Feb. 1, 2014

 Dear Gary,

 	I approached your book with a certain amount of trepidation. Did not want to get swept back into that neo-Gothic vortex of the Buckley saga. But as I got into the first chapter, I said to myself, “Hey, anybody who is a master performing guitarist, a major independent recording artist, and a first-rate writer who attended Yale and regards Joyce’s Ulysses as his favorite novel, can’t be all bad. Press on!”

         I am glad I did.

 	Touched by Grace is superbly well written, full of insight, passion, love, wisdom, heart. Couldn’t put it down. Didn’t even want to.

 	Thank you for undertaking such a monumental labor. I know what it took to go back into those ecstasies and agonies, those heights of creative fire, those depths of humiliation, disappointment, anger, those shining peaks of love and exuberant musical performances.

 	And I know exactly what you mean when you say not a day goes by without remembering Jeff, the love you felt and still feel after all of these years, and how that aching loss still brings tears to the surface of your psyche. Indelible experiences, undimmed by time’s passing. As you know, those experiences and those memories will stay with you. They are yours and yours alone, to be honored and treasured and cherished forever.
 
 	I stand in admiration of you, Gary. Your independence as a man and as a musician. Your “loner” stance in a violent, cynical music business context. The ways in which you retain your fundamental integrity, your gentleness, your respect for others even when moving among those ruthless corporate sharks (not to mention the back-biting, opportunistic fellow musicians who step on other musicians just to get another leg up the ladder toward fame, fortune, and fleeting recognition).

 	You have managed to go your own way, no matter what. You have managed to pull yourself up out of the ashes of egregious disappointment and continue working, evolving, growing as a man, as a musician, as a writer, and as a devoted servant to music itself.

 	I tip my hat to you, Gary Lucas. Way to go.

 	—Lee Underwood