When I returned to college in early 1963, after two years in the army, I had sharpened an interest in folk music to the point of wanting a better sense of its history and origins. I had been performing in coffee houses and was part of a trio. Fresno State, in central California, had two wonderful professors of english, Peter Everwine and Gene Bluestein, who taught classes that addressed the subject. Peter is a widely published and admired poet who still resides there. Gene, unfortunately, passed on some years ago. His son, Evo, is very active in folk circles today, however, in the extended folk family of Fresno.

From their classes I learned material, of course, and picked up songs that I could sing and share. More important, however, was finding context that brought meaning where only rote memory served previously. It is a lesson I never forgot and which continues to add depth and enjoyment on top of the songs themselves.