Q:Facts: - other names: lawrence shurtliff ram rod - known for: roadie for the grateful dead - death date: may 16 , 2006 - birth date: 1947 - name: laurence shurtliff - nationality: american - death place: petaluma , california , united states - birth place: montana , united states - occupation: roadie music executive Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of laurence shurtliff .
A:
laurence shurtliff -lrb- 1947 -- may 16 , 2006 -rrb- -lrb- also spelled lawrence shurtliff and a.k.a. , ram rod -rrb- was an american music executive and roadie .he was president of grateful dead productions , inc. , from 1976 , the year that the grateful dead incorporated , until the death of guitarist jerry garcia in 1995 .he also was the grateful dead 's '' head roadie '' and equipment manager during and prior to those years , and began his first role with the band as tour truck driver in 1967 .in 1972 , shurtliff co-produced jerry garcia 's warner bros. .records solo album , entitled simply '' garcia '' , along with bob matthews , betty cantor and bill kreutzmann .shurtliff received his nickname '' ram rod '' from neal cassady of the merry pranksters , while traveling through mexico with author ken kesey .'' i am ramon rodriguez rodriguez , the famous mexican guide , '' he had boasted , and after he successfully '' ramrodded '' seven adults into a volkswagen bug , cassady bestowed the nickname upon him .an auction of shurtliff 's collection of grateful dead memorabilia by bonhams & butterfields auctioneers in san francisco on may 8 , 2007 , netted more than $ 1.1 million .the collection included a cream-colored travis bean electric guitar owned by garcia that sold for $ 312,000 .