10. We're Not In Kansas Anymore

After avoiding another potential Boston Massacre, my dad was pretty much done as a performer. Drummer Joe Brawley had also had enough, deciding to rejoin his family's trucking business in North Carolina. Big Al Downing and Vernon Sandusky would carry on, relocating to Scranton, Pennsylvania where manager Phil Ladd was. Once established in Scranton, Big Al and Vernon added Mitch Corday on drums and Johnny Dubas on bass. My dad was persuaded to come along as co-manager/producer.

Vernon's family and our family also came to Scranton and at one point we all lived across the street from each other. I was approaching 7 years old and I do have some fond memories of Scranton. But Coffeyville, Kansas was another matter. I still have almost no recollections of the Kansas years. One thing I do remember is a dream (more like a nightmare). At the edge of town were the train tracks. In my dream, I was watching a train go by filled with ghosts or lost souls. Over the years my dream would come back to me from time to time, more as a puzzling enigma than as a terrorizing event...