Photo Credit: Susana Millman

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to support the financial and medical needs of legendary Grateful Dead lighting engineer Candace Brightman. A Bill Graham recruit, Brightman initially worked at the Fillmore East before serving as the Dead’s housing lighting engineer for several decades, lighting up the stage and illuminating one of music’s most revered acts. 

According to the official GoFundMe page, organized by audio engineer and archivist for fellow San Francisco artist Steve Kimock, Charlie Miller wrote, “I’m raising money for the longtime Grateful Dead lighting designer Candace Brightman who’s having financial and medical issues. She’s becoming weak and unable to fully take care of herself and she can’t afford to hire people to help her. I know that she really appreciates the help.”

In a Relix article, The Process of Illumination, that ran in 2014, Brightman spoke of her history with the Dead, “At first I thought the Grateful Dead audience would be offended by distracting lighting effects, so I sort of eased into it.” She continued, “Then, there was an ‘aha’ moment. [Crew chief ] Dan English, who ran the audience lighting, went to move the lights from the stage to another position and accidentally opened their shutters as they were headed to a full ceiling [position] during ‘Terrapin Station.’ It happened at a perfect moment: the top of the instrumental after the ‘Terrapin’ refrain. The audience seemed to love it. This was a huge eye-opener for us.”

To support Brightman, visit GoFundMe.com. And, read a 2015 interview with the lighting expert here.