To Art Thieme:

One of the sad ironies of seeing Jim Ringer's name come up time and again, as in your post, is that I went to school at Clovis High, near Fresno, CA with his brother Jesse and never knew there was a musical family behind him. Jim began to be known some time after I had gone into the service in 1961, before the "Sweets Mill era" really began.

I knew the family had come out to California as part of "Steinbeck's Legions," as some knew them. "Okies" was the familiar term. I knew many of them well. Too many died too young. Some got into trouble. In most cases, every sibling worked as soon as they were able; chopping cotton, picking berries, cutting peaches or whatever else was available. There was a lot of pain, little money and a lot of ironic humor - and great cold sweet tea on the porch in the summertime. Jim lived all of it.