I was saddened to learn of the recent death of Bob Weir, longtime guitarist of the Grateful Dead, at age 78. Yesterday I called my friend the raconteur, and distinguished Connecticut nurseryman, Pierre Bennerup who turns 92 today. There’s a connection between the two. Pierre taught Weir in the 8th grade. I talk to Pierre every few weeks but only heard this story a few years ago.

Bob Weir and Mickey Hart during the 2009 Obama inauguration

Pierre graduated from Princeton in 1956 and later attended UC Berkeley Law School for a year. Law didn’t suit him, but he liked the Bay Area. He got a job teaching 8th grade.

The second generation nurseryman, and co-founder of the Perennial Plant Association, got a call around Christmas twenty-five years ago, from Tommy Wilson, a former student at The Menlo School in Atherton, California. They had not spoken since 1961. “Tommy called to apologize for all the mean tricks he’d played on me when while I was a teacher there.” He was the ringleader of 12 boys. They had a nice talk, and Pierre  asked about other classmates, eventually inquiring about what ever happened to “Weirdo.” There was a pause and then Wilson asked, “You don’t know what happened to Weirdo?” Pierre said he had no idea. Weirdo became the rhythm guitarist for the Warlocks that soon became the Grateful Dead in 1965, four years after Pierre had been his teacher. Bob Weir was  seventeen.

Pierre Bennerup in Salvisa, Kentucky with Hibiscus coccineus and Silphium perfoliatum in late July 2025

As a student, Pierre said, “Bobby was mildly dyslexic, obviously smart, a good kid. Didn’t cause any problems at all. And this was a class full of troublemakers. I was a terrible disciplinarian.”

Grateful Dead 1970, Herb Greene photo, WIkimedia Commons. Bob Weir is in the back-center.

 I asked Pierre if he’d ever listened to the Grateful Dead. “I’ve never been  a Deadhead but I do appreciate their music.  I’d never put two and two together about Weirdo.”

Watch  the 2024 Kennedy Center Awards and the Grateful Dead