(University of Nebraska Press) Ruby Dreams of Janis Joplin By Mary Clearman Blew (University of Nebraska) Ruby Gervais was 16 when she ran away from the turmoil in her small Versailles, Mont., town to join the Rivermen, a pop band. Now, 10 years later, the band has disintegrated, and Ruby returns home to find that not much has changed. She is a victim of her past. Townspeople still remember that she was one of the children who charged adults with pedophilia and satanic rituals.