The year was 1974, and I was 8 years old. I was traveling with my father, Richard Sinner. We were driving through the passes of Tehachapi, California on our way to Fresno where my Father was to hold an evangelistic revival in an old WWII tent that was at one time used as a hospital for a MASH unit (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital). My father was always about the Lord’s business and was seldom at home, so I decided to accompany him so I could spend some time with him. He turned off the Hiway near Tehachapi and headed down a side road. I asked him where we were going and he smiled and said “to visit an old friend”. We drove a few miles and then drove into a ranch that had a sign over the driveway which read “Hart Flat Ranch”. Dad parked the old Ranchero pickup truck and we headed for the front door of a very large ranch house. Dad knocked on the door. A tall man about 60 years old answered the door and asked how he could help us. Dad said, “I am here to see Pidge”. “Pidge” said the old man, “I haven’t heard that name in a long time” Dad said “just tell him ol’ Dick is here. After a few minutes a small man came to the door and immediately smiled and grasped my father’s hands, and said “well if it isn’t Dead Eye Dick!” My dad hugged him and said “well, ol’ Pidge, I heard the coyotes had you for supper about a hundred years ago!” The small man replied” ah, come on’ Dick, I’m only 6 or 7 years older then you!” They both stood and embraced and continued to tease each other. Finally my Dad introduced us. “Noah Beery Jr, this is my youngest son Philip, He’s the next preacher in the family”. Just then a lady came into the room and cleared her throat to make her presence known. Mr. Beery introduced her as his wife, Lisa. He said her daddy was the famous cowboy, Buck Jones. Dad did not seem to know her, but he knew of her father. I later learned that Mr. Beery was married to a different wife when my father knew him. Noah insisted that we stay the night. He asked Lisa to instruct a maid to prepare a room for us. He then told the kitchen to slaughter a steer and instructed them that we would eat outside at the “Chuck Wagon”. He then placed a phone call to a neighboring ranch and asked the owner to please come for supper. Noah asked my Father if he would like to take a ride for old time’s sake (as my dad had worked for him at the ranch some years earlier). We went out to the stables and tacked three horses. As we began to ride I could see a reminiscing glow in my Fathers eyes. Memories were obviously taking him back in time. We rode about an hour and the Noah issued a challenge, “whomever is the last to the stable has to unsaddle all the horses and brush them down”. Just then my father gave the boot to the gelding he was riding. I have always heard of people riding tall in the saddle, but Dad was leaned back with his feet almost straight out in front of him. He seemed to become part of the horse riding smoothly and swiftly. He made it to the stables first, followed by Beery and guess who got to take care of the horses. I can tell you this, he was 8 years old. About the time I was finished with the horses, I came out to see Dad and Noah talking to a tall and slender man with distinct characteristics about his face. Noah said to me, “ Young fella, this here is Jack Palance, he and his wife Elaine own the ranch next to mine, and he fancies himself an actor, and Jack this here is the future Reverend Philip Sinner.”I was embarrassed at the teasing. I still had no idea who Noah Beery and Jack Palance were, but I knew I liked them very much, and they seemed to know my Dad very well. At supper time there were many stories that passed around the campfire. I found out why they called my Dad, Dead Eye. They really bragged about his abilities with a pistol or a rifle. Jack Palance seemed the most impressed. I think it was because he was a military man. He told us all a story of how he crash landed in a B-24 Bomber during WWII, and he had to have reconstructive surgery on his face several times. While He told the story, he was spitting tabacco about 10 feet across the fire at an empty “Foldgers” can. I don’t think he ever missed once. They decided to have a shooting contest after supper. When Noah asked Dad what make of rifle he wanted, he said “You know I’m a 30/30 man Noah!” We shot for about an hour. Dads target score was three times higher than Palance or Beery. Just then a man showed up and he was introduced as “Cody”. He was Jack’s son and probably about 20 years old. He was nice, but kind of cocky. The rest of the night was spent around the campfire spinning yarns that were hard to distinguish truth from, shall we say embellishment? The next morning we were sitting at the breakfast table at 5am. Dad and Noah spent a couple of hours talking and laughing, while I was outside getting into things I probably should not have. Dad came out of the house with Noah and Lisa and announced that it was time to go. Dad said “the Lords got special plans for tonight in Fresno”. There were sincere good byes and an open invitation to visit anytime. I don’t know if Dad ever got back there again, but now that I am an adult and have come to know the actors for who they are, I will never forget my time with “Dead Eye Dick”, my Dad, and my Hero!

Note: My mother told me that Dad used to drink with Wallace Beery when he worked for RKO in Hollywood. That may be how Dad met Noah.

Philip Sinner