LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Gerry Tolman, a veteran and versatile
 music business manager who worked with the legendary rock 'n roll group
 Crosby, Stills & Nash for over twenty years, has died.  Tolman was killed
 instantly in a motor vehicle accident near his Los Angeles area home the
 morning of December 31, reported a Tolman family spokesperson.  He was 52
 years old.
     Tolman had managed artists under the aegis of his personal management
 entertainment firm Management Network, Inc. since 1985.  In addition to
 collectively managing Crosby, Stills & Nash (whom he first started working
 with when he was with their previous management company), Mr. Tolman also
 managed the solo careers of group members Stephen Stills -- since '85 -- and,
 since 1989, Graham Nash.
     Nash, reached at his home in Hawaii, said, "My heart is broken about the
 untimely death of my dear friend.  I am so sad.  He was a great, sensitive,
 caring and funny man.  I will miss him for the rest of my life."  Speaking
 from his home in central California, David Crosby commented, "Gerry was a good
 friend and he worked diligently and did a great job at managing Crosby, Stills
 & Nash.  He was a part of this family for many years.  We'll miss him.  My
 heart goes out to his family."  Stephen Stills added, "Gerry was my rock, my
 protector and my best friend.  He helped me do my art without being distracted
 by the slings and arrows of our crazy and wonderful business.  I doubt I will
 meet his like again.  I offer my condolences to his family and his friends,
 who number in the hundreds.  I believe that ultimately, this will pull us all
 together."
     A lifelong southern Californian born in Santa Monica, Tolman caught the
 music bug playing guitar in bands while attending Los Angeles' Loyola High
 School.  Film was another interest, and by the time he graduated from
 University of Southern California with a degree in Telecommunications, Tolman
 had already started his own film production company, creating industrial and
 educational shorts -- work that led to his music management success.  As a
 senior at USC, Tolman was invited to Colorado's Caribou Ranch Recording
 Studios, where CBS Records tapped him to make a promotional film on Stephen
 Stills and his band.  Soon afterwards he became their tour manager, a role he
 also undertook for the Stills/Young band, Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Chris
 Hillman Band.
     Gerry Tolman's involvement with the music artists he worked with extended
 beyond the realm of the typical manager.  Tolman played guitar with Stephen
 Stills' band, and over the years wrote, performed and produced with Crosby,
 Stills & Nash, who recorded his song "Too Much Love To Hide" for their 1982
 album "Daylight Again."  Tolman's production credits include "Daylight Again,"
 Atlantic's 1991 4-CD box set retrospective "CSN," the band's 2005 Greatest
 Hits disc (Atlantic/Rhino), the video compilation "Long Time Coming" (produced
 for CSN's 1997 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and the
 television specials "Daylight Again: Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Universal
 Amphitheater" and, for PBS, "Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Warfield."
     In recent years, Tolman put together the extensive national touring
 package for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's historic 2000 reunion tour, one of
 the highest grossing of that year.  He also negotiated and produced similar
 packages for subsequent CSN tours and CSNY's 2002 encore tour.  Tolman's
 diverse projects also included the launch of the extreme sports management
 entity Motorsports Management International (which he later sold), which
 developed and managed the careers of many athletes including Winston Cup
 Champion Tony Stewart.
     Gerry Tolman is survived by his parents Tom and Marie Tolman, two
 brothers, Thomas Tolman and Timothy Tolman, a sister, Traci Marie Mars, and
 children Jennifer and Jonathan.  Information on a memorial service will be
 announced shortly.  In lieu of flowers, the Tolman family has designated The
 International House of Blues Foundation, 6255 Sunset Blvd., 18th floor, Los
 Angeles, CA, 90028  to receive donations in the name of Gerry Tolman.
 
 

SOURCE  Jensen Communications on Behalf of the Tolman Family