Kathy, a warning. The more you read about Art and the Seed, the more fascinated you will become. This story is the start of this whole freaken teen help industry in the united states. Ground zero so to speak.
Back to your question. All we have is Art's self serving statements in newspapers,and he was real fond of building legend around his name. Gingers story was def floating around. Another earlier story I have in a paper/interview with him states that he started treating kids on his boat, docked near the playboy club in miami and it grew from there. Art was a part time comic at the playboy club, if you listen to their statments, and a big shot "no limit on the amount of money I made" headliner if you listen to his story. Also, he had bit parts in movies in the late 60s. This coupled with his stints at the playboy club is what I believe got him involved with actors such as Sammie, known to frequent Playboy clubs thruout the US.
The world is so exquisite, with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's no good evidence. Far better, it seems to me, to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.
--Carl Sagan