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Jerry Gladstone & Christopher Morales Took More Than My Money

Seth Garceau (right) and friends going to a Bob Dylan concert
with Seth's father, Rick Garceau, in Des Moines, Iowa in 2004.

By Rick Garceau

When I was growing up, I loved listening to music. My passion was so strong that I knew it was something I wanted to share with my children, Seth and Tess.

Although the popular music of the time had changed between our generations, I still wanted the kids to appreciate classic rock in the way that I did. I started by introducing songs from bands such as The Grateful Dead, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan. In the morning, while I prepared breakfast I would blast music from these bands that the kids thought was “outdated.” While they would eat, I would sing along with the music and they would laugh and make jokes about how terrible my singing was. Even though the jokes were at my expense, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my mornings. Seth and Tess eventually learned the words better than I did, and that’s when I knew that music was something that would keep us together.

As the kids got older and started spending more time with their friends, our family still had the music to keep us in touch. My son and his friends were all Bob Dylan fans, just as I was, so it was a great surprise that they kept me in mind when they had an extra ticket to one of his shows. I was touched that out of all the people they could have asked to go, they chose me. The only problem was that I was building a house on Madeline Island in Lake Superior, and the concert was 11 hours away in Des Moines. However, I wasn’t going to let the distance keep from missing out on this great opportunity to enjoy Dylan with Seth and his friends.

I left early in the morning and drove nine hours to my hometown to pick up the boys and proceed to the concert. After three more hours of driving, we were finally there. The concert was phenomenal, as we all expected. But what I will remember most are the smiles of excitement on the boys’ faces during the entire show. At that moment, I forgot about the long drive ahead of me and just let the good times roll.

Shortly after the concert, Seth, a member of the Iowa National Guard, volunteered to join his battalion to fight the war in Iraq. After a mere 30 days of being there, Seth was killed by a roadside bomb that struck his Humvee. During the years to follow, I experienced many different emotions, but a large part of what I was feeling was emptiness. When you lose a child you not only lose them, but you also lose a huge part of yourself.

It took me awhile to adjust, but I found that through listening to music, I could start getting that part of myself back. Music has a way of conveying emotions that you sometimes can’t explain on your own. Music gave me a voice of my own and by listening to music that Seth and I both loved, I found a way to keep him alive in my heart. I eventually got back on my feet and started feeling more and more like myself. But something was still missing.

Although Seth was always with me in my heart, I wanted a way to celebrate his life and our love for music in a way that everyone could see. I devoted the next few years to remodeling my living room into a room built completely for Seth. In this room, I started by displaying military emblems, such as his purple heart and the items that he was carrying at the time of his death.

I didn’t want the entire room to be about Seth’s military endeavors, though, so I thought carefully about other ways I could memorialize his life. That's when I found Jerry Gladstone's autograph company, American Royal Arts. I ended up purchasing an autographed Grateful Dead guitar and an autographed Dylan and the Dead poster to remind me of the cherished hours Seth and I used to spend together, talking, laughing, and listening to these famous artists.

These tokens of the bond with my son meant the world to me. So I was devastated to discover that the autographs on the guitar and the poster, like all the classic rock memorabilia sold to me by Jerry Gladstone, were forgeries authenticated by Christopher Morales.

Now, the memorabilia that once brought back pleasant memories of my son elicits feelings of heartbreak and disgust.

By betraying me and thousands of others like me, these criminals have not only stolen our money. They have robbed us of much more than that.

Tags: Jerry gladstone, american royal arts, christopher Morales, dylan, fake, forgeries, grateful dead

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by DB on January 30, 2012 at 5:04am

Rick, here is a repost link on the June Mantle story....

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/are-smart-phones-sma...

in rereading it I even see some posts from our self-exiled Vanderhoven extolling the virtues of AM. Alas, some join bankrobbers and feel they have to become one of them to be accepted.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Garceau on January 30, 2012 at 7:22am

Thanks for the link DB. That is a sad story! It makes me wonder how many people have been affected emotionally by these scammers. The sad thing is that there could be thousands of people that don't even know they've been ripped off yet, possibly still buying from these dealers.

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Permalink Reply by DB on January 30, 2012 at 7:30am

right you are Rick, and you can include many of us here as well. we get way too comfortable and trusting...these sellers. just 'cause someone had an inperson signing it doesn't mean they don't have a bunch off TTMs, outright forgeries, pre-prints, secretarials and so on. Make that mult-thousands and we get close and when they find out (as noted by a number of posts here) they tend to fight it tooth and nail...

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 30, 2012 at 9:52am

I'm sure it's not uncommon for unethical dealers people to use private signings as hamburger helper to sell forgeries of the same signer.

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Permalink Reply by David K on January 30, 2012 at 10:57am

I doubt there are 'thousands" of forgers...I bet it can be narrowed down to a couple hundred...look for any of these signs of forgery on bay or other sites for any NEWBIES;

1)Avoid any PRIVATE listings..always a forger

2)No date or location of signing if you buy it--avoid

3)"Estate sales" where and when? They will NEVER provide the info

4)A COA with no address, name , ophone number, infortmation on how the item was obtained

5)NO proof photo or a photo that looks like it has been photoshopped

6)Their "OWN: COA is their only proof of authenticity and not willing to offer refund if another expert says it is not real

7)Too many items from people who just dont sign often or ever---beatles, Dylan, prince, Little richard, Stevie nicks, the Eagles on anything "eagles": (they only sign solo items) etc..beware.

8)Price..."mccartney for only 299.00 ? Rolling Stones 299.00 The Eagles 299.00 Pink Floydf all 4 495.00 BEWARE

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Permalink Reply by DB on January 30, 2012 at 11:08am

Dave K... I believe the "thousands" that rick was referring to were the "BUYERS" who have purchased non-authentic items...

Good list btw,,,, and add $14.95 as a listing price consistently on many items or some other low ball odd number.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on January 30, 2012 at 12:22pm

I have no doubt there are "thousands" of forgers out there. The majority of forgers, whether you want to believe or not, are what I call "kitchen-table" forgers.

These are the forgers that take their baseball, football, hockey and basketball cards, and forge their way onto Ebay. Although I mainly track forgers of high-end autographs, over the years I've caught well over 200 "kitchen-table" forgers. They usually slide under the radar because the majority of "kitchen-table" forgers forge the signatures of non-star athletes so-to-speak. So how do I catch them? They can't resist trying to sell a Jeter, Pujols, etc., forgery. And that's where I catch them. Just recently there was a seller on Ebay who had sold over 1,000 forgeries on baseball, football and basketball cards. When I found that seller, they had another 750 listed on Ebay.

Yes, there are "thousands" of forgers out there.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Badwey on February 23, 2012 at 4:03am

Although I agree with the situation about ARA, I think we are missing a bigger, more important part of this story.

Money can be replaced, but we need to spend as much time with our families and loved ones as we do not know when they will be around any longer.

I have a wife and 4 year old twins and not a evening goes by that I am without them. Even when I do a college bookstore show in SLC next week for a week, will they join me.

Time is too precious to miss out with those who may no longer be there one day

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Permalink Reply by Seleznev Dmitri on May 19, 2012 at 5:30pm

Dear Rick,

How did you find out that these items are not genuine? Who did the authenticication? Who conduced the expertise?

I also need an independent opinion so your help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Dmitri.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Garceau on May 20, 2012 at 7:53am

Demitri, with the help of Steve Cyrkin, thirteen of the items I purchased were looked at by Roger Eppersen, who determined that they were all forgeries. I also had some of the items examined by Dr. Richard Fraser,a handwriting expert from Boston. His findings were consistent with Rogers. There have been other opinions also, but I have yet to find anybody that thinks they are authentic, except Christopher Morales of course. Hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Garceau on May 20, 2012 at 7:59am

Demitri, To answer your first question, I found out that there was a potential problem when I tried to sell a Jimi Hendrix on eBay and it was rejected. That's wheere it all began.

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Permalink Reply by Seleznev Dmitri on May 26, 2012 at 11:49pm

Dear Rick,

Thank you very much, your experience is very valuble. Currently I'm also conducting some independed expertise but my items not too expencive and they don't worth much hussle.

Best regards, Dmitri.