my
son.
Jeff's long time friend and tour manager,
Gene Bowen, makes no secret of the fact that he's a former heroin addict. In
fact, it was Jeff's support of his sobriety that impressed Gene enough that he
shared an idea with Jeff about one day forming an organization that would
promote sobriety among tour crew members and also promote clean and sober
enjoyment of music by the audiences. After Jeff's passing, Gene created
"Road Recovery", the nonprofit organization he'd talked about
starting.
When I approached Gene about supporting
his organization with the sales of Jeff Buckley memorabilia, he agreed under one
condition - that Musicians' Assistance Program (or MAP) would share the benefits
equally with Road Recovery. Since we would be making world-wide offerings to
fans, there certainly would be room for two organizations to share the benefits
and MAP turned out to be a perfect fit. Buddy Arnold, founder of MAP, has been
saving musicians' lives from drug and alcohol abuse for many years and created
MAP in 1992 so he could save even more music industry members from substance
abuse and he's doing a terrific job. He and his wife, Carole, have asked me to
help them build a "Jeff Buckley Road House", so recovering clients
could have a safe haven, where they could work on rebuilding their lives after
rehab, instead of returning directly to the scene of their former dependency.
I want to make it absolutely clear that
Jeff was not addicted to drugs or alcohol, nor were they a factor in his death
in any way. Unfortunately, a few of his friends and tour crew members are not so
safe from substance abuse and I know he would approve of my desire to support
organizations that could possibly save their lives as well as the lives of other
musicians and other crew members he's never met.
I'm grateful to all of Jeff's fans for
their support and their efforts to keep Jeff's memory alive in the world. By
creating a fund-raiser for these two worthy organizations from the sales of Jeff
Buckley merchandise, I feel as though we'll be joining together in a very unique
way to make the world safer for musicians and other artists, as well as
spreading the word about Jeff's musical genius (not
to mention making his fans' wishes for memorabilia come true). I hope you agree.
With great love and gratitude,
Mary Guibert
