1986 was a year of ups and downs. It started off badly. My cousin Charlie Mendoza had just died in a tragic car accident in late December and my friend Dennis Krenek died on January 2. Charlie was only 19. He was my Aunt Helen’s son and was named after my brother Charles, who was in the Navy at the time he was born. He was a nice kid, very quiet and polite. My friend Dennis was only 33 when he succumbed to the AIDS virus. I had met him when I was with my first partner John back in 1978, and then later worked with him when I volunteered at the Southern Arizona Mental Health Center. He was an occupational therapist and a very good friend and mentor.
In addition, at the beginning of the year, I was halfway through library school, still working at Fry’s and doing my radio show, and still with Brent, even though he continued to live and work up in Chandler. I kept very busy and juggled a lot of responsibilities. I missed Brent, but I made new friends early in the year. Thaddeus and Sandahbeth Spae showed up in my life in early January, and they hung out with me for about a month or so. They were musicians and gypsies, shady characters to some people, I’m sure, but nice people to me. Sandahbeth hailed from Virginia, had a gorgeous voice and could sing just about anything, from swinging jazz to blues to country music. Thaddeus was a hyper-active, multi-talented instrumentalist from the Northwest. Together they made an odd, but happy couple, and they called themselves “Amber Tide”. One day, on my birthday, I invited them to my parents house to hang out with me and my family, as my mom had made food and bought me a birthday cake. They graciously performed a few numbers, and we all had a blast. My mother was especially thrilled when Sandahbeth sang the Hank Williams tune, “Your Cheatin’ Heart” just for her. I can’t remember how long they stayed at my house. It might have been a month or more. I had to get them to move on eventually. My friend and landlord Ted thought they had stolen his son’s stereo equipment, as it went missing one day. Who knows? It’s possible they did it. I didn’t think so, but I was so naïve at the time, the possibility that these two roving gypsies would do something like that never crossed my mind.
I got increasingly jaded working at Fry’s. I took my job for granted and didn’t realize how good it was. I felt tied to the money as I was acquiring debt in the mid-80s, and I needed the job to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head. The company knew I was about to reach my 10-year anniversary, and thus close to getting vested with the Union’s pension plan, so I believe they were looking to get me fired. I was also active as a union steward and was busy recruiting new members, which didn’t help my cause at all. In mid-May, the unimaginable happened. I got fired for ringing out my own order during a break. One of the assistant managers, who didn’t like me, caught me doing this and informed me that it was against company policy and that he would see to it that I was terminated for it. I was devastated, because I didn’t have any savings. I was unemployed for a month and a half, I believe, until I finally found a job at Sears in the auto parts department in early July. It was humiliating. I hated that job, but it kept me alive until the end of the year.
While Brent and I were still a couple, it was hard maintaining a long distance relationship. We did our best to keep it together, especially when his parents came to town in April for a visit. We both spent a lot of time coming and going from Chandler to Tucson and back. After a while, he started having trouble at work, and he eventually was let go, so he moved back home from Phoenix sometime in May, if I’m not mistaken, and for a while we relied on his income as a tile setting assistant. Things were tight, but we managed.
During the first semester of 1986, I took two classes and had an internship at the UA Main library. The internship consisted of doing data entry for a project a librarian named Maria Hoopes, who happened to be my friend Peter Segura’s aunt, supervised. She was very nice and supportive, and one of the only librarians of color on the staff. The internship also consisted of spending time at the reference desk, helping students and others find materials for their research, and answering basic reference questions. I learned a lot working at the reference desk, even though I didn’t feel the same level of support from some of the librarians with whom I worked while working there that I got from working with Maria.
My other classes were titled Reference Sources in the Humanities and An Introduction to Bibliography, in which I did quite well. For my class project, I compiled a comprehensive annotated bibliography on the works of Margaret Randall, a writer and poet who had lived in Mexico, Cuba and Nicaragua for many years, and who had recently returned to the U.S. She was currently under the threat of deportation because when she became a Mexican citizen, she gave up her American citizenship. The US government did not like her writings, either, which were all about life in socialist society. They thought her too dangerous and sought to keep her out of the country. I attended a reading she gave one night in late January at the U of A Social Sciences Auditorium, and decided that I wanted to find out more about her, so I took on the task of compiling all of her works and reviews about her works into one very long, annotated bibliography. I received an A on the project, and even got to correspond with Ms. Randall during the course of completing it. She was also able to use my bibliography in court as a record of her work. I was thrilled about that.
My classes in the Fall weren’t nearly as interesting as my Spring courses, but I got through them, and graduated in December with a 3.76 grade point average. My parents were ecstatic that I had completed yet another degree, and I was happy and relieved that I had finally finished the program. I was so lucky to have my parent’s support. They were always there for me. Even though I couldn’t handle living at home, I knew I could always pop over for a bite to eat, and my mom helped me with my laundry and ironing. She would always jokingly say to me, “mijito, I’m going to live another year, so I can see you graduate”. I wondered to myself, oh, oh, now what? She was ill at the time, and would only be with us just a short while longer, unfortunately.
Throughout the year, I continued to host the Chicano Connection Revisited on KXCI. I saved many of my playlists and have posted them all in the Chicano Connection Archive. I also have several cassette tapes of programs that I did this particular year, and will eventually get around to posting them in the archive too. Some of these shows include my buddy Richard Elias. He co-hosted several of them with me in the Fall. One of the highlights of the year was getting the opportunity to guest host for Ted Warmbrand’s show, “Music from the Living Loom”. Jamie Anderson, a local women’s music performer, and I collaborated on producing a gay pride Father’s Day show. Links to the show are included below. While the sound quality isn’t great, I’m glad I was able get this transferred from tape to digital format. I consider doing this show one of the highlights of my career in radio.
June 15, 1986: Music from the Living Loom, KXCI 91.7 FM, Tucson, “Gay Pride Show” featuring guest hosts Bob Diaz and Jamie Anderson.Part 1, Part 2.
KXCI sponsored lots of great concerts in 1986, many of which I attended, and my friend and landlord Ted Warmbrand also brought in several wonderful musical performers, so all in all I had a great time attending lots of concerts while continuing to build my ever growing home library of books and records. Some of the more memorable concerts I attended were the Bob Dylan/Tom Petty show up in Phoenix, Queen Ida and Her Zydeco Band at the El Casino Ballroom, and Stevie Wonder at McKale Memorial Center on the UA campus.
In December, I was able to find another temporary job, working as a cashier at the Food Conspiracy Co-Op. I liked this job much better than the one at Sears, but I kept them both until the end of the year. In mid-December, I started job hunting, and I found a job in Nogales as a public services and children’s librarian. I hadn’t really prepared myself to be a public librarian and was hoping to become an academic librarian, but this job was available and I needed one fast. I was hired before the year ended, so Brent and I packed everything up and were ready to move to Nogales by the beginning of January. A new chapter in our lives was about to begin.
I loved this calendar. It was locally produced.
My good friend Dennis died on January 2. He was 33 years old. This photo was taken back in 1978 when we were visiting Nogales with my then partner John.
Sandahbeth and Thaddeus Spae performed 3 songs for my friends and family at my birthday party. They sure were talented. To hear them sing, my previous blog post.
I ended up dropping two classes. The three that I kept were enough to keep me quite busy.
Information Sources in Humanities and Social Sciences was one of my favorite courses. It was taught by Dr. Don Dickinson. He was my favorite teacher.
The reference desk at the UA Main Library. Part of my internship consisted of spending time answering reference questions at “the desk”.
The card catalog was impressive. Staff spent hours each day updating it.
Margaret Randall
I attended this reading, and afterwards decided to do my Bibliography project on the works of Margaret Randall for my Bibliography Seminar class.
This performance was really fun. It was held in the Social Sciences Auditorium on the UA campus.
This event was wonderful theater. The comedy was spot on.
This was a sad day for the country. The whole world watched this tragedy live on television. The explosion occurred right after take off, and all of the crew members were killed instantly.
Bette Midler did several comedies in the mid-80s. This film was released on January 31, 1986
He’s baaacckk. He performed on 02/01/86. This is one of my first attempts at putting together a research guide. 02/11/86. I think I got an “A” on it.
This album dealt with the current political situation. It was a scathing critique of the Reagan presidency. Released 02/18/86.
Anita Baker had several hits with this album. It’s gorgeous.
Ted decided to feature himself in concert this year. He’s a wonderful storyteller and performer.
Brent’s parents visited in early April. They took this photo of us in front of our house.
This album was a big hit. It included the duet, “On My Own”, that Patti sang with Michael McDonald. Released on April 28, 1986
Released in the U.S. in April 1986. A wonderful gay love story.
Here are some of my exams, papers and projects I completed during the Spring, 1986 school semester:
Here is a letter I received from Margaret Randall after I sent her my completed bibliography project. Receiving this was the thrill of a lifetime. After all these years, she still remembers me too, as I was recently in touch with her on Facebook. She’s since written much more and continues her writing to this day.
I did well this semester. A few more classes, and I’d be done!
After working for Fry’s for 10 years, I was fired for ringing out my own order when on a break. The Union was able to ensure that I was vested so that I could receive a pension in later life, but even after having put in 10 years of time with the company, they couldn’t get me my job back. Another employee was later caught doing the same thing, and she was not fired.
This movie had some beautiful scenery. Released on May 23, 1986.
This grainy photo is the only one that exists that includes all of my brothers and sisters and me with our parents. I’m not sure exactly when it was taken. We had a great time, however.
I had just one semester left of Library School. I couldn’t wait to start my new career.
The great Benny Goodman passed away on June 13, 1986. These photos are from the Village Voice.
Jamie Anderson and I co-hosted a gay pride show (see links below) on KXCI together. She went on to become quite well known in the lesbian community and beyond, and over the years has released quite a few recordings.
Every year during Gay Pride Month, a button was produced and distributed/sold to members of the gay community.
This was a great show. I remember hanging out with a guy named “Black Man Clay” afterwards and jamming with him. I sang all kinds of jazzy stuff and he harmonized and did rhythm. He was a great guy.
It took a while, but I finally found another job. I was hired at Sears and worked in the Auto Parts Dept. from July 1 until the end of the year. I was not a happy camper, but at least I was working.
My Sears name tag. We had to wear white shirts and blue pants on the job.
It took a while to warm up to this album. It wasn’t one of Bob’s best. Released on July 14, 1986.
This was one of several letters I received from people who were incarcerated. My radio show was apparently a big hit with the inmates at the Wilmot prison facility.
Spike Lee’s first major directorial effort premiered on August 8, 1986, and was interesting, to say the least. I looked forward to what he would do next.
I started listening to Dwight Yoakam about a year or so after this was released on 08/19/86. I love his authentic, twangy voice.
Seems like everyone loved this album. My brother Charles would do some strange kind of meditation while it played. He tried to get my sister Becky and I to do it with him, and we just couldn’t. We kept laughing too much.
My last three classes…
This letter documents all the graduate courses I took while in the Library Science program. I was all set, and would soon have my Masters of Library Science in hand.
What a creepy movie. One you can’t stop watching…released on 09/19/86.
During the Fall semester, my last one as a student, I continued to host the Chicano Connection on KXCI. It was around this time that I got my good friend Richard to join me as co-host. We hosted several shows together, including the one noted below. One time we had our friends Mike and Denise join us, and they danced in the studio as we played Dylan’s Romance in Durango. Another time, Richard and I read the little “Know Your Rights” pamphlet on the air. We thought it was really cool to provide that kind of public service. We were both likely pretty lit most of the time, but had a blast and managed to get through each show without messing up too badly. Hanging out with Richard at this point in my life helped me get through the last couple of months of graduate school and working at Sears. By December, I had finished and moved on to other things. I sure miss those days when Richard and I had fun together on the radio. I have a recording or two of us on the air. I’m going to transfer them from tape to digital audio one of these days…
Aretha scores another big one. “Jimmy Lee” is one of my favorites. Released on October 1, 1986.
Released on October 10, 1986. I just love her Diana Ross impression.
Another Itzaboutime Production. My friend Ted stayed quite busy this year producing these wonderful local concerts.
Stamp Out AIDS was a national campaign established in 1986 to help people with AIDS. It raised money through the sale of stamps similar to Christmas and Easter seals. The money raised went to AIDS service providers across the country to fund buddy programs, food programs, hospice care, and other vital services.
I’m not a huge fan, but appreciate Holly Near’s work and music.
I loved this concert.
This concert was held on a revolving stage in McKale Memorial Center. It included African Dancers, and was quite a show!
Released on November 11, 1986.
Instead of having to write a Master’s thesis, we had comprehensive exams. I did just fine.
This is one of my very favorite albums. Released in November, 1986. Beautiful through and through.
I worked here for about a month at the end of the year as a temporary employee.
Here are some of my papers and exams from the Fall semester:
My last report card. I was so relieved and happy I made it to the end. Finally!
My unofficial college transcripts. It includes every course I ever took at the UofA.
Once I graduated, I was done with formal education for good. While I have attempted to go back to school to take a class here and there, I’ve never been able to stick it out.
I only recognize a few names on these lists, but these were my classmates in Library School.
Little did I know when I dropped out of high school ten years earlier that I would get this far. I was now ready to get to work doing something I really wanted to do…
My Dad and I in the McKale parking lot on the day I graduated.
My parents and I in our front yard the day I graduated. My dad was the only family member who attended both my UA graduations.
A graduation card from my big brother Charles.
A Christmas card from my buddy Richard Elias. I’ve saved every one he’s ever sent me.
Back in 1986, when I was in Library School, I met a couple named Thaddeus and Sandahbeth Spae. They were musicians and they called themselves Amber Tide. I first saw them singing outside the steps of the Student Union bookstore on the U of A campus. They were from Seattle, if I’m not mistaken, and were living the gypsy life, going from town to town, playing music wherever they could and eeking out a living on the road. At the time, I lived next door to my friend Ted in a two bedroom adobe house with lots of space, and I invited them to hang out with me and told them they could park their camper in my driveway for a while. We became good friends, but after a while, Ted wasn’t too thrilled about them staying with me. They left after a few weeks, but we had some great times together. On one occasion I invited them over to my parent’s house to help me celebrate my birthday. My mom made a bunch of food and a lot of relatives showed up. Thaddeus and Sandahbeth gave a mini-concert for the family that day, and one of my brothers just happened to tape it. I’ve kept the cassette all these years, with the intention of one day transferring it to digital format. Well, that day has finally come. I bought myself a tape to mp3 converter a couple of months ago, and tonight decided I was going to figure out how to work the darned thing. Lo and behold I figured it out! What follows are the three songs my friends performed for me and my family. The last song, Your Cheatin’ Heart gets cut off early too, unfortunately. At any rate, I’m thrilled to be able to share this with my friends and family. Sandahbeth passed a way several years ago, but Thaddeus is still active and living up in the Seattle area.
By the time I turned 26, most of my life since adolescence had been consumed with looking for that one person that I could be in love with and who would love me in return. There were lots of guys along the way who I fell for, but all of them, with the exception of one, were out of reach. That one person who I did connect with stayed with me for 8 months from the summer of 1979 to early 1980, and I was quite happy for the bulk of that time. I loved having a companion. I felt complete, and I had a real friend. When we broke up, I was devastated, but I was young and resilient, and I survived. Work and school kept me busy, and I had lots of friends to spend time with. I have to admit, however, that those years when I was single again, between the summer of 1980 and winter of 1984, were rough. I hated being alone, I hated the bar scene, I partied too much, and I hated myself for trying to pretend I was straight when I dated women. Then one day in the middle of December, 1984, Brent Bates showed up in my life, and we fell in love. He was nine months older than me and was from Muskegon, Michigan. I spent the next six years of my life with him. Little did we know when we met, where our relationship would take us.
Brent moved in within a month after we had met, so he must have been settled in with me by the end of January. The house on Manlove St. that I had moved into the previous summer was nice and roomy, and there was plenty of space for two people. Once again, I felt that I had what I wanted—to be in a relationship with someone I loved. The first 8 months of our time together were exceptionally happy ones. We got along well and while we came from different backgrounds and had a lot of differences, we did our best to communicate openly and to understand one another. We also both enjoyed partying and had fun going to concerts and movies together.
Brent worked in the shipping/receiving department at Mervyn’s Department Store when we met. He was a conscientious person, with a strong work ethic. While he had just a high school education, he always sought to improve himself in one way or another. Within a couple of months after having moved in with me, he bought a new car, a little white Toyota Tercel. He was very proud of that car, and he took very good care of it. In July, we drove it across country to Michigan to visit his family. It was a fun trip, and my second road trip east. Unfortunately, I don’t remember many details about the trip there or the trip back. It’s all one big blur. However, I do remember our arrival. When we got to western Michigan, it was very late at night, and I was asleep. Brent decided to surprise me and he parked the car in a wooded area near Lake Michigan, outside of Muskegon. When I woke up I couldn’t believe my eyes. The scenery was beautiful, with gorgeous tall trees everywhere. And Lake Michigan! My god, it looked huge. It was like being near the ocean and quite a sight to see. I’ll never forget it.
When we got to Twin Lake, a small township north of Muskegon where Brent’s family lived, everyone was happy to see Brent again, and they were very nice to me and immediately treated me like family. We stayed with Brent’s parents, but at night, we slept in a small trailer away from the house. Brent’s dad was a bit weirded out about our relationship, but he came around in time. We hung out with his family for about a week, and while we were there, Brent took me to meet his uncles. One of them had a friend who lived on Duck Lake, which was just north of where we were staying. We went on a nice long boat ride while there. We also went out into the country and visited an old cemetery with graves from the 1800s. As I noted, Brent’s family was very nice, and while I found them to be a bit on the conservative side, they accepted our relationship and seemed happy that Brent had found a partner. Brent’s mom and his sister Teresa were especially kind to us.
About a month after our trip, Brent brought home two kittens one day that a friend of his from work had given to him. They were very small, and irresistibly cute. We named them Cleopatra and Frederick, but called them Cleo and Freddie. They were so adorable. It was fun watching them play together. They got along well and we kept them until we moved to Nogales in early 1987. It was nice having pets, and these particular cats shed very little cat hair, which was a relief.
By September, Brent was presented with the opportunity to become a manager in the shipping and receiving department at Mervyn’s. The only catch was, he would have to move up to the Phoenix area to take the job. He decided to go for it, and before we knew it, he had moved out of our house and was living in an apartment up in Chandler. We visited each other regularly, but it was a difficult period for us. Being apart was a drag, to say the least, but we managed. We were both quite busy and that helped the time go by. By the following Spring, Brent realized that he wasn’t doing so well in his new job, and he came back home and landed another job working as a tile setter.
Work
I continued to work at Fry’s part time, about 25 hours a week, but I became increasingly unhappy with my job. I loved my co-workers, but the management staff were another story altogether. Some of them were nice, but there were others who were big jerks. After having worked for the company for nine years, I just couldn’t wait to leave. The job sure did pay well, however, and that’s why I stuck it out. I enjoyed having spending money. I’m not sure when I decided to become a union steward, but in the summer I attended an all day union stewards seminar. I worked hard to recruit new members to the union, something the management of the store wasn’t too thrilled about.
My education
I think I’ve always wanted to be a librarian. Ever since grade school, I would love to go to the library. I loved to read, plain and simple. My sister Becky would sometimes take me with her to the public library when I was a kid, and there also used to be a bookmobile that would park on the corner of 22nd and Cherrybell once a month on Tuesdays, and I would walk to it or get a ride to visit it whenever I could. In junior high, I would have joined the library club, but that was not something “boys” were supposed to do, so I bowed to the peer pressure and didn’t bother. In high school, however, I volunteered in the library at lunchtime and after school, and became friends with the librarians who worked there. One of them, Ms. Koster, bought me a brand new copy of the Joan Baez songbook as a thank you gift for having volunteered and another, Jeannette Bahr, helped me get a job at the UA library my freshman year. My English/newspaper teacher, Jane Cruz, had also enrolled in library school around 1975, and I was intrigued by her stories about someone named Dr. Trejo and the program she was in, the Graduate Library Institute for Spanish Speaking Americans.
I had received my BA in 1982, and for a couple of years, while I still took courses here and there , I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I tried the graduate program in sociology , but as I’ve previously noted, things didn’t work out. I finally decided that I would try something else, and enrolled in Library School late 1984. I got accepted, and started the program in mid-January, 1985, determined this time around to complete the program and graduate, and to find a job as a librarian either in a public library or an academic library as quickly as possible. By the time I entered the program, Dr. Trejo had retired and the GLISSA Program had folded. I was one of just a handful of minorities in the School when I began my studies.
So there I was, getting ready to pick my first few courses in my new program. I have to admit, I didn’t know what to expect as far as what was offered was concerned. I knew that librarians built collections and helped people with their questions, but I didn’t know much else about what librarians actually did or what they had to know to do their jobs. It was a good thing that the school provided some guidance on course choices. There were required courses and elective courses. I decided to tackle the required ones first, so for the first semester, my classes were: Foundations of Library Science, Collection Development, and Basic Reference. The foundations class was supposed to cover the history of libraries and key issues and topics within the profession, such as ethics and community analysis. The basic reference course covered the tools one uses to answer factual questions, as well as tools that help people find more in-depth information. The collection development course covered things like the publishing industry, censorship, how books are reviewed, collection development policies and other topics. I found all three of these classes to be very interesting. There were exams throughout the semester. The ones for basic reference were held in the Central Reference department in the UA Main Library. The professor for the class was Dr. Donald Dickinson. He became my favorite teacher, and I took several courses from him while in Library School. I didn’t keep any documentation for the basic reference class, but I did keep all of my assignments from my other two classes. They were both taught by a woman named Gladys Stalschmidt, a recently hired professor. Unfortunately, she had difficulty maintaining control in her classes. There were two women, in particular, who talked incessantly in our Foundations class, wasting everyone’s time with their long, boring stories. They drove everyone crazy. Many students complained about Professor Stalschmidt’s inability to control the class, and as a result, she didn’t last long at the school. I really liked her, however. It’s too bad some people had such big mouths. They ruined the class for a lot of people.
My assignments for both classes are available here:
I ended up getting all A’s this particular semester. I was off to a great start.
In early May, the Mexican American Studies department held a convocation for Mexican American students. The guest speaker was the legendary activist, Jose Angel Gutierrez. In the late Sixties, he founded “La Raza Unida”, a political party in south Texas that had quite an impact in communities along the Rio Grande. The party spread to other regions of the Southwest, including the Tucson area. Gutierrez also authored several books, and was a revered leader in the Chicano movement.
When summer rolled around, I decided to do volunteer work at the Valencia branch of the Tucson Public Library. It was an interesting experience, but I didn’t put in as many hours as I would have liked. I also tried to get involved with the Tucson Lesbian and Gay Pride committee, but I dropped out after just a couple of meetings. The summer went by quickly. I received great news by summer’s end, and that was that I was being given a lot of financial aid. I was quite excited and humbled at the same time. I was, for a change, getting recognition for doing well in my studies.
In August, I enrolled in several classes, including Introduction to Information Science, Research Methods, the History of the US , Library Management and Cataloging. By October, however, I reduced my course load by dropping the research methods class and the history class. With Brent gone, I felt depressed, and I didn’t do as well in school as I could have. I even missed an important AZLA meeting, where I was supposed to receive the Alice B Goode Scholarship. Believe it or not, I really enjoyed taking cataloging. The professor, Margaret Maxwell, was a real pro, and she knew her stuff, and taught it well. My management class was taught by a lady named Helen Gothberg. She was very nice, and I did well in the class. My other class, Intoduction to Information Science, was essentially all about computers, which were just starting to catch on in the wider world. It was at this time that pc’s and word processors were starting to become more affordable. While I didn’t care for the class, I did learn the fundamentals of using databases, spreadsheets and word processing software.
Here are some of my management class papers from the Fall semester:
I ended the semester getting A’s in cataloging and management, and a B in Info. Science. One year down, one year to go!
Radio
When the year started, I was still hosting the Friday morning music mix and I was running the board for my friend and landlord, Ted Warmbrand, who hosted a program on Saturdays titled “Music from the Living Loom.” Ted was a challenge to work with at times, but he has always been a good hearted soul, so I didn’t mind helping him out. I loved doing my morning mix show, as I could play both Latin music and music in English, spanning a wide array of genres. There were guidelines in place, of course, as to what we should emphasize (lots of contemporary jazz. I called it elevator music), but we were also given a lot of freedom to play lots of different types of music. I particularly enjoyed adding leftist leaning, political music to my mixes, and found that overall, people really liked what I had to offer. I even got to produce a couple of special tribute shows, one on Aretha Franklin and another on Billie Holiday. I also came out on the air around this time. I vividly recall playing a song called “Glad to be Gay” and saying during the introduction, “I dedicate this to all of my brothers and sisters”. As luck would have it, one of my own siblings was listening at the time too! If he didn’t know I was gay before, he knew at that moment, that’s for sure!
Unfortunately, over time, the management of the station started to crack down on those of us who were stretching the boundaries of what was considered “acceptable” for daytime programming. One day sometime in March, I decided to play a tune titled, “Shoot First”, by Judy Collins. It’s an anti-gun song. After the show, I was called into the program manager’s office, and he let me know that he did not approve of my musical choices that day. I had also been getting harassed by Roger, another station manager, for bringing in my own music. That was enough for me. I decided right then and there to hang up my headphones, and I quit, which in hindsight was a bad move, but I was stubborn and didn’t like the idea of not having creative license to play what I thought I should be able to play. I had other things going on anyway, such as work and school. I have kept several cassette tapes of my shows from this time period. At some point, I’ll have them transferred and included in my Chicano Connection archive. Here are some of my playlists from the time:
My time away from the station didn’t last too long. One night at a street party, I ran into the station manager, Paul, and he asked me to come back to host one of the Thursday night Latin slots, from 11pm to 1am. While the hours weren’t great, I was happy to be able to go back, so on June 11, 1985, I started back up again at KXCI and called my new show “The Chicano Connection Revisited”. I would continue doing this show until the end of 1986, when I graduated from Library School.
Friends and family
I spent most of my free time with Brent during the first eight months of the year, so I didn’t get to see my old friends too often. I really missed them, but being with Brent, working, doing the radio show and going to school took up all of my time.
Sometime in the middle of the year, my good friends Ron and Jane moved with their two children to Washington DC, where Ron had landed an important position with the Catholic Church. I attended their going away party. It would be years before I would see them again. I regret that I had drifted away from them after high school, but I was young and immature, and distracted by lots of other things along the way. I’m just glad I didn’t lose complete touch with them. I would always try to see them when they visited Tucson, but those times seemed few and far between. In recent years, however,I’ve visited them in Washington a couple of times and they’ve also come to Tucson to visit. Today, I feel just as close to them as I did while in high school. As I think back on it, they were always there for me. I just didn’t realize it.
In July, my dad’s eldest brother Raul, died. He was the only one of my grandparent’s children to have been born in Mexico. He and his family lived in Superior since the 30s. His wife Prudence had died the year before. I wrote a blog post about him a while back: https://bobdiaz.net/2020/02/19/happy-birthday-tio-raul.
My buddy Richard and I stayed in touch throughout our lives, but our friendship wasn’t the same in the mid-80s. He had become very involved in sports and was on a softball team, and unlike me, he was just crazy about the Grateful Dead and was always going to their concerts. We clashed more often than not. We never stopped being friends, however, and we found time every now and then to hang out together.
My two buddies Scott and Tim each got married in 1985. Scott, the guy I had a giant crush on and for whom I wrote the song, “My Kind”, married a young woman named Penny Aldridge, who he had been dating for a year or so. I missed his wedding because I was traveling home from my Michigan trip with Brent, but I did get to participate in Tim’s wedding as a member of his wedding party. He married a woman named Chris Fox, a fellow UA student. The festivities were held in Trail Dust Town, and we all had a blast.
Scott and Tim both became police officers with the Tucson Police Department after college. What an amazing coincidence! I never dreamed Tim would become a cop. He just didn’t seem like the type. He was such a freak, with all that long hair, his guitar playing and his love for partying. He even moved on from the police department and went to work for the FBI, which was even more shocking. While I knew that Scott liked hunting and shooting guns, it came as a huge surprise to learn that he too had joined the police force. I lost touch with both of them long ago, but I think of them often. They were good guys. I miss them both, but so many years have gone by, I wonder how we’d get along now.
Another death in the family occurred in late December. My cousin Charlie Mendoza died from burn wounds he received from a car accident that took place near 22nd and Country Club on December 27. His brother Richard, who was driving the car Charlie was in, survived. Charlie was only 19. It was a terrible tragedy.
I didn’t spend much time with my friend Dennis in 1985. Unfortunately, he got sick, and by January of 1986, had passed away. He was a great friend, and we had a lot of fun together. His death was heartbreaking. He was the second of my friends who died of AIDS. The other was Leonard Brown. I had met both of them through John, my ex, back in 1979. They were real characters, and I think of them often.
My mom and dad were doing well at this time in their lives, although my mom still struggled with her aches and pains. My dad retired from the mines, and he and mom spent most of their time taking care of their grandchildren and great grandchildren. By 1985, my niece Belisa had three kids, Michelle had one, and my brother Rudy also had two. Fred’s daughter Edessa also spent a lot of time with my parents. Our family would continue to grow as the years went by. Becky and I were the only two who didn’t have children, but there were already plenty of grandkids to keep my parents busy.
Other stuff:
We were in the midst of the Reagan era. He had just won re-election at the end of 1984, so we were in for another four years of terrible fun. His administration was corrupt to the core and there were indictments and resignations taking place throughout the year. Reagan also continued to ignore the AIDS crisis, which hit Tucson pretty hard in 1985. He was also secretly funding the Contras, and a big scandal broke out that would continue for another two years.
On the bright side, there were lots of concerts that took place in Tucson that Brent and I both attended, and there were some great movies that came out as well, along with a number of great albums by some of my favorite artists. The following visual chronology includes many of these as well as other memorable events, places and topics.
A photographic/graphic chronology of events and activities for the year:
Brent and I had just met in mid-December, 1984. In this photo we are visiting a couple of his friends at Christmastime.
My 1985 War Resisters League Planner.
I hosted an Aretha Franklin special on KXCI on January 13. It was a retrospective look at her career. I loved putting it together.
A birthday card from my friends Bruce and Liz. Bruce and I were in the Teatro together.
This was released on January 15. I love this album. Fogerty’s comeback.
My photo as it appeared on my University of Arizona identification card.
My Spring ’85 list of courses.
This was required reading in my Foundations class.
Another requred text.
One of the first things we were encouraged to do was to join the American Library Association. Students memberships were very inexpensive.
Not another Charlie King concert! Oh yes, once a year, every year. This one took place on February 8, 1985. Another Itzaboutime! Production.
These guys are amazing. I played their music all the time on my radio show. They came to Tucson on February 23, 1985, courtesy of KXCI.
Released on March 1, 1985. Love this silly film! It took me a while, however, to see it. John Waters, what a nutcase!
Released on 03/07/85.
One of the last shows I hosted before I quit KXCI was a tribute show featuring the music of Billie Holiday. I just loved this woman to pieces.
I played this song on my radio show and dedicated it to all my brothers and sisters. There’s nothing like outing yourself on the radio!
Joan Baez, mid-80s.
Joan Baez performed two benefit concerts on April 4 at the Temple Emmanuel. This was the third time I got to see her live.
Brent and I attended our very first mariachi conference concert. Linda Ronstadt and Mariachi Cobre were the featured artists, if I’m not mistaken. We bought a copy of this poster in commemoration of the occasion. In the coming years, especially after my mom died, I would become a huge fan of the genre.
Another Ted Warmbrand, Itzaboutime production. I loved this concert, held on April 27, 1985.
This is one of the funniest comedy albums ever made. Released on 05.01/85.
The great Tito Puente, doing his thing.
I remember this well. Tito Puente played at the Randolph Park Bandshell in the middle of the day. My friends and I danced our butts off.
In the kitchen at home.
I did well this semester.
Jose Angel Gutierrez spoke at the UofA Mexican American Studies Convocation on May 10, 1985.
Gutierrez was a great speaker. I’m glad I attended this.
It was good to be back on the air after an absence of several months. I started back up on June 11, 1985, and hosted the Chicano Connection Revisited from 11pm to 1am on Thursday nights.
This was released on 6/15/85. Critics, for the most part, hated it. I loved it, especially the song “Clean Cut Kid” and “Dark Eyes”.
I attended this day-long seminar. It was very informative.
My name tag for the seminar.
My Union steward pin. I still have it.
I tried to get involved with the Tucson Gay and Lesbian Pride Committee around this time. I saved a copy of the bylaws. The picnic at Himmel Park, now in its second year, was a blast. Brent and I went together.
I received this in recognition of the time I spent volunteering at the Valencia Branch of the Tucson Public library during the summer of 1985.
I was one of the first dj’s in Tucson to play the song Freeway of Love from the album, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”. I started spinning it as soon as the album was released on July 9, 1985. What a great record. Aretha was back with a vengeance!
Money for the Fall semester….Yippee!
Live-Aid was a huge affair. It was broadcast on July 13 first in Britain and then later in the U.S. I watched it at my parent’s house since I didn’t own a tv.
My dad’s oldest brother, Raul Diaz, died in July. He was a kind man, and smoked cigars constantly. He also played the harmonica and owned a bakery in Superior at one point. In later years, he delivered milk to the entire community.
For more information about my tio Raul and his family check out the blog entry I wrote for my tio on his birthday in 2020.
My uncle’s obituary.
The priest did a terrible job of eulogizing my uncle. I’ll never forget how bad it was. My uncle was a great man, and deserved much better.
Brent’s car looked just like this. We drove it to Michigan and back in July.
Our route was something like this.
I’d never heard of Muskegon before I met Brent. It’s on the western side of the state, right near Lake Michigan.
Brent’s parents lived just north of Muskegon in Twin Lake.
Brent and I visiting his family in Michigan.
One of Brent’s uncles had a friend who lived right on the lake. He took us boating one day. It was gorgeous.
I loved this film. It was released on July 26, 1985. I read the book too.
Duo Guardabarranco, from Nicaragua. While Brent and I were in Michigan, my friend Ted let them stay at our house. They broke my stereo, if I remember correctly. I had to buy a new needle for it. Oh well. They were amazing performers. This is a beautiful record and was released either in late ’84 or early ’85.
Original flyer for the concert.
This was the first time I’ve ever heard Guardabarranco. My friend Ted brought them to town. This was the first of many visits to Tucson. From the Az Daily Star, August 6, 1985.
I love Neil’s country flavored records. He was heavily criticized for saying something nice about Ronald Reagan at the time. I didn’t care. I loved the record. Released on 08/12/85.
This was my textbook for cataloging.
Another textbook for cataloging.
Released on 8/21/85. I didn’t see it until years later. I have always loved Jane Fonda.
My two babies.
A major earthquake hit Mexico City on the morning September 17, 1985. It was a strong one, of 8.0 magnitude, and it killed at least 5,000 people. Hundreds of buildings collapsed and thousands more were damaged. Cost of the damage was estimated to be in the billions of dollars. It was a major tragedy.
Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellancamp put this annual fundraiser together. The first one was held on 09/22/85.
One of the scholarships I received while in Library School.
Released 10/04/85.
I missed the ceremony where this was supposed to be presented to me.
Released on 10/30/85. A great album.
Released on November 7, 1985. One of the best Dylan retrospectives to ever be released.
This was a wonderful concert.
Hanging out at home.
Premiered on television on November 11, 1985. A very sad movie. It helped break the silence about the AIDS crisis.
Such a disappointment. My brother Charles and I took our mom to this concert and it was over before we knew it. What a drag.
No kidding.
I was a member of the wedding party. This was the second and last wedding in which I ever participated.
I missed Brent, and I didn’t do as well in school this semester as in the Spring. But I got through it anyway. One year down, one to go…
What a movie! Released on 12/18/85.
A Christmas letter from my friend Jane Cruz. This was hers and Ron’s first Christmas away from Tucson.
A Christmas card from my next door neighbor, Maria Netherton. She was a sweet older lady who worked at Haskell Linen Supply, just up the street, for many, many years.
My cousin Charlie Mendoza died in late December from burn wounds he received in a tragic car accident. He was only 19 years old.
