Hi, and Welcome to FlamingoHippie.com, home of the book When Push Comes to Shove; Real Life on Dead Tour; The Journals of Hollie A. Rose.

I’m Hollie and I’m glad you’re here.
I’ve always felt that certain aspects of our lives on Dead Tour have been swept under the historical rug, even as the wider world celebrates all things Grateful Dead related.
This story, this website, this book, isn’t about me, it’s about US.

Honoring that, we’ve made this website interactive. The themes and the larger lifestyle depicted in this book were (and are) not unique to me and my crew. I hope you’ll join us in deep celebration of what it was really like “back in the day.”

There’s a page dedicated to the WAR ON DRUGS. Did the War on Drugs impact your life? Your story matters! Head on over there and tell us about it.

Also, please make sure you visit the page for OTHER DEADHEAD AUTHORS. Lots of Deadheads have written about the Grateful Dead in countless and sometimes unexpected ways! I don’t know any other website that gathers these in one place. So I made my own list and I really hope it’ll convince you to support Deadhead authors across the board. There’s books about our drug addled history on this page, as well as books (both memoir and fiction) penned with a Grateful Dead theme. Our history, insight and depth of imagination is a joy to behold.

There’s other interactive stuff but I don’t want to give it all away before you get a chance to explore. (Pssst, don’t miss the Photo area, there’s a gallery for uploading images of your tour crew. Represent! Then or now!)

I don’t know what comes of this project of mine but being honest about how it was on Tour has always felt important to me. Dead Tour in the 80s was a way of life I’m so lucky to have experienced. I always felt that writing it down like I did was my cosmic job.

That said, be aware, I didn’t write the majority of this book recently. I wrote it back in the day while I lived on Tour. Nothing is fabricated, reimagined, or fictionalized. What you’ll read is exactly what I thought back in the moment I lived it. It’s pure stream of consciousness from the mind of a stoned Deadhead. That might make it a little challenging for you to read – but only at first. I promise, if you stick with it, you’ll catch the rhythm of it, and the flow will make sense. You’ll come to understand why this story had to be told in this way.

One early reader told me it was a bit like being thrown into a Grateful Dead parking lot circa 1988 and having no effin clue what’s going on – and shit is going on in every direction! But… after a while… you start to catch the energy of the place, you start to open up to the randomness of it all, and you start to feel right at home.

That made my heart sing to hear her say that.
I hope that’s the experience you will have with this book.
I hope you will feel at home in this text. Relax and settle in.
You are welcome and wanted here.

If you went on tour, this book will invoke ALL the feels. If you didn’t go on tour, it will give you that experience and make you feel like you were there with us.

Please enjoy these offerings.
Thanks for being here.