Lenny Hart

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Leonard "Lenny" Hart was a champion rudimental drummer, who owned and operated Hart Music, selling drums and musical instruments in San Carlos, California. He was Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart's father and was noted as a charismatic businessman who impressed Jerry Garcia and the rest of the Grateful Dead. He was also a minister and believed that "God" was calling him to help The Grateful Dead. They made him their manager in 1969.

As the story goes, Lenny Hart was responsible for disappearing with large profits (approx. US$155,000) in March 1970. The Grateful Dead song He's Gone is based on this event. As a result of the fiasco, Mickey Hart left the band in February 1971, not returning to the group on a full-time basis until 1975.

In the later years of his life (before dying of stomach cancer), Lenny Hart dedicated himself to the creation and formulation of theories and "methods" to teach the joys of music and rhythm to children, most notably those who were deaf or hearing-impaired. His workbooks contained a strong psychological element of applied art therapy.