December 1: World AIDS Day…Here’s to all my friends that are no longer here: Dennis, Rene, Leonard, Eddie, Efrain, and so many others. Living through the AIDS crisis, especially in the 80s and 90s, was such a nightmare. Thank God Ruben and I made it and didn’t get sick. Our generation of gay men was decimated.
The Tucson Aidswalk will take place on December 6, 2025.
When I lived in Ann Arbor (’87-92), ACT UP was formed by Larry Kramer in New York, and there were big, dramatic acts of disobedience practiced across the country, protesting the federal government’s lack of concern about the disease. I bought an Act-Up t-shirt with a big pink triangle in support of the cause. It was a tank top and after a while it fit too tight, so I gave it away eventually. I also coordinated UA Library participation in the Tucson Aidswalk in the early 90s. We raised a lot of money for a couple of years there. This year’s 37th annual Aidswalk is scheduled for December 6, 2025.
December 3, 2025:
Library funding at the national level is an issue near and dear to me. I’ve been going to Washington for the past three years to participate in ALA-coordinated meetings with elected representatives on Capitol Hill to urge them to continue to support the Institute of Museums and Library Services and other related programs that benefit the public. It was a real shock when Trump took the funding away. This is such good news!
For immediate release | December 3, 2025: ALA welcomes reinstatement of all federal IMLS grants to libraries.
Washington – Today, the American Library Association (ALA) greeted an announcement by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that it had reinstated all the agency’s grants, including those to libraries and library organizations across the country. The grant reinstatements come as a direct result of a November 21 federal court decision in a lawsuit brought against President Trump by 21 states.
ALA President Sam Helmick said, “ALA welcomes the good news that IMLS is restoring all federal grants that had previously been terminated. This means that libraries across the country will be able to resume vital services for learning, imagination, and economic opportunity.
“Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states. Every public, school and academic library and their patrons benefit from the research findings and program outcomes from individual library and organization grantees.
“We are breathing a sigh of relief, but the fight is not finished. The administration can appeal court decisions. Congress can choose to not fund IMLS in future years. ALA calls on everyone who values libraries to remind their Congressmembers and elected officials at every level why America’s libraries deserve more, not fewer resources.”
On March 14, President Trump issued Executive Order 14238, which directed the elimination of the agency. Subsequently, the Trump Administration began mass termination of the agency’s grants.
On November 21, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island struck down the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle IMLS. The decision was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 21 states. The agency’s reinstatement of grants follows that ruling.
In parallel to the states’ litigation, ALA also has led efforts in Congress and the courts to preserve IMLS. ALA filed its own lawsuit challenging the Administration’s actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which remains ongoing. ALA also mobilized thousands of contacts from library supporters nationwide urging Congress to protect IMLS.
December 4: My brother Rudy’s birthday. He’d be 77 today. This photo was taken in 1969, I think. Rudy coached a little league team at this time. My brother Fred and a bunch of our friends from the neighborhood were on it.
Media
Rudy used to be a little league coach. This photo is from one of those group shots. He was about 20 years old here. He passed away two years ago, on November 30, 2023.
December 4: My mom’s sister Dora Sainz passed away on this day in 1994. She was quite a lady!
My aunt Dora Rascon Sainz passed away on December 4, 1994. She was my mom’s younger sister. She and her husband Armando Sainz, also pictured here, moved to the Bay area in the late 1940s and never came back, except to visit on occasion.
December 5, 2025: During a protest that occurred after an ICE raid, Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was pepper-sprayed by ICE agents and treated quite rudely. This occurred outside the restaurant “El Taco Giro” on N. Grande Blvd.
December 6: Happy Birthday to Agnes Moorehead.
December 6: Happy Birthday, Agnes Moorehead! 1900-1974. What a talented actress! She had a long, productive career.
Deccember 6: In memory of Roy Orbison.
Here’s a great live version of Pretty Woman. Chet Atkins and Bruce Springston share guitar riffs. It’s pretty incredible.
December 6 is also National Miner’s Day. I’m including a photo of my dad at San Manuel. He worked there a long, long time.
Here’s a song by Marta Lopez, who wrote the following corrido during the Phelps Dodge Copper Strike in Clifton-Morenci, Arizona. Teatro Libertad, the theatre group I belonged to back in the early 1980s used to sing this song during our play, La Vida del Cobre.
December 7: Pearl Harbor Day. The USS Arizona was one of the major battle ships struck down by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona Collection is housed in Special Collections. It has a lot of photos of the ship and the men who lived on it. For more information about the ship’s history, visit my blog post about it titled, The Life and Legacy of the U.S.S. Arizona / Exhibition, August 29, 2016-December 23, 2016.
In New York harbor.
The ship is hit and goes down. A day that will live in infamy…
December 8: John Lennon dies
December 8:
In memory of my grandfather, Antonio Palacios Diaz, 1885-12/8/1954
December 9: Brokeback Mountain premieres on this day in 2005. I loved the movie. The tragic ending hit me hard.
December 9: Happy Birthday, Dame Judi Dench, who turns 91 today. ! What a fabulous actress!
Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench, lifelong friends…
December 9: Happy Birthday, Billy Edd Wheeler! (December 9, 1932 – September 16, 2024). Wheeler was a folksinger/songwriter from West Virginia. His songs addressed themes about the environment and coal mining, and were recorded by the likes of Judy Collins and Judy Henske, as well as many others. Here’s my favorite:
December 10: Otis Redding dies in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin. 12/10/67.
Otis Redding in action 9/9/1941-12/10/1967
December 11: Happy Birthday, Big Mama Thornton
Big Mama Thornton was bon on December 11, 1926 in Ariton, Alabama. She died on July 25, 1984 in Los Angeles. She was a great blues singer and harmonica player.
December 12: El Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe
Here are Lola Beltran and Lucha Villa singing to the Virgen. From the movie, Mexico de Mi Corazon…
December 12: Vicente Fernandez dies on 12/12/21. He was born on February 17, 1940. He was 81 years old.
Here’s one of my favorite Vicente Fernandez tunes.
December 13: My grandfather, Donato Rascon, Sr. dies at the age of 41 in 1937 in Superior, Arizona.
Also on December 13th: My nice Michelle is born. She is my sister Irene’s middle daughter. We were four years apart in age.
December 14:
Dinah Wasington was a scandalous woman who had men galore and took pills and drank booze. She was also a great singer who could sing any style of music. She was married at least 7 times.
December 15: Happy Birthday, Lady Mary from Downton Abbey (Real name: Michelle Dockery, born on December 15, 1981.
Check out the following clip. It has two great scenes, from Downton Abbey, of course.
December 15: Today is the the 135th anniversary of the passing of the great Indian leader, Sitting Bull, who was killed on 12/15/1890. The great Hunkpapa Lakota leader led his people to victory during the Battle of Little Big Horn.
December 15: Remembering the great Glenn Miller, who died during World War II on this day in 1944.
3/1/1904 to12/15/1944
December 15: Happy Birthday, Tim Conway!
Check out the following clip from the Carol Burnett show. It’s hilarious.
1791 US Bill of Rights is ratified and becomes Amendments 1 through 10 of the US Constitution when Virginia gives its approval
December 15: Gone With the Wind premieres on this day in 1939. It’s an epic film that one must see at least once.
December 16: The Boston Tea Party took place in 1773. Ruben and I love visiting Boston. There is so much to see and do there. Last time we visited we walked the Freedom Trail. It was very interesting. There’s history on every corner of this great city.
My crazy, fun-loving cousin Martin Olguin died on December 17, 1994, just a day before his mom’s birthday. He was only 37 years old. Rest in peace, primo.
December 18: Happy Birthday to my Aunt Mary Olguin. She was my mom’s youngest sibling and was born on this day in 1932 in Superior, Arizona. She is shown here with my dad’s youngest brother Rafael, or Failo as we all called him. They dated briefly. The photo was taken either in the late 40s or early 50s, before both moved on and married other people.
December 19: Happy Birthday, Phil Ochs, born on December 19, 1940. He committed suicide on 4/9/76. he wrote some great music.
December 19: Work update–Today was our last day at work for the year. We are now in our winter break period. The University will be shut down until Monday, January 5. I finished out the year by completing the processing portion of the work I’m doing on the William Wilde architecture collection. It was a big project that included 10 boxes and hundreds of files. All I have to do now is to include the drawings inventory and then I have to write the narrative for the collection. Then it can be turned on and made live! After that, I plan to finish my work on the architecture libguide. I should have it done well before my final review for the year. These were two of my main goals for the year. The other was to manage Libanswers, and I’ve kept up with that work quite well.
Personal update: I’m working hard at getting a grip on my finances. I received my very first social security check this month, and with the increase in income, I’ll be better able to pay off my debts, and more quickly too. It’s been a real eye-opener seeing where our money goes on a weekly basis. As a result of this, I’ve stopped spending like I had been. I have not been eating out every day, nor have I been buying books, music or film. Ruben and I don’t go out to eat as much now, nor is he going to the store every day like he had been doing. This is all good, because we are spending less money. Everything is so expensive nowadays.
December 21, 2025: Happy Birthday Jane Fonda.
She was born on December 21, 1937. She is 88 years old. Amazing. She’s one of my favorite actresses and a real activist.
Also on December 21: Emma Goldman, along with 250 other “alien radicals,” is deported to Russia by the US government at the urging of J. Edgar Hoover. Ms. Goldman was way ahead of her time. I read her autobiography titled, “Living My Life” back in the early 90s.
December 24: Happy Birthday, Richard Elias! Looking good, ese.
December 24: It’s Lalo Guerrero’s birthday too!
December 25: Merry Christmas!
December 25: Remembering Dean Martin on the anniversary of his passing. (6/7/17-12/25/95)
Happy Birthday, Annie Lennox. Born on December 25, 1954.
December 27: Happy Birthday, Dad!
December 28: Happy Birthday Maggie Smith!
December 29: The Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 took place 135 years ago today.
This May 13, 2012, photo shows the Wounded Knee Cemetery in Wounded Knee, S.D. The site, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which is home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is where more than 250 Lakota men, women and children were killed by the 7th Cavalry in 1890. (AP Photo/Kristi Eaton)
December 31: Natalie Cole died on this day in 2015. She was one of my favorite vocalists.
I love this song…
Final thoughts for the year…
Today is Wednesday, December 31. I have been at home since 12/22, as the University is closed for the holiday break. I have spent most of this time with Ruben, but he’s also been working. I don’t go back to work until January 6, next Tuesday. Although we did attend a family gathering at Ruben’s brother’s house and we had dinner with our friends Ernie and Nancy, we haven’t done much else. It’s been a quiet holiday. We didn’t shop at all, nor did we do much other than go out to eat every now and then. I must admit we have been eating well. My sister gave me a dozen red chili tamales that one of her daughters had made, and man, they were delicious! I hadn’t had such good tamales in a long, long, time.
It’s been a rough year, a tough one to get through. Trump. He’s managed to survive scandal after scandal. He’s ruined our country as much as he could this past year and he’s not done. But neither are we. We will continue to resist tyranny and fascism. We will rise in victory, and it will be soon. 2026 will be a much better year for democracy in the United States.
October 1, 2025: The federal government is shut down. Families reliant on SNAP assistance, air traffic controllers working without pay, parks rangers with no pay either, and so many more people got royally stiffed before it was all over. Meanwhile, Trump bails out Argentina to the tune of $50 billion and finds other large pots of money for his wealthy buddies and himself. Can this beast get any worse?
The impact of this is being felt everywhere. When is this madness going to stop?
10-4-25: Federal officers holding down a protestor in Chicago after there was a killing of a woman…
My dad in 1938, age 18. Photo was restored with AI on 10-9-25.
Although she wasn’t my favorite actress, I did like the First Wives Club and the movie Looking for Mr. Goodbar, which was creepy. I also know I saw her in Annie Hall and Manhattan, but I don’t really remember them well. Rest in peace Diane Keaton. January 5, 1946 – October 11, 2025
10-12-25. My dna test from Ancestry.com states that I am 40% indigenous with roots in Sonora and Arizona. My mother’s people were Spanish, Opata, Apache, Mayo and maybe Yaqui too. I don’t know for sure. The rest of my ancestral family comes from the Iberian peninsula, with a small percentage from northern Africa and other African locations. I’m all in favor of setting the historical record straight. Columbus didn’t discover America. It was already there. He was lost. The Indians discovered him.
10-14-25: This Chicago journalist was thrown to the ground in Chicago by border patrol agents. They alleged that she threw things at them. She claimed she was merely on her way to catch the bus to work, and is suing them. See more at: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/us/wgn-employee-detained-debbie-brockman
10-14-25: With the help of Google Gemini, what was originally a black and white photo was transformed into a pic in full color. From left to right: Juan Villegas, me, and Scott Egan singing a mining song, most likely. This was taken during our play, La Vida Del Cobre, which ran in 1983 and 1984. Dang, I sure was thin!
10-14-25
October 15: I turn 66 and 10 months today. It’s time to apply for Social Security! My first check should arrive in mid-December!
Happy Birthday to my niece Belisa Martinez. She turned 63 on October 18. She’s my sister Irene’s oldest daughter and mother to Estrella, Raymond and Jackie. We grew up together.
10-18-25: No Kings Day across the country. Ruben and I were on our way to Buffalo on this day. We missed all the fun.
10-19-25
Here are more restored photos. The woman in the first two photos is Olivia Rascon, my grandfather’s sister. The man is her husband, Luis Flores.
My grandfather Donato Rascon Sr and his son Donato Rascon Jr. My grandfather’s sister and her family are shown in the middle. Samples of traditional Spanish dress. I love this stuff. Click on graphic to enlarge.
10-18-25 to 10-29-25: Our New York vacation.
We spent nearly two weeks in the Buffalo area for the second year in a row. We had a much better idea of what to do and where to go this time around, and we did a lot of new things, including riding on the the Maid of the Mist boat tour at Niagara Falls, taking a trek down to Jamestown to visit the Lucy and Desi museum, and a trip over to Farmington, which is southeast of Rochester, to visit the Ontario antique mall. We also shopped at the various antique stores in suburban Buffalo and went to the Walden Galleria, a big shopping mall close to our hotel. We spent a lot of money on new clothes and food, and we ate quite well. We found a new breakfast place called “the Old Pancake House”, but we still visited the Olympic Cafe several times. We had beef on Weck, delicious Polish, German and Italian meals and lots of other scrumptious food. I gained a few pounds while there. There were things we didn’t get to see, so we will likely head over to that area of the country again in the next few years. We love Buffalo!
While we were exploring downtown we accidentally got on the bridge to Canada. I left my passport in the hotel room, and they stopped and interrogated us. They fingerprinted me too. There’s another person out there in the world with the same name as mine and he’s wanted for something. We were let go after about 45 minutes. I made a real boo boo by leaving my passport behind.
We drove to Jamestown to visit the Lucy and Desi Museum. It was a beautiful, rainy drive from Buffalo to Jamestown that took us through many small towns in southwestern New York.
10-23-25 She still hasn’t been sworn in.
October 27, 2025: Freddie died on October 27, one year ago today. I’m still shocked that he’s gone. We were very close when we were kids, just 2 1/2 years apart. This photo was taken in 1979 when Fred was 23.
October 31, 2025:
Ruben and I inside the Sahuarita, Az. Municipal courthouse, where we were married on October 31, 2014 by our good friend Maria Avilez. Ruben’s parents were our witnesses. We’ve been legally married for 11 years, but together since 1993. It’ll be 33 years next February 27.
Happy Halloween!
Here’s a song for the occasion:
November 2: Today is El Dia De Los Muertos. My mom passed away on this date back in 1988. It’s always been a sad day for me. Here’s a photo of my mom when she was in her late 20s. She was such a beauty!
There are several songs about death, or “la muerte” in Spanish, including the one below, which I just love, and the one that follows. I first heard these songs sung by Amparo Ochoa, the great Mexican folk singer, who in many ways led the way for the women who are featured in the videos below. The last one below, titled La Muerte, sung by Pepe Aguilar, was also recorded by Lola Beltran and Antonio Aguilar.
November 3, 2025: My sister Irene’s 82nd birthday.
My eldest sister Irene was born on November 3. She is 82, believe it or not. The photo below was taken in 2023. She is shown here with me and my brother Charles, who just turned 80 in late September, at her granddaughter Dominique’s wedding reception.
November 7, 2025: Joni Mitchell’s birthday.
Joni Mitchell also turned 82, on November 7. I’ve been a big fan of Ms. Mitchell since my college days back in the late 70s. I’ve kept up closely with her career over the years, and I have nearly all of her recorded output. When she fell ill with a brain aneurysm in 2015, however, I was at a point where I didn’t think as highly of her as I had in the past. She had taken to speaking harshly about some of my other musical heroes, most notably Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. I felt she was being quite arrogant about her own talent and art, and I didn’t like what she said. Her comments about Dylan being a ripoff artist with very little musical talent were just too much to take, and her comments about Joan Baez and her mother seemed very childish and cruel to me. Any sense of humility that she might have had seemed to have gone out the window.
It was quite surprising to see people like Brandi Carlisle come out of the woodwork to help her with her recovery. Carlisle recorded the entire Blue album in 2019, and was enamored with Joni’s work. However, I keep asking myself, who is this person? I had never heard of Brandi Carlisle. Was she a country singer? Was she a women’s singer? Who knows? I don’t know of a single tune that she’s made popular on her own. I can’t help but think that she was partly motivated by a sense of opportunism. (I hope I’m wrong). She is certainly well known now, after appearing at Joni’s side at every single public event that Joni’s performed at the past few years. Oh well. Joni made a great comeback, from nearly dying to singing and playing the guitar at public venues again. I’m glad she is doing better. One can’t deny that she is a gifted singer and writer. I’ll always love her music. The video that follows is from the album Night Ride Home.
November 8, 2025: I’ve been working all year on a committee with a group of people to pull together an exhibition and programs celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center. Liz Soltero, executive director of the Sunnyside Foundation, and Professor Jaqueline Barrios, from the U of A, coordinated the work of the committee. I was asked to participate as a community “curator”, and I contributed a ton of information about the south side and Teatro Libertad. The program took place all day on Saturday. I was part of a panel presentation on the Chicano Movement that also included Dr. Lydia Otero, and Raul Aguirre. In less than four minutes I talked about Teatro Libertad and noted that its home base was the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center. I mentioned a few things about the history of the group and my recollections as a former member. Lydia spoke very eloquently about Chicano ideology and Raul talked about Chicano leadership. Together, we did quite well. The audience was very happy.
Jacqueline Barrios giving a presentation to the medi. Mona Grijalva engaged in a panel discussion about her husband’s archives.
A couple of exhibition panels.
Isabel Garcia, a friend, Mona Grijalva and Betty Villegas. To the right are Selina Barajas and Ana Sanchez, who were both on the planning committee.
Exhibition panels.
Me and Jaqueline. Members of the planning group. Some weren’t present.
Liz Soltero moderating a panel that featured me, Lydia Otero and Raul Aguirre. The theme of our presentation was the Chicano Movement.
Dr. Kenny Wong, Mona Grijalva, and Dr. Jacqueline Barrios. In the photo next to them is my good friend Ted Warmbrand.
November 12, 2025
The shutdown has ended. Eight Democratic senators caved. People want Schumer removed as the lead Democratic Senator. The good news is that now that the Senate has passed this awful bill, the House has to re-convene, and Adelita Grijalva will be sworn in by Mike Johnson. She’s committed to adding her name to the list of congresspeople who want to have the Epstein files released. This should be very interesting.
“As the shutdown progressed, effects rippled. Delays and flight cancellations started racking up for passengers as the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to cut back on flights because of air traffic controller shortages. There were closures at Smithsonian museum sites and the National Zoo (although the animals still got fed). About 1.25 million federal workers haven’t been paid since Oct. 1, missing about $16 billion in wages, according to official estimates. The workers were either furloughed or worked without pay in agencies across the federal government. Many struggled to make ends meet during that time, and the regional economy around Washington, D.C., took a hit”.–AP News, story by Deepti Hajela 11/13/25
After her speech, Congresswoman Grijalva signed the petition to have the Epstein files released. Her signature was all that was needed to reach the magic number of votes to force the files to be released, so House speaker Mike Johnson is scheduling a vote for next week, before the Thanksgiving break. It will be an interesting next several days, that’s for sure, as things are really heating up over the release of the files. More and more of the material getting leaked out and is getting reported on in the news. It looks really bad for Trump. I hope justice will prevail.
November 15, 2025: Happy Anniversary Fred and Cathy. And happy birthday , Barbie! I had a great time at your gathering at the El Casino Ballroom. It was great to have a chance to hang out with my brother Charles and his wife Elaine too!
Barbie and her parents Cathy and Fred. Barbie told me I was her favorite at the gathering. How sweet of her.
Cathy and Fred are serenaded by one granddaughter, while another watches intently. It was the cutest thing.
My buddy Mario Aguilar took this photo of Elaine, Charles and me.
November 15: Happy Birthday to my niece ,Anadine Lopez. She is my sisterIrene’s daughter and she turned 59 this year. This was a photo taken in 1967, more or less. I posted it on her Facebook wall.
November 18, 2025
Both the House and the Senate voted today to release the Epstein files. At first, Mike Johnson made it sound like the Senate wouldn’t budge on moving forward, but things changed after the House was just one vote shy (427-1) of a unanimous decision to have them released. The Senate moved quickly to push the bill through. It now goes to Trump, who has said he will sign the bill. We’ll see.
November 19, 2025: A surprise from Elaine…
Way back in 1971, my brother Charles and his wife Elaine lived in a small apartment on E. Eastland, just a few blocks away from my parent’s house. On Thanksgiving, they invited me and my brother Fred over for dinner. Elaine also invited her nephew Philip to join us. I remember this occasion quite well. Their 8 month old daughter Valerie is shown below sitting in front of the turkey Elaine had preprared.
11-20-2025: Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse…
11-20-25: From the desk of Pennsyslvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Trump’s threats were widely condemned, but a few elected officials and others defended this sorry excuse of a human being. What trash.
November 22, 2025: Mt Lemon had snow yesterday and today 7 inches were expected to fall. We got a lot of rain today in the city. It’s been raining since early this afternoon.
November 22: St. Cecilia’s Day. A noblewoman from 3rd-century Rome known for her unwavering faith and vow of virginity St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music, musicians and poets. Her feast day is celebrated with musical events and church services, and is a day to reflect on music’s ability to connect with the divine and uplift the soul.
St. Cecilia
November 25: Jackson Browne’s son Ethan has died. He was only 51. How sad. He was a model, musician and actor, and according to Jackson, a wonderful father. Below is another photo of him. Ethan’s mom, Phyllis committed suicide when Ethan was three, and Jackson raised him. Ethan and his father appeared on the cover of the Rolling Stone in 1974. He was such a cute kid, and he grew up to be quite handsome and talented.
November 27, 2025:
Macy’s was having a sale! I bought these online at 8 in the morning. They arrived at my doorstep the following day. They feel very comfortable.
I promised my sister Irene that I would go to her daughter Anadine’s house to have dinner with them. Anadine lives out near Wilmot and I-10, so I left the house at 2:30 to get there on time. We agreed to meet at 3pm. I was the first one there, however. Oh well. I got to spend time with Ana. I watched as she cooked and set things up. Irene and Phil then showed up with a 27 pound turkey, pies and a lot of other food. Ana prepared a lot of dishes too. After a while other family members showed up. I hung out with Irene’s partner Phil and we watched the Dallas- Kansas City football game. The rest of the family all sat in the den and watched it too. I’m not crazy about football, so I didn’t pay much attention. Instead, I played with the two little girls shown on the right. It was soon time to eat, and before I knew it I had gobbled down a huge plate of food that included turkey, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes, and other scrumptious dishes. I sure was full!
Estrella, her daughters Gabriela, Brisette and Megan with Estrellas partner and Megan’s boyfriend hanging out in the den watching the game. Brisette’s little girl and Charlotte had a great time together.
Estrella’s daughter Charlotte smiles for the camera as my sister Irene prepares dinner.
While I was at my sisters, my partner was getting ready to go see his family at his mom’s house. She told him to be there at 6pm, and I told him I would go with him. Unfortunately, we didn’t start to eat at Ana’s until 5, so I called Ruben and told him that I would just meet him at his mom’s shortly after 6. Ruben’s sister and her son and his wife were all there. Apparently, Ruben’s mom got the time wrong, and by the time Ruben got there everyone had already eaten. He did get to eat, but some of the dishes, like the stuffing were all gone. I showed up around 6:20 and ate just a little bit. I was really full by the end of the night. Ruben’s brother Robert, his wife Pat, Ruben’s sister Mina and her husband John, and their son Joe and his wife Tina were all there. So was little Rene, his girlfriend and their little boy. It was good to see them. It had been a long time.
Ruben and I left sometime around 8:30. It was a full day. I’m glad I got to see of the family. I need to do that more often.
November 29: In memory of George Harrison, February 25, 1943 to November 29, 2001. He was always my favorite Beatle.
November 29: We put up our tree early this year. I will likely put up lights outside sometime soon. The tree is decorated with a bunch of antique, vintage ornaments that we found at various antique stores in the Buffalo area the past two years. The tree is small, but it’s pretty.
November 30: Today marks the 2 year anniversary of my brother Rudy’s passing. I miss him terribly. Here’s a photo taken at my brother Charles’s house. Rudy was born in 1948 and was about 10 years and a month older than me. I always looked up to him when I was a kid. He loved the Beatles and was a talented athlete in his youth.
It’s the end of November. Where does the time go? The Christmas tree and lights are all up now, and sales ads are popping up everywhere. Both my Facebook account and my email accounts are getting hit hard. It’s very frustrating because it’s so tempting to buy just one more pair of shoes! I’ve already bought two new pairs of them!
I weeded out my closet and organized it this past weekend. I don’t need another pair of shoes or any more pants or shirts. I have tons of clothes. All I have to do is iron them and wear them. I am done wearing t-shirts to work. My brother Rudy always had very nice clothes, and the rest of my brothers and sisters also knew how to dress well. Me? Forget it. I’ve always been a bit on the sloppy side, a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, and even though I have worn button down shirts and ties in the past, I hate the way they feel on me. I have a big neck. Lately, however, I’ve begun to show more interest in what I wear and how I look. I’m told that wearing darker solid colors on top is a great way to make you look thinner. I’m very big at the moment, so I have to work at putting stuff together so that it doesn’t look like I’m pregnant. I have too many plaid shirts, and they make you look bigger than you really are. I have to stay away from them! My better half helps me with color, since I’m red/green color blind and can’t tell brown from red or green sometimes. I feel better when I am wearing nice clothes. I look forward to doing a lot of ironing in the coming year!
A New Year’s greeting card from Warsaw, Poland 1978. From the William Wilde Collection of architectural materials and drawings. Special Collections, The University of Arizona.
Things to know up front:
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Every chapter in My Life Story and many of my blogs include information about me, my work, my family and my friends.They also include information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought were significant to me personally, and important enough to add to the mix. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, much of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their materials removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
I haven’t written anything in a while. My last post went live in March, 2025, so I thought it was time to provide a general update. I’ll discuss topics and events going back to the beginning of the year, and will continue to add to this post until the end of September. Then I’ll start another entry for October. This one is going to be longer than the next one, that’s for sure. Well, here goes….
Ruben and I on vacation in Niagara Falls, Fall, 2024.
I’m still happily married to Ruben J. (partners since 1993, but legally married since 2014) and still work at the University of Arizona Libraries, where I just celebrated 33 years of employment. I manage the reference and referrals process for the Special Collections Department of the University of Arizona Libraries. Since May, I have also taken the lead in setting up appointments for customers via our online calendar. This takes up the bulk of my time. As an archivist, I also process collections and compile statistics. I am the curator for the performing arts and architecture. I enjoy working in these areas. I answer lots of reference questions about vaudeville and architecture, as well as music and local and regional history. I just had my mid-year review, and it went well. I’m on track to meet my goals on time. My updated curriculum vitae is available here:
1/7/25: Fires start in Los Angeles area. A very destructive fire. Sad, sad, sad. Over 13,000 structures are destroyed, including most of Sunset Boulevard. At least 29 deaths are reported, while 180,000 people are evacuated, with fires continuing for days. (Wikipedia)
Jimmy Carter’s official state funeral Jan. 9.
I thought President Jimmy Carter was a great man and a good president. He wasn’t a hawk, and he loosened the reigns of American imperialism in Central America. For example, he gave the Panama Canal back to the Republic of Panama, its rightful owners. This was done via the Torrijos-Carter Treaties of 1977. The Sandinistas also came to power in Nicaragua in the late 70s during Carter’s presidency, but we all know what happened next! Reagan got elected and funded the Contra war.
Throughout his life, President Carter lived as a true humanitarian. He and his wife were models of hospitality, graciousness and wisdom. They sure don’t make ’em like this anymore!
I turned 66 on January 15. I took the 14th and 15th off to celebrate. The day of my birthday, Ruben and I had lunch at La Casa Molina. We both ate chimichangas. Mine had shredded beef and Ruben’s had beans inside. We then wandered around 4th Ave. I bought an Aretha Franklin t-shirt at the Hippie Gypsy. It was a birthday present to myself. Ruben bought a nice hat at the Tucson Thrift Shop. We had a late dinner at Portillo’s. I love their double bacon cheeseburgers the best. It was a good day. If I recall correctly, I also talked to my sisters Becky and Irene. They always call on my birthday.
A birthday card from my co-workers at the Library.
I got this for my birthday.
I published a blog titled “Happy Birthday Jose Alfredo Jimenez”. 1/19/25. He’s Mexico’s best known composer of “la cancion ranchera”. My parents just loved him. So do I. Even though his songs are full of machismo and la borrachera, they come straight from the heart. He was the best. The blog includes links to a radio show I did featuring Jimenez’s music. I did several tribute shows in his honor over the years.
Photo of Jose Alfredo Jimenez that appeared on the album “La Enorme Distancia”, his masterpiece.
Guadalupe Pineda, Tania Libertad and Eugenia Leon sing the Jose Alfredo Jimenez classic Pa Todo El Ano wth the legendary Paquita La Del Barrio, who passed away on 2-17-25.
1/19/25: Leonard Peltier’s sentence is commuted by President Biden. Back when I was a graduate student in the Sociology program in 1983, I did research on the American Indian Movement and learned about how the federal government used Leonard Peltier as a scapegoat, falsely accusing him of murder and sending him to prison for decades. One of President Biden’s last acts was to pardon him, finally.
1/20/25: Trump inauguration. A sad, sad day indeed. “In the first day of his return to office, President Donald Trump issues pardons to over 1500 of his supporters charged in connection with the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, declares a national emergency at the southern border, and withdraws the US from the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement on Climate.”
January 23-27, Trip to Chandler.
I stayed a few days in Chandler, Az (January 23-27), at the end of January. ALA was having a LibLearnX conference in downtown Phoenix. I thought it would be a breeze getting around, but downtown Phoenix has become a nightmare as far as traffic and driving in it are concerned. The conference was too much of a hassle to get to. I really tried, but I hate traffic jams, so I got out of downtown and didn’t go back. I did other stuff. Chandler wasn’t bad at all. There were lots of good restaurants and places to shop. I felt like I was in heaven because there were so many thrift stores in the area. I ended up buying over 20 books, over 20 cds and 10 DVDS. I probably ended up with even more, because I might have stopped counting at some point. I love going shopping for books and music! It’s my very favorite pastime.
My hotel room at the Best Western in Chandler was very comfortable. There were many restaurants and stores in the area. It was a fun trip.
The Henhouse Cafe and Sampurna were both excellent. I had a delicious breakfast and also had a scrumptious Indian feast. Chandler was full of surprises!
This restaurant, Tradiciones, on Chandler Blvd. was so darned good. I ate here a couple of times, as it was right next door to my hotel. I’d never had quesabirrias before, and dang, they were amazing!
January 29, 2025: A Bombardier CRJ700 airliner operating as American Airlines Flight 5342 and a United States Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter operating as Priority Air Transport 25 collided mid-air over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. There were 67 victims killed in the helicopter and plane collision.
Crews cleaning up the wreckage from the accident.
February 1, 2025: Fred’s memorial gathering at Reid Park.
My brother died in October, 2024. We had church services for him in early January, and this family picnic in his honor at Reid Park on February 1,
Our Urias cousins showed up. These are my mom’s tia Rita’s children. It’s always fun being with them. In the middle photo, Charles and Bubba are saying a few words about my brother. My nephew Gabe is in the background. In the last photo, a friend of Bubba’s was providing beautiful musical entertainment for the family. It was very touching.
2-8-25: Joan Baez tribute concert
A wonderful tribute to Joan Baez was held in February. In attendance were, among others, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Jackson Browne and Lucinda Williams.
Rosanne Cash and Joan sing Farewell Angelina at Joan’s tribute celebration.
February 10, 2025: College campuses across the country have been forced to dismantle their diversity, equity and inclusion pograms. See this for more information: President Trump Acts to Roll Back DEI Initiatives
February 11, 2025: 10 year anniversary of my dad’s passing. Time sure flies. I sure do miss this man. He was a real character.
Alfred T. Diaz, 12/27/1920-2/11/2015. My pop.
My great niece Dominique and her newborn baby, Emmit Henry Neubaur. The baby was born on 2/12/25 and this photo was taken the next day. Dominique is Anadine’s oldest daughter.
2/15/25: Random posting of the day:
From my Facebook wall. It’s so sad that so many of my fellow Americans have drunk the Trump kool-aid. It’s scary and sad at the same time.
February 17, 2025: Paquita La Del Barrio dies at the age of 77.
She was one mean mama. She sang songs with titles like Rata de dos Patas, and Saludame a la Tuya.
February 24, 2025: Roberta Flack died. She recorded many beautiful songs. I particularly love her album titled “Chapter Two”. Included is the song below. It’s absolutely gorgeous.
This is my favorite Roberta Flack song. She is incredible!
Raul Grijalva: 02/19/48 to 03/13/25. He died of cancer at the age of 77.
I’ve known Raul and his family since the early 80s. He was a dear friend and will be missed by many people.
2023 at my first Congressional Fly-in. Raul graciously agreed to take a few moments from his busy day to meet with me and my colleagues from ALA.
March 16, 2025. Pedro Ignacio Taibo reading at the Tucson Festival of Books. He was very friendly and warm, and he signed my Pancho Villa book too! He spoke in Special Collections to a packed house.
Pablo Ignacio Taibo is a prolific Mexican author who writes in a variety of genres. I have copies of these two titles. That’s him in the middle.
March 22, 2025 Fighting Oligarchy rally at Catalina High School.
Man, I could not believe that I didn’t hear about this rally until it was all over. I would have been there for sure. I’ve been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America on and off since the early 80s. I love Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. There was an overflow crowd. It made me very happy to see that.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes and Bernie Sanders came to town and spoke at Catalina High School. I didn’t even know about it until the day it happened.
AOC and Bernie in Tucson. They drew a huge crowd. 3-22-25
March 25: Today is Aretha Franklin’s birthday. Aretha sings her butt off in the video below. The songs lyrics aren’t much, but the way she gets into the groove and hits all those high notes is just amazing. She jammed on this one!
March 26, 2025: Raul Grijalva’s funeral and celebration of life at the Casino Ballroom. I attended the celebration of life, but the funeral was completely packed. Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other dignitaries were there at St. Augustine’s Cathedral. After the morning service, people gathered at El Casino Ballroom to bid farewell to this great leader and humanitarian.
Raul’s family at the memorial at El Casino Ballroom.
Memorabilia from the gathering for Raul at the El Casino.
This photo was taken at Raul Grijalva’s memorial event at the Casino Ballroom. Dolores Huerta and Raul were great friends. My comadre Lorena Howard was there and was able to get us into the back room to say hello to Ms. Huerta and to have a photo taken. 3/26/25.
March 28, 2025: Presentation on vaudeville materials housed in Special Collections
The March issue of Desert Leaf Magazine featured a story about the vaudeville holdings in Special Collections at the University of Arizona Libraries. The article can be read here: After reading the article, a woman named Kristen Helland contacted me to see if she and a couple of her friends could come and look at some of the materials in the vaudeville collection. I told them yes, and pulled together some sample materials from the collection for them to look at. The visit turned out very well and my visitors were quite pleased.
Special Collections is home to the holdings of the American Vaudeville Museum and several other vaudeville-related collections. These are but a few samples of what we have on hand. Kisten, Sidney and Vince, my visitors for the day. Sidney and Vince both worked in the theater as playwrights. Samples from our vaudeville holdings.
Trip to Washington DC, April 1-6, 2025
I think I’ve visited Washington DC more than any other city in the country,with the exception, maybe, of Chicago.
In April, I traveled to Washington DC to, on behalf of the American Library Association, to participate in advocacy work on Capitol Hill. My colleague Erin MacFarlane, chair of the Arizona Library Association legislation committee, (and director of the Phoenix Public Library), and I have worked together the past three years at these gatherings. We typically visit with the staff of five to six Arizona members of the House and Senate while we’re there. We do our best to convince them that we need their support to get library funding bills passed in Congress. We do this by sharing stories about how the money they have previously allocated to our state is spent and describe the positive impact those dollars have had on our communities. We provide real life examples, and over time have become pretty good story tellers, and quite a team!
Erin MacFarlane and I in Washington, April 2025.
In my free time, I visited that National Gallery of Art and the National Portrait Gallery. I also did some souvenir shopping.
The National Gallery of Art has an amazing collection of medieval religious art. This work is titled “The Coronation of the Virgin”, and the date is 1324. The artist is unknown.
This portrait of Joan graced the cover of Time magazine back in the very early 60s. It”s in the National Portrait Gallery. I’m so glad I got to see it in person!
The entire country saw massive protests on Hands Off Day, April 5, 2025. The crowds in DC were very large also.
Random photos on the street. The man on the horse is General Winfield Scott Hancock, US army general who served during the Civil War. The Hotel Monaco was quite snazzy. In a previous life it was the US Post Office. They gutted a beautiful interior, unfortunately and came up with something quite bland. Oh well.
Inside the National Gallery of Art and outside at the Federal Trade Commission. This work is called “Man Controlling Trade”.
Lenny Welch had a beautiful voice. While he was known for his big hit, Since I Fell For You, he also recorded many other memorable tunes such as Ebb Tide and Congratulations. I love his voice.
April 8, 2025 Lenny Welch died.
Here’s Lenny Welch’s biggest hit, Since I Fell For You
April 12, 2025: Random photo of the day–Ruben having dinner with our good friend, Maria. They look so happy.
Maria and Ruben have been friends since they attended Salpointe together in the early 80s.
April 17, 2025: This year Easter was late, and was celebrated on April 20. Ruben put together this Easter tree for the occasion. The little ornaments are all from Europe, Germany mostly. The saint is Elizabeth Ann Seton.
This year we have bought even more little ornaments, so this tree is going to be really full next year
May 8, 2025: Carla Hayden, the nation’s Librarian of Congress is abruptly fired by Donald Trump. Hayden is a great leader and a true champion and advocate for America’s libraries. This was a terrible act, and it was done solely because she is African American. Carla was the director of the public library system in Baltimore for many years and was also president of ALA at one point.
May 14, 2025: Bruce Springsteen kicks off his European tour and offers scathing anti-Trump commentary on numerous occasions in a number of cities throughout Europe. He called Trump “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous,” and accused the administration of rolling back civil rights, siding with dictators, and inflicting “sadistic pleasure” on workers. Trump fires back, hurling one insult after another at Bruce. It only serves to embolden “the boss” and he continues his criticism of Trump throughout his tour. The clip below is from his Manchester show on May 14. Check it out. You can hear what he says for yourself. It’s well worth a listen and is followed by a very inspiring performance of the song, “My City in Ruins”.
Springsteen performing in England.
June 6, 2025: When Trump became president, Elon Musk was with him all the way. It’s said that he manipulated the voting tallies to give Trump the presidency. Within a few short months, however, Musk and Trump had a major falling out. The honeymoon ended abruptly.
I could not resist adding this cartoon, published on May 15, 2025.
Protesting ICE in Los Angeles, June, 2025:
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 08: Protestors against immigration raids march from the Los Angeles City Hall to the LA Federal Building on June 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Tensions in the city remain high after the Trump administration called in the National Guard against the wishes of city leaders following two days of clashes with police during a series of immigration raids. More protests are scheduled for today.
June 17, 2025: Photos of drawings from the William Wilde Collection.
I’ve been working on organizing the papers of Tucson architect William Wilde. I ran across these renderings while working and thought I would share them. I thought they were really well done. Click on the images to enlarge them.
Trip to Philadelphia, June 26-30, 2025
This was my fifth visit to Philadelphia since 1995. The experience is different every time. There sure is a lot to see in this city!
In June, I attended the American Library Association’s annual conference in Philadelphia PA. I stayed in the historic district. It was a bit far from City Hall, but I liked it. It was a great location and I had an enjoyable time, even though it was much too humid. I attended various conference sessions, visited art museums and bookshops, saw some of my old friends, and ate a lot of delicious food. The cheesesteaks, pizza, pretzels, and bagels were delicious, but so was the more healthy stuff, like the Chinese food I ate. I especially enjoyed walking along the Delaware River and going to a thrift store in the South Street area. I think it was called Philly AIDS Thrift. It was jam packed with treasures!
This bust of Benjamn Franklin was located directly across from my hotel in the historic district of Philaddelphia.
I saw this near the Delaware River. I thought it was incredible to have stumbled upon it. I had just bought a book about the Wobblies at a local bookstore.
The Delaware River. Camden NJ is on the other side. I don’t know the name of the bridge.
This is in front of Independence Hall. Given the current political climate, its good to have a reminder of our nation’s founding principles.
July 16, 2025: Connie Francis dies. She was a great performer. My favorite songs are Where the Boys Are, Who’s Sorry Now? and My Happiness. My mother loved her Spanish album.
Connie Francis December 12, 1937-July 16, 2025
July 17, 2025: Sylviana Wood passes away,
Sylviana Wood was a founding member of Teatro Libertad. She later founded her own theater company, and was the author various plays and memoirs.
July 31, 2025: Flaco Jimenez dies. What a sad day. I loved this man. He was supremely talented.
Here is a great clip of Flaco performing with Little Joe Hernandez, one of the legends of Tejano music.
August 14, 2025: It’s difficult these days to be cheerful and happy. The world is in such a sorry mess, but humor sure helps lift one’s spirits. I just love this little video clip of Harvey Korman in drag, singing an Andrews Sisters song with Vicki Lawrence and Carol Burnett. He’s got natural drag talent! It’s a long skit, but you must see the entire thing!
My sweet cousin Susie Sainz Miller died on August 17. We were the same age. She was a karate expert and loved to cook. She was born and raised in San Francisco, and was married for many years to a wonderful guy named Ron Miller.
August 18: The following op-ed was released on August 18 in the United Kingdom. The writer has quite a colorful vocabulary to say the least.
August 18: I’m not sure who brought it up recently, but back in 1953, my sister Irene, my mom and my aunt Corina were all saved from drowning in the Colorado River by a man named R.J. Sanderson. I decided to use Newspapers.com to see if I could find anything about this, and lo and behold, I did! I found three articles.
The first article is from the Needles Desert Star, 7/23/53. The second one is also from the Needles Desert Star, 12/16/54. The last article is from the Arizona Republic, 9/11/64.
August 28, 2025. My world history books are in Library of Congress class order for the most part. I’ve kept books about art and other topics related specifically to a given country with that country’s history materials. Click the photo to get a closer look.
These days, in my spare time I do a lot of work on my personal library. Within the past couple of weeks or so, for example, I have put all of my history books in LC call number order, and have moved them to my bedroom. It took a lot of creative re-arranging to make everything fit, but I did it! I have also organized my literature collection and have inventoried my entire film collection. I am now inventorying all of my books and have begun re-organizing the shelves in my office.
August 29, 2025
Images from a book I recently found in Special Collections. August 29, 2025
I have also been reading a lot of history. There’s so much to learn, it’s mind boggling, but I’m doing it. I have reached a point where I am not going to be close minded about stuff. I think about Europe, in particular. Being three-fifths Spanish, I have every right to claim my European heritage. I’ve always been ashamed to admit that I’m Spanish, because it was far hipper to claim my indigenous roots. Well, those days are over. I’m proud of the heritage of my paternal grandfather. Asturias is a great region of Spain. It was its own kingdom for a long time, and the Moors could not conquer it. My interest extends beyond Spain at this point. I want to know all about Germany, France, Italy, Russia, the Balkans, and England and all the other countries of the world. I want to know all of it. I have this hunger for knowledge that is just insatiable.
September 2, 2025. Pressure has been mounting all year for the release of the Epstein files. Trump has so far successfully kept them out of the public eye. He’s in them, of course. It’s already been proven.
I first posted the following flyer on my Facebook feed on September 14, 2014, It popped up again recently as a “memory” post, so I re-shared it. I miss my radio show. I had so much fun putting it together over the years. I did this work for nearly 20 years altogether, first from 1983 to 1986, with a small break in the middle, and then from 2005 to 2020, with another break in the middle somewhere. I have taped many of my shows and have digital versions of them too. I listen to them sometimes. I love them. All my shows from 2013 to 2020 are on my website. The above flyer popped into my Facebook feed recently. It’s been 11 years since I created it. I never did distribute it, unfortunately.
Downton Abbey Grand Finale: September 12, 2025: I’m looking forward to seeing Downton Abbey on the big screen. This summer, I watched all of the previous episodes, including the two movies that came out, so I’m all caught up and quite excited about seeing the new movie in a real movie theater.
9-12-25: Ruben and I saw the film at the Roadhouse Cinema. It was fabulous!
Some of my favorite Downton Abbey characters…Matthew Crawley, Mr. Bates and Anna, and Tom Branson…What a memorable series this has been. I’m so sad that it’s over. The entire acting ensemble was simply amazing.
This gay dude was an evil little rascal throughout much of the series, but by the end of everything, he was happily partnered with a movie star. I thought that was great.
I’m so shocked at the state of our world at present. I feel so sad and angry all the time. I wish I could do something that would make things better. I know I’m not alone, but I do feel helpless much of the time. The world today is just plain crazy. I know it’s important to focus on what I can control. There’s a lot that I need to work on, like my weight, and my health. I have a nice, big home that needs a lot of attention and work, and I have a big family and many friends that I do not see often enough. There’s so much to look forward to, I refuse to let the current political climate immobilize me completely. Fuck Trump.
Well, I guess that’s about it for now. I can be reached at jdiaz204@gmail.com.
September 14: Oops. I guess I’m not done. I just have to share that I discovered a program called Google Gemini AI. It isn’t perfect, but in most cases, it transforms old beat up photos to brand new looking pics. You can colorize them too. Here are some of them. They are of my mom and dad, from back in the 40s and 50s. I never dreamed I’d see the day when these were all restored and in color!
Dad and mom in the late 40s in Guaymas, Mexico. They were there with my mom’s sister Mary and my dad’s brother Rafael.
Mom and dad at home in their living room. I remember that corner table well. That’s where we had our television. It was a big black and white that didn’t work all that great most of the time. Ha!
My mom and dad at my dad’s sisters’ wedding. Mom was a maid of honor for Aunt Carmen. 1955.
Two more photos from the 40s. The one of my mom and dad on the left is from either 1943 or 1944. The one on the right (my dad is in the middle) was from right before my dad enlisted in the Navy in 1945.
Ok. I think I’m done now. Until next time….
September 15: Oops. I lied. I just received in the mail these gorgeous prints from the Balkan region (Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia) of Europe. I’ll just post a few here. There are about 30 of these in two volumes. I love this stuff.
Ok. I’m done for the time being…
September 16: Today I co-taught a class with my colleague Alba for Dr. Jacqueline Barrios. The course was Public Applied Humanities 420. The students are studying Tucson’s southside area and the history of the fight to clean up the contamination caused by industrial pollution, specifically TCE. Alba and I shared a variety of resources the students could use for their assignments and I found the following photos of various locations on the southside. These are from the Jack Shaeffer photography collection. In all honesty, it is a real shame that there is so very little documentation about this part of town Neither the Arizona HIstorical Society nor Special Collections have much at all. Here are the photos I found:
Veteran’s Day ceremony at South Lawn Cemetery. Children playing in the flooded streets in South Tucson.
S. 6th Ave, also known as US Route 80, looking north. Students from the newly opened Sunnyside Jr. High, mid-50s.
Sunnyside Jr. High when it was first built. Two children eating at the Pima County Fair.
The professor also asked me some questions about my memories of the southside, and I talked about my family and how we’d visit our cousins the Olguins during the holidays. I talked about Southgate and the various places people went, like the A&W Root Beer stand and Shakey’s. I talked about the Mission. I still have my notes, and plan to write up a little summary for Dr. Barrios.
The VA Hospital, located on S. 6th Ave. Southgate Shopping Center, just north of the hospital.
Crowds attend the Pima County Fair when the fairgrounds were on 6th and Irvington, adjacent to the rodeo grounds.
McLellans was a great five and dime store. This one was at Southgate. There was another one downtown. The Apache Drive-in was on the Benson Highway, just east of Park Ave.
September 16, 2025: According to Wikipedia, A United Nations commission of inquiry finds that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The attacks on Gaza by Israel have increased and the Israelis are now in the cities invading the area.
Ruins of Beit Lahia, in the Gaza Strip, destroyed by Israeli bombardments, February 23, 2025.
Every country in the UN other than Israel and the United States have acknowledged the country of Palestine as its own legitimate autonomous state.
September 17: Dang it. Robert Redford died yesterday, (on September 16, 2025). I’m so very sad. I loved this guy. I think I first saw him in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with friends or family at a local drive-in theater. It was probably the late 60s. He acted in lots of wonderful movies over the course of his career He even produced and directed some too. He’s great in The Way We Were, which I just love. I have a lot of Redford’s movies and some books here at home. This summer, I read his biography and purchased many of his movies. I have a lot of them, but not all of them. I hope I can acquire more. I’m going to post some movie and magazine covers below. They are not in any particular order.
Sample movie titles and magazine covers.
We lost a real hero. Man, I miss him already!
I got to listening to gospel music on Youtube the other night. The Caravans were absolutely wonderful and amazing. I found this gem:
Albertina Walker was known as the queen of gospel music. She was the leader of the Caravans, a female gospel group that over time included Inez Andrews and Shirley Caesar, among other great gospel vocalists.
September 18: I’m still playing around with Google Gemini AI, the program that cleans up old photos and colorizes them. Today, I worked on more photos of my family. It’s amazing how they look when they are in color! The first holy communion photo had to be worked on a few times before it came out right. Some of the photos don’t come out well at all, unfortunately. Here are a few more:
My mother, Josefina Rascon with her brother Eduardo Rascon. First Holy Communion. My dad and mom walking in downtown Tucson mid-50s.
My dad and his brothers Mino, Raul and Val, plus Aunt Prudence and Serino, a cousin. I don’t know the rest. Superior, 1945.
My sister Becky and brother Rudy, around 1952.
My dad in his Navy Uniform in 1945. My cousins and me in front of my parent’s house, 1964.
This is the only family photo that I have with all my brothers and sisters and parents. It was taken in 1986 at my house on Manlove. The faces are not all perfect, but pretty close.
Summer, 1976. I was chosen as this year’s Salpointe delegate to Boy’s State, held in Flagstaff every year.
September 22, 2025:
There is so much unbelievable stuff going on in the world. A couple of weeks ago a 31 year old Trump supporter named Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a rally on some college campus in Utah, where he was speaking. Kirk got his start young, and was groomed and supported by the ultra-rich as he rose to prominence in MAGAland. He would tour college campuses and debate young students, making them look dumb, since he knew how to twist his words well. He spewed nothing but hatred and targeted gays, black people, other minorities, and women. He was staunchly anti-abortion and stated at one point that if his 10 year old daughter were raped and became pregnant, that he would force her to have the baby. How fucking sick is that? He also said that the civil rights act was a bad idea and that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a bad person. Trump and the right tried to blame the left for the killing, but it turned out it was another MAGA conservative, a young guy under 20, that did the deed. Kirk has been turned into a martyr on the right. Yesterday, over 40,000 people, including Trump, showed up to his memorial in Glendale, AZ.
When he spoke, Trump spewed even more hatred, and is now attacking the left like never before, stating outright that he hates the left and that it should be illegal to be a leftist. Can you believe it? We are in Nazilandia…. He recently pressured ABC to take the Jimmy Kimmel show off the air, but Mr. Kimmel and all his supporters are fighting back, and Disney is already feeling the effects of the boycott that started when the news about Kimmel’s cancellation was announced. The latest news is that Disney and Mr. Kimmel are in negotiations to bring the show back, but with some modifications. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
9/22/25: Here’s what happened:
“Shortly after Kimmel’s suspension was announced, Disney stock dipped about 3.5 percent and continued to trade lower in subsequent days. That loss in market value has amounted to about $4 billion.”– Robert Reich
ICE is raiding cities and other places all over the country too. They’ve been at it since the first day of Trump’s presidency. It’s incredible that ICE isn’t in the news much. Below are links to a couple of recent articles describing what ICE is up to. It’s some scary stuff!
The Epstein files haven’t been released either. Trump seems to be getting his way with this one. I bet the list will create a HUGE scandal if its released. Trump is doing all he can to take attention away from all of this, and he’s using Kirk’s death to distract everyone. It’s not working, however. At least I hope it’s not.
September 22, 2025: I just stumbled upon this interview between Nicole Wallace and Joan Baez. It was posted earlier today on youtube. It’s an excellent interview and well worth a listen.
Nicole Wallace interview with Joan Baez. It’s very good!
September 23, 2025: Today is Bruce Springsteen’s birthday. He was born on this day back in 1949. He’s 76 years old. This is one of my very favorite songs. I remember well how lovely this song sounded when my good friend David Gouge sang it at Richard Elias’s memorial celebration a few years ago. It blew me away.
September 23, 2025: Here are some more photos that I’ve had colorized and restored:
My dad with Charles and Irene, mid-40s; My dad with my brother Rudy, 1951.
My mom and Becky, mid-50s; My mom with Rudy and Freddie, 1963.
My Aunt Helen with my brother and sister and cousins; Becky, Charles and Rudy. At the ranch in the early 50s.
Serino, my dad, my uncles Mino and Valentin. Mid-40s.
Wow. This was amazing. Jimmy Kimmel is a badass. So is Robert DeNiro! Watch this! It aired tonight. (9/23/25).
9/23/25: Adelita Grijalva wins a seat in Congress, replacing her deceased father. She won by a landslide. Way to go, Adelita!
Congratulations, Adelita! I know your dad is watching and is very proud of you!
My dear friend Ramona Grijalva with her daughter Adelita and another dear friend, Betty Villegas at Adelita’s victory party the the El Casino Ballroom on September 23, 2025.
In mid October, I’ll be going with Ruben back to the Buffalo area one more time. We’ll be there about 10 days. We want to go to Jamestown to see the I Love Lucy museum, and back to Syracuse to go antiquing. We also want to go to the Finger Lakes area, maybe to Ithaca to see the Cornell University campus. There’s going to be a lot to see this time around. We’ll be heading back up to Niagara Falls again and hopefully take the Maid of the Mist boat tour this time. We missed it last time by a day or two. The tours shut down for the Winter.
September 25, 2025: I just received a Facebook post regarding the upcoming issue of Time Magazine. Bruce Sprinsteen is on the cover! You can read the article here:
Slated for release in early October.
9/25/25: Random photo of the day:
Two men in traditional Dutch pants, circa. 1900. From my Facebook feed…
September 25: When I get down in the dumps, I like to listen to songs that help lift up my spirits. This is one of those. God bless Rodney Crowell!
9/25/25: More family photos. These are me and my brothers and sisters. I inherited my family photos, and have all of my sisters’ and brother’s school photos and many more. I’m so glad these can now be easily restored and shared with others via the internet.
Irene and Charles.
Becky and Rudy
Freddie and me.
September 26, 2025: Today is my brother Charles’s birthday. He’s 80 years old. Wow!
This is my brother Charles during his teen years. Not sure of the year.
September 27, 2025:
My cousin Denise (Dee Dee) Diaz died today after spending many years battling cancer. She was a few months older than me and had just turned 67. She was my Uncle Tony and Aunt Corina’s daughter and she spent most of her life in the Tucson area and in Oracle. She took care of her parent for many years. Dee Dee was a selfless, faithful person who never put her own needs first. She’ll be missed.
September 27: I re-did more photos today. Here are a bunch, of me this time, that have been cleaned up and colorized.
Me at the age of 3. The big stuffed monkey was a gift from my sister’s ex-boyfriend.
Me at the age of 5, 7 and 8.
1968. Me, Bubba Fass, Larry Mendoza, Ricky Fass, Freddie Diaz, my brother, Roman Jaurigue and Larry Ochoa. This was at my niece Belisa’s birthday party.
1985 or 1986, when I lived on Manlove next door to Ted Warmrand, and was in library school. That little house was cool.
Summer, 1993 Tumacacori. My friends Karen, Lester and Barbara were visitng from Michigan.
2016. This photo was taken at work during a program on mariachi music in Tucson.
September 27: I just finished watching Ladies in Lavender, and watched Tea with Mussolini a few days ago. I also watched A Room With A View and Quartet recently. All of these films feature the legendary Maggie Smith. She’s amazing. So is Judi Dench, who is also in three of the films.
September 28: Here are more photos of me that have been cleaned up and colorized. The last one was originally a portrait done in pencil, but this is what Google Gemini came up with. I like it!
October 1, 2025:
The past few days have been crazy at the national level. Trump humiliated himself and the country when he spoke at the UN assembly recently. He rambled on about all kinds of nonsense. Prior to his speech, as he stepped on to the escalator, it stopped. He ended up having to walk up the escalator stairs, and it really made him mad. He blew the whole thing out of proportion and complained about it for days, called it a “conspiracy” blah, blah, blah.
He then made an ass out of himself in front of all his top generals yesterday. His sidekick Hegseth was just as bad. I don’t think the generals were in tune with the suggestion that they invade our own cities and practice battle skills on the ground while there. I think they all knew this was all loony tunes. Nobody clapped. Former generals are now speaking out about it, noting how frustrating and insane Trump’s words were. It’s unconstitutional for the military to turn its guns on its own citizens. Yeah, but who cares?
9-30-25– A roomful of generals listening in disbelief to a deranged old man.
I’m thrilled that my website, Bobdiaz.net, is seeing so much traffic. The most popular post is the one I wrote on Chicano culture in Tucson in 1975. Since I first posted it in 2024, it has received 1338 visits. I understand that some English instructors at the UofA have put my website, (and this blog post in particular) on their reading lists. That’s amazing, and I’m quite humbled. The posts about my two grandfathers and their families are also very popular.
As for future topics, I want to write about the friends and family members I have lost since the pandemic. There have been many. Here are some of the names: Richard Elias, Chestalene Pintozzi, Barb Hoppe, LeAnne Martin, Debbie Jerome, Pancho Medina, Jon Miles, Barclay Goldsmith, Henry Mesa, my brothers Freddie and Rudy, and my tias Mary Olguin, Corina Diaz and Armida Diaz. I also want to keep chipping away at my life story.
I will receive my very first Social Security check in December. Man, it’s been a long time coming, that’s for sure! I turn 67 in January.
Proof that I’m an old fart, but still alive and kicking. This photo was taken in early 2024 in Montreal. Get a load of those wrinkles and that shiny gray hair!
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click the back arrow key to return to the post.
Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought were significant to me personally, and important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
Introduction
1998 was one of my busiest and most productive years. My partner and I celebrated our 5th anniversary in late February, and while we continued to experience many challenges, we stuck it out and held on, not giving up on each other. We continued to work on improving our home as much as we could. We planted bougainvilleas and had a fence put up in our back yard, and we did routine maintenance on a regular basis. We didn’t have air conditioning, so we had to be sure our swamp cooler worked. The heat in our little house could be unbearable at times during the hot summer months, especially during the rainy season. We spent tons of money collecting postcards, books and music recordings too. Our postcard collection grew and grew. We focused mostly on collecting postcards from Tucson, Detroit, Mexico City and Guadalajara. There were many more antique stores in Tucson in 1998 than there are now, that’s for sure, so we had a lot of places to buy from. We spent a lot of money, and were in quite a bit of debt, but we managed to keep going. Within a year we would be buying another vehicle and moving into a new home.
I traveled a lot, published, gave presentations, served on a variety of local and national committees, and worked my tail off at the Library. I coordinated our staff development, diversity and new staff orientation programs, and was the work team leader for the Library’s human resources team, something that was a real stretch for me, a very challenging assignment that eventually wore me down. I was also granted continuing status (tenure), which was one of the biggest milestones of my career.
Here is a list of my commitments involving serving on committees from the local level to the national level. In hindsight, it was way too much work. I should have said no more than I did.
1998 Committee memberships:
1998-2003: Tucson Pima Public Library Board, member and president (2002-2003).
1998-2000: UA Library Strategic Long Range Planning Team, member.
1998-2000: UA EEO/AA Office RISE Planning Committee, member.
1998-1999: ALA Council Committee on Minority Concerns and Cultural Diversity, member and chair.
1998: UA Library LFA Salary Issues Task Force, member.
1998: FAST executive assistant selection committee, member.
1997-1999: Library Administration and Management Association Diversity Officers Discussion group, chair.
1997-1998: UA Library Staff Environment Action plan team, chair.
1997-1998: UA Library LFA liaison to SGA, representative.
1997-1998: Change Management Support Team, member.
1997-1998: AACHE UA Chapter, vice president, president.
1994-1998: Library Administration and Management Association Diversity Committee, member.
ALA Midwinter
New Orleans in January is a lot more bearable than New Orleans in the summer, although the rainy weather can still be a challenge no matter the time of year.
From 1/9-1/14, 1998, I attended the ALA Midwinter conference in New Orleans. I had been there a few years earlier. This time, I stayed with my friend who I had worked with when I was at Michgian, Doreen Simonsen. A colleague of mine from the UA Library, Soo Young So, also stayed with her. Doreen was very gracious. She lived on Penniston Street just outside the Garden District, and she let Soo Young and I stay with her at no charge. I had a great time on this trip. I don’t really remember the conference all that much, but I do remember having a lot of fun. I enjoyed going to all the gay bars in the French Quarter and seeing live music performed everywhere. I also loved shopping at all the bookstores and record stores. I came back home with a bunch of new treasures.
One sad thing that occurred, however, was that Cass Hartnett, another former colleague of mine from the University of Michigan Library, informed me that one of my dearest friends had died the previous year. Mike Robbins was his name, and he loved girl group music and Hollywood trivia. We got a long wonderfully, and I really missed him when I moved back to Tucson. Hearing about his death was a big shock, and I clearly remember wandering the streets of the French Quarter sobbing, with tears flowing down my cheeks the night I was told of his passing. He died of cancer. RIP, Mike.
Mike Robbins, 1960-1997.
My ALA badge includes a sticker promoting Martin Gomez for ALA president. He and I both lost our elections, (I ran for REFORMA president) unfortunately. He would have made a great ALA president.
I enjoyed my second trip to New Orleans a lot. There was alway something interesting to do or see.
My friend Doreen and her little shotgun house on Pennistron Street.
I rode the street car back and forth from Doreen’s house to the conference. It was just a tad too far for walking distance.
I bought a lot of records on this trip. The two recordings shown here are but a small sampling of the treasures that I found. There were a number of record stores in the French Quarter at the time. It was heavenly.
While I’m not one to eat at fancy restaurants, I did end up going to these two places with friends. Both are are well known and quite good.
I went to Cafe Du Monde again and enjoyed wandering the French Quarter. This time around the weather wasn’t too bad, although I think it did rain some.
This is one of many gay bars in the French Quarter. I had a great time here and met some very nice people. The later it got, the more crowded it became, and man, it sure was wild!
My Birthday
I turned 39 on January 15. I still enjoyed going out and partying. Ruben and I had a lot of fun together. It would take a long time before I slowed down.
Yours truly in 1998. Yikes!
The great Carl Perkins died on January 19, 1998. He was great friends with Johnny Cash.
Continuing Status and Promotion
I applied for promotion and continuing status in 1997, but the process takes almost a whole year. My application would have to be reviewed by a peer review committee as well as outside “referees”, and then the Dean would have to write a letter of recommendation. Here’s her letter to me informing me that she is recommending to the University administration that I be retained and granted continuing status. What a relief!
REFORMA Presidency
2-2-98: I ran for president of REFORMA, the National Association for the Promotion of Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. My candidate’s letter follows. I later ended up losing the election by just a few votes. I didn’t take it well. None of my colleagues showed any empathy towards me after it was announced that someone else won. They were very cold and I felt shunned. A simple “thanks for running, Bob”, would have sufficed. This was the beginning of a low point in my career that would last almost two years. I was not very happy, even though I was soon granted continuing status and promotion.
(click text to enlarge).
2-7-98: My niece Anadine gets married.
Anadine is my sister Irene’s youngest daughter. I grew up with her and her sisters Belisa and Michelle. We were very close. Ana Banana, as we all called her, married a guy named Peter Lopez. I worked with one of his sisters at Fry’s. Peter and Ana had two children (Jonas and Josephine) together, but they later divorced.
Anadine and Peter cutting their wedding cake.
Anadine dancing with her younger brother Anthony, and my dad with two of his grandchildren, Valerie and Gabe.
1998-2-19–Two years after presenting it, a paper gets published…
Shelley Phipps and I tried our best to give our presentation at the Finding Common Ground Conference at Harvard, but the presenters who were scheduled before us went way past their allotted time, leaving us with just a few minutes to do our program. It was a very unpleasant experience, unfortunately. I was glad when this publication finally came out so that those interested in what we were doing at Arizona could finally get a good understanding of our work.
Released on March 1, 1998. Over the years, I have amassed a sizeable collection of books on the US Mexico borderlands and Chicano culture. This is one of many such works.
This show was broadcast on April 14, 1998. Aretha outdid everyone.
March 24, 1998: Appointment to the Tucson Pima Public Library Board
Raul Grijalva, who was on the Board of Supervisors, appointed me as his district’s representative to the Tucson Pima Public Library Board. At the time, the City of Tucson managed the library system, but the county provided the bulk of the funding for running it. The Library administrators, who were City employees, rarely consulted the County about strategic priorities for the Library system. At one point, I let Mr. Grijalva know what the director was planning to do, (pour more money into improving facilities everywhere but in the Mexican American neighborhoods) and he overrode her decision and used the County funds to build the Quincie-Douglas branch, located in one of the more distressed areas of town, instead. Later, during my tenure as chair in 2003, I forced the director to deal directly with the Board of Supervisors by inviting them to one of the Library Board meetings to discuss priorities and funding. This had never happened before. All the City staff ever did was talk smack about the County and its lack of “efficiency and professionalism”. From that point on, however, things changed, and the County soon took over running the library system. The Library director shortly thereafter retired. I heard later that I drove her crazy and that her secretary also retired because I was such a troublemaker. Ha ha ha. It warms my heart.
More passings…
It was a sad day when Linda McCartney died on April 17, 1998.
Tammy Wynette died a few days later, on April 20, 1998.
1998-4-28: I was promoted to Associate Librarian with Continuing Status.
Frank Sinatra passed away on May 14, 1998. It took me a long time to realize that he wasn’t a bad guy at all. He supported the civil rights movement and helped to end segregation in Las Vegas. He had quite a voice too. I particularly enjoy his recordings from the early 40s when he was with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
A Long Way Home was released on June 9, 1998. I have most of Yoakam’s recordings. He is a favorite of mine.
Diversity programming in the Library…
This is an example of the kind of programming the Diversity Council and I worked on. There were several Filipino-American staff members who contributed to this project. It was a fun event! Click on the text below to see a more complete description of the program.
Yours truly surrounded by women from the Filipino-American community. These women did a lot of work for this program. They were amazing.
We bought this print on June 13, 1998 in Scottsdale. It was called “American Beauty”.
Smoke Signals premiered on June 26, 1998
6/24-7/1, 1998: The American Library Association Annual Conference, Washington DC.
I attended ALA Annual in Washington, DC in late June. The weather was hot and humid, which is not my favorite. In fact, I can’t stand it. This was my second visit, and in spite of the weather, it was a memorable experience. I attended incoming ALA President Ann Symons’ presidential inauguration at the Library of Congress reading room. It was spectacular. The Capitol Steps, a comedy performance troupe who specialized in political satire, performed. I also presented a poster session at the first ALA Diversity Fair, and co-presented another one on retention of faculty of color in an academic library. I also managed to have a lot of fun in the Dupont Circle area, a neighborhood filled with gay bars, record stores and bookstores. It was also at this conference that I learned that I had lost the REFORMA election. As I’ve noted, I didn’t take it too well. In hindsight, I should have been in better control of my emotions. It wasn’t the end of the world, and I was overloaded with other work as it was.
SPEC Kits are compilations of policy documents gathered from libraries across the country to illustrate best practices in specific areas. The topics all vary, of course. I collaborated with my colleague Jen Tellman on this one. DeEtta Jones didn’t contribute a lot, but was added to the authors list by ARL at the last minute, since she contributed to editing our summary document.
This album was released on July 28, 1998. Aguilar would later perform at the TCC for the Fiesta Navidena and release yet another album before the year was through. He is one of my favorite ranchera singers, and is the son of the great Antonio Aguilar. Zacatecas, presente!
UA Diversity Action Council Work
I enjoyed serving on the Diversity Action Council. It gave me the opportunity to meet colleagues from across campus who were committed to promoting diversity. I was also given the opportunity to travel to a couple of diversity-related conferences, one in Seattle and the other in Miami. My term ended this year.
8/7-8/8, 1998: Activate Conference in Phoenix.
This was first statewide event that I attended as a member of the Board of the Tucson Pima Public Library. The purpose of the event was to bring together museum and library supporters and professionals, elected officials and members of the public to discuss issues such as funding, the impact of technology and the need to provide equal access, as well as the changing roles of our libraries and museums.
Nogales native Alberto Rios was the featured speaker at the opening night event for the conference. He now resides in Phoenix and is Arizona’s poet laureate.
There was a really excellent record store on Central north of the San Carlos Hotel called Circles, which is where I found the Maria De Lourdes and Lucha Moreno cds. I purchased the Lucha Villa recording at a discoteca Mexicana somewhere outside of the downtown area. My collection of Mexican music continued to grow as I became obsessed with rancheras and female singers from Mexico.Phoenix has always had more gay bars than Tucson. I’ve never been to all of them.
August 12, 1998: A Postcard from my friend Doreen….
August 20, 1998: A Postcard from Chestalene and Doug…
Chestalene Pintozzi and Doug Jones both worked with me at the UA Library. I co-wrote an article with Chestalene that came out in the ALA Library Administation and Management magazine in 1999. We were good friends.
September 1, 1998: A thank you card from Richard and Emily…
Valentin Diaz, March 11, 1917-September 3, 1998
Uncle Val died on 9/3/1998. I went to his funeral in Needles. See Happy Birthday, Uncle Val! (03/11/1917)
I’ve been going to Needles since I was a little boy. Two of my uncles, Valentin and Failo, lived there. Both have since passed, but many of their children and grandchildren are still there.
Matthew Shepard killed. 10/12/98
Matthew Wayne Shepard was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on October 6, 1998. He was transported by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries sustained during the attack.–Wikipedia
October 12, 1998
Matthew Shepard, victim of anti‑gay hate crime, dies
University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard dies after a vicious anti-gay attack. After meeting Shepard in a Laramie, Wyoming, gay bar, The Fireside Lounge, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney lured him to the parking lot, where he was beaten and robbed.
The two attackers then took Shepard, 21 years old and weighing just over 100 pounds, to a remote spot outside of town and tied his naked body to a wooden fence, tortured him, and left him in the freezing cold. A mountain biker, who initially thought his mutilated body was a scarecrow, discovered him. Shepard died soon afterward. Henderson and McKinney went on to attack two Latino youths later that same evening, beating and pistol-whipping them. Matthew Shepard’s death sparked national outrage and renewed calls for extending hate crime laws to cover violence based on a person’s sexual orientation. President Clinton implored Congress to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the wake of the incident.
To avoid a death sentence, Russell Henderson pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder in April 1999 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Later that year, Aaron McKinney attempted to use a “gay panic” defense at his own trial, claiming that Sheppard’s advances disgusted him. When McKinney sought to introduce evidence that a man had molested him as a child, Judge Barton Voigt would not allow it. He ruled that the defense was too similar to temporary insanity, which is not an option in Wyoming.
McKinney was convicted of Shepard’s murder but managed to escape the death penalty largely due to Shepard’s parents. In the tense and quiet courtroom, Dennis Shepard told his son’s murderer, “I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney. However, this is the time to begin the healing process. To show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy.” McKinney was sentenced to life in prison. Henderson’s and McKinney’s girlfriends, who had helped Henderson and McKinney dispose of evidence, were charged as accessories to the murder.
Leslie Feinberg visits Tucson again
One of the high points of my career occurred when I was able to coordinate a visit to Tucson by Leslie Feinberg in 1994. Leslie’s novel, Stone Butch Blues, had just been published the year before, and it won the Stonewall book award. I worked with members of Tucson’s lgbtq community to set up a talk Leslie gave at Wingspan, Tucson lgbtq community center, and I also coordinated a talk s/he gave on the UA campus. Four years later, Leslie returned to Tucson to give another presentation. I was able to convince the Library Diversity Council to agree to contribute funds for this visit. Leslie’s new book, Trans LIberation, was published this particular year too.
1998-10-27: Jackson Browne at TCC Music Hall.
Jackson Browne is one of my very favorite singer-songwriters. I started listening to his music in high school, and have faithfully purchased every recording he has ever issued. Back in 1975, my best friend Richard Elias saw Jackson in concert. I don’t know why I missed it, but Richard said it was a great show. I’m sure it was. It wasn’t until 1998 that I was able to see Jackson in concert. My friend Ted Warmbrand had worked with some local organizations to sponsor the benefit, and he invited me to attend the show. I was so happy to finally see Jackson Browne in concert. He was amazing. He still is.
My buddy Ben Ocon and I gave another presentation on Latin music, this time at AZLA. In the audience this particular time was Pat Mora, a wonderful writer who I got to know through REFORMA. Pat spearheaded the founding of El Dia Del Nino/Dia Del Libro, which is now a nationally recognized event celebrated by libraries across the country.
I found these two recordings while at the conference in Phoenix. Here’s another work of art that we purchased for our little house. We found this one at a store in Tucson. The work is in glass, so it was difficult getting a good photo of the work.
Esther Rolles, who played JJ’s mother on Good Times, died on November 17, 1998 at the age of 78.
11/19/98: AACHE Conference in Tucson
I was elected secretary of the UA Chapter of the Arizona Association of Chicanos in Higher Education in 1998 and we held at conference at the end of November. The only thing I remember was the fajitas cookoff that we held at home of one of our members, Professor J.D. Garcia. Professor Garcia owned a home in El Encanto Estates, a very old and posh neighborhood about a mile away from the University.
Another legend passes…
Flip Wilson passed away on November 25, 1998 at the age of 64. I used to love to watch him play Geraldine on the Flip Wilson show when I was a kid. The show aired from 1970 to 1974.
This book was first issued on November 26, 1998. I read it from cover to cover.
Serenata Navidena, ’98…
Serenata Navidena not only featured Pepe Aguilar and Beatriz Montes, it also included three great mariachi groups, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, Mariachi Sol De Mexico and Mariachi Cobre. It was a wonderful show!
A sad day for the Clintons and the nation.
Christmas 1998
A Christmas card from one of my favorite nieces, Michelle.
A holiday letter from our friends Richard and Emily…
José Alfredo Jiménez was born on January 19, 1926 in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico and died on November 23, 1973 in Mexico City, Mexico.
He was Mexico’s most beloved composer of la cancion ranchera. He wrote and sang hundreds and hundreds of songs, appeared in many movies and recorded albums and singles for both Columbia Records and the RCA label.
I will be adding more information about his music and life in the coming weeks. I have scores of albums and cds as well as books, sheet music and other materials that I’ll share on this post as soon as I can get everything organized and uploaded. For now, here is what I’d like to share with you:
In 2020, in celebration of his birthday, I produced a radio show featuring his music. All the songs are composed by him, and are sung by both him and other artists. You can find the link to the show by clicking part one or part two. Each part is an hour long. Part one begins at the 3:15 minute mark, right after the closing of the Petey Mesquitey show. The set list follows below.
Jose Alfredo visited Tucson at least three times in the Sixties and Seventies. These are from the local newspapers.
Tucson_Citizen_October 10, 1962
Arizona_Daily_Star_Thu__Oct_15__1964_
Tucson_Citizen_1971_04_07
Websites that include information about Jose Alfredo Jimenez and his work
Second Hand Songs entry for Jose Alfredo Jimenez (SecondHandSongs is building the most comprehensive source of cover song information, by means of a database of originals, cover songs, sampled songs and sampling songs). This advanced database stores the data in a reusable and maintainable way, and which is interconnected to many other online databases.
Here is a live version of the song, Gracias, from a 1973 television program. Jose Alfredo died the following year.
Jose Alfredo with some of his contemporaries–Lola Beltran, Javier Solis, Tomas Mendez and Amalia Mendoza. Beltran, Solis and Mendoza all recorded his songs at one point or another.
With Amalia Mendoza, Miguel Aceves Mejia, Queta Jimenez, La Prieta Linda and Maria De Lourdes. Jose Alfredo recorded an entire album of duets with Mendoza and Miguel Aceves Mejia helped Jose Alfredo get started in the music business.
Here is Lucha Villa singing the song “Que Se Me Acabe La Vida” with Jose Alfredo. They never recorded together, but performed several duets live. Both also starred in the movie, Me Canse’ De Rogarle, a great comedy filled with Jose Alfredo’s music.
Photos of Jose Alfredo and Lucha Villa. They made great singing partners.
Here is a popurri of songs written by Jose Alfredo Jimenez and sung by Lucha Villa.
I’m including here material in my personal library.
Very rare Jose Alfredo Jimenez sheet music from the mid-20th Century.
Songbooks in my collection. These works are different from the above songbooks, in that they include just the lyrics of his songs, not the music.
Biographies of Jose Alfredo Jimenez in my collection.
Jose Alfredo Jimenez recordings: The Columbia Years ca. 1950-1960
The first album is likely Jimenez’s second recording for Columbia records and was issued in the early 1950s The next two are also original lp recordings. The last one was issued after Jimenez had made the switch to RCA records.
The fist item is a three disc set of Jimenez’s best known Columbia recordings. The second album was issued in the 1970s and includes some of Jimenez’s lesser known recordings. The final item is an lp from the 1980s that includes many popular Jimenez recordings, including “Maldicion Ranchera,” one of my favorites.These three cds were issued in the early 1990s under the Sony label, which now owns the entire Columbia catalog. He re-recorded many of these songs when he moved to RCA in 1960.
THE RCA YEARS
The following lps were all issued on the RCA label in the 1960s.
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click the back arrow key to return to the post.
Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their material removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
A quick overview of 1997:
Ruben and I celebrated four years together at the end of February, 1997. We had bought a car in ’94 and a house in ’95, on which we worked steadily to improve. Ruben was working at Supercuts, and I was still at the UA Library entering my fifth year there. By this time, our relationship had its share of challenges, but we worked things out as time went on. I traveled a lot this year, to Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Ogden, Utah, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago. The cost of these trips, plus our spending on the house and our buying habits (home furnishings, movies, books, cds, postcards, etc) got us into debt and we had to get help with it. It would take a while, but we did eventually bring the debt way down. I applied for continuing status this year and it was granted the following year. I also applied for another job with the American Library Association in Chicago, but it was offered to someone else.
My job at the library kept me busy and my many service and scholarship activities added to the workload. In addition to juggling my three main areas of work–staff development, diversity and recruitment–the Dean asked me to coordinate the work of two visiting librarians from Saudi Arabia this particular year. I also worked with the staff development advisory group, provided funding for workshops on technology and other topics, served on the change management support group and coordinated library-wide training with various consultants. I worked with Library Diversity Council and the University of Arizona Diversity Action Council, was a member of the Arizona Association of Chicanos in Higher Education–AACHE (secretary) and president elect of the local chapter of REFORMA, The National Association for Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking. I also served on Library Cabinet and was an active participant on the Library Support Team. I compiled an affirmative action report and worked on two publication projects, one with my colleague Chestalene Pintozzi, and the other with several other colleagues for the publication, “Magazines for Libraries”.. This is also the year I started doing workshops for librarians and the public on Latin music. Getting involved with this work was the best thing that could have happened to me. It was a way to share my love of music with the rest of the world, and it was a change of pace, different from my day to day work at the Library. I could use my creativity when putting these workshops together, and I really needed that in my life at the time.
At home, Ruben and I continued to fill our house with furnishings. We bought more antiques, including a dresser and a china cabinet. We also spent lots of money on postcards, books, cds, and movies. I focused mostly on buying Mexican music and jazz. My book purchases included stuff on Chicano Studies and leftist politics. I also found some high school yearbooks from the Sixties. Our postcard collection includes the cities of Tucson, Guadalajara and Mexico City, plus other places in Arizona and elsewhere. I still have receipts for most, if not all of this stuff.
January 15: I turn 38 years old.
My friend Sandra Balderrama sent me this cool birthday card when I turned 38. At the time, she worked for the American Library Association as its head of diversity initiatives. We’ve remained friends after all these years. She’s a wonderful person.
Bill Clinton is inaugurated as our 42nd President on January 20, 1997.
President Clinton won a second term as President, but the ensuing years would be challenging, as he was impeached for his involvement with Monica Lewinsky and the Republican controlled Senate and House kept his hands tied.
January 25, 1997: Ken Frazier presentation at the UA Library
January 25: I coordinated a visit and talk by the University of Wisconsin at Madison Library director Ken Frazier, known in the library profession as “a passionate and expert spokesperson for the library community on issues related to the digital library, scholarly communication and intellectual property”. His most notable activity was being the inspiration and guidance for the launching and development of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), an academic library group that formed to, among other things, challenge the rising costs of academic journals.
February 14-17, 1997: American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Conference, Washington, DC.
Attending this conference was a lot of fun. It was my first time in Washington DC. I went to lunch at the New Big Wong Chinese restaurant in China Town with Karen and Linda, and also had Thai food one evening. I stayed at a place called the Governors mansion, but the bathroom was too small, so I moved to the Holiday Inn. I saw the Jewels of the Romanovs exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery and partied at the gay bars in Dupont Circle, and had a lot of fun. I’m not sure if I hung out with my friend Richard DiRusso or not this time around. I ate at a restaurant called “Annie’s” in Dupont Circle twice. I was involved with the LAMA Diversity committee and started work on the LAMA Diversity Officers discussion group.
1880s print of the US Capitol and Washington DC.
At first I booked a room at a hotel called The Governor’s Mansion, but the bathroom was way too small, so I decided to move to the Holiday Inn, which was close to Dupont Circle, the area of town in which I was most interested. There were a lot of book and record stores in the area, including the Melody Record shop, shown here. Lambda Rising was a great place to shop for gay-themed stuff, and Kramerbooks was a discount bookstore. They were just a few doors away from eachother. The record store and Lambda Rising are no longer there, but Kramerbooks is still open after all these years. I had fun going to the different gay bars in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. There were at least four different nightspots all in the same vicinity. The Fireplace is still open, but Omega DC closed years ago. Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse catered to the late night crowd, and I ate there a couple of times after visiting the various gay bars in the area. The New Big Wong Chinese restaurant was in Chinatown. I had lunch there with several of my friends from the University of Michigan. I had dinner with other friends at the Thai restaurant. I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t like Thai food much. I visited the Corcoran Gallery of Art to view the exhibit “The Jewels of the Romanovs. It was a very cool exhibit. The Corcoran Gallery has since closed. Too bad. It was a nice place.
Bewitched!
Ruben and I bought this board game on March 7. It’s one of several Bewitched items in our memorabilia collection.
Appointment to the ALA Minority Concerns and Cultural Diversity Committee, Spring 1997
Paul McCartney knighted on March 11, 1997.
Paul was always my favorite Beatle, although I liked John a lot for a while. In the late 60s, Paul became the “bad guy” when he refused to allow a certain lawyer by the last name of Klein to represent the Beatles. It turns out Paul was right. Klein was crooked.
A memorial service on March 14, 1997 in memory of Shizuko Radbill, a UA Library colleague who passed away on August 30, 1996
Shizuko Radbill was a member of the Library Diversity Council. She was a very sweet woman. She fell ill after a trip to Japan. This was during the mad cow crisis, and we all thought she had succumbed to it. It was very sad.
The film, Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez, is released on March 21, 1997
I took my Dad’s two stepchildren, Bertha and Antonio to see this movie. I came away from it with tears in my eyes. The kids just laughed at me. It was a great film.
April 1-April 6, 1997: Vacation with Ruben in Los Angeles
Ruben and I went to Los Angeles and stayed in a Best Western hotel near Burbank. We did a lot of stuff, including driving to Long Beach to see the Queen Mary, going to Hollywood, Olvera Street in downtown LA, and to the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park.
Allen Ginsberg June 3, 1927-April 5, 1997
I started reading Allen Ginsberg’s poetry while college. He fascinated the heck out of me, and was so eloquent and deep at times, but very funny too.
Laura Nyro October 18, 1947-April 8, 1997
My sister Becky started listening to Laura Nyro in 1968. I enjoyed the music too, and once I started building my own album collection, I familiarized myself with all of her recordings. My three favorites are below. Ms. Nyro died of cervical cancer.
Somewhere in New York City. This print and the one above where Ms. Nyro is sitting on a stoop both hung on the wall in my apartment when I was attending college and lived near the University of Arizona.
April 11-April 14, 1997: The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 8th National Conference in Nashville Tennessee
Carla Stoffle coordinated this year’s conference, and our staff were everywhere, helping out and giving presentations. I gave a presentation and moderated a session too. Some of my friends from the University of Michigan were there, and it was nice to see them again. This was a fun trip. I went to the Grand Ole Opry museum and bought cassettes at the Ernest Tubb record shop. I also heard Cornel West speak. I asked him to talk about Allen Ginsberg and what he thought of the Allen Ginsberg poem where he says “America will die”. He was very eloquent in his response. Afterwards, I went with a bunch of people, including my good friend Doreen, to a restaurant called the Royal Thai, and made the mistake of ordering very hot soup that ruined my evening. My mouth burned for hours. I also went to the Wild Horse Saloon and partied with all my colleagues. I didn’t want to learn how to learn country two stepping, but the instructor chased me all over the place until he caught me and made me try to learn. I was hopeless.
I bought these when I visited the Ryman Auditorium.
I bought a Peruvian ocarina in one of the shops in Nashville, but it was made of clay and I chipped it, unfortunately.
“Social Equity and Empowerment in the Age of Technology,” presentation given at the Association of College and Research Libraries conference, April 12, 1997. Nashville, TN.
This was my second presentation on this topic, and I did a lot better at delivering it. However, I failed to include my footnotes and citations, which wasn’t good. Again, I was out of my element with this stuff. It was a hot topic and I argued that communities of color were going to fall further behind with the new technologies because of lack of access to key elements of the infrastructure
Ellen Comes out, Time Magazine, April 14, 1997.
A New ALA LAMA Assignment:Chair of the LAMA Diversity Officers Discussion Group
Juan Gabriel and Rocio Durcal, Juntos Otra Vez, released on 4-29-97.
The film, Austin Powers, is released on May 2, 1997.
May 12, 1997–Tornado strikes Miami, Fla.
A rare F-1 tornado strikes Miami Florida and causes $525,000 in damages.
“Musica Latina”, presentation on collection development strategies for Latin music, co-presented with Benjamin Ocon at the 1997 Utah Library Association Conference, Ogden, UT, May 15, 1997.
Musica Latina workshop at the Utah Library Association. Presentation given with Ben Ocon. He invited me. We were a big hit. We both did a lot of preparation, coming up with genres, major artists and recordings, places to buy music, history of various genres, etc. This was the first time I ever gave this workshop, and I repeated it solo in the Fall at the Tucson Pima County Library at the Sam Lena Branch. Ramona Grijalva invited me. Ogden was a trip. At the time, there were a lot of Mexicanos in the downtown area. I met a guy at one of the bars and he and I partied together. Ben was great to me. We had dinner together. He was such a gentle guy.
Doing this program was a breakthrough milestone in my professional life. After 10 years of doing unfulfilling work as an academic librarian, I finally found something that I loved doing. I’d been involved with music in one form or another since I was a child, but in the past 10 years all I had done was steadily build my personal record collection. I also read a lot about music. I was now ready to share my knowledge and budding expertise with the rest of the world. Helping other librarians learn about Latin music so that they could build Latin music collections at their own libraries became my passion and mission. Ben and I worked together two more times in subsequent years, and each time, we were a big hit. He was such a wonderful man. I’m very sad that we lost touch with each other.
John Fogerty, Blue Moon Swamp, released on 5-20-97.
My baby sister Jennifer was born on May 22, 1997. The photo below was taken at her baptism ceremony. Pictured are my aunt Carmen, my Dad, his wife Lupe, Jennifer and my aunt Helen.
My dad and his wife Lupe’s babies Jose’ and Jennifer.
Released on 6-10-97. Great album.
Released on 6-20-97. Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett was so funny!
I and other colleagues completed our work on our Magazines for Libraries chapters earlier in the year. In June, Professor Katz let us know that the new edition would be out in November, 1997, with a 1998 copyright date. He was very pleased with our work.
June 26 to July 1, 1997: American Library Association Annual Conference, San Francisco.
I stayed at two different hotels near Union Squarr and went to Berkeley for the second time. Th first time was with my cousin Susie to a concert to see Jean Luc Ponty. I shopped at a couple of record stores when I was there. I’m not exactly sure what I did when in San Francisco this time around. I have a feeling this was the trip where I had a lot of fun at the Pride festival. I also spent time away from the conference at Fisherman’s Wharf and I remember getting too much sun. I visited some of the bars in the area north of Union Square too, but don’t remember a lot more than that.
I know I saw the pride parade, since I was staying in the city when it took place. I just can’t remember it.
I hit the Mission Music Center again on this trip. Last time I was there, I bought a bunch of Lucha Villa cassettes. This time around, I focused on buying lps. They were only $5.99 apiece and I bought 9 of them, six of which are shown here.
i bought these two books at either Border’s or the Virgin Megastore. They closed years ago.
More treasures to add to my ever growing record and cd collection.
Karen Downing and I wrote a chapter for a book called “Learning To Teach” and it was published in 1993 or 1994. The ACRL Instruction section folks asked us to present the workshop as an ALA Pre-Conference in Berkeley. We did fine.
We traveled up to Phoenix on the 4th of July and purchased brass candelabras just like these at an antique store in Scottsdale. Ours came with crystal chandelier prisms.
Completion of my term on the LAMA Cultural Diversity Committee
Eduardo Ortega Rascon, February 8, 1926-July 8, 1997
My mom’s uncle Eddie was a rather quiet man who kept to himself most of the time. He was born in Superior, Az nearly two years after my mom, but spent most of his life in Tucson. He worked at various jobs over the years, including at the University as a landscaper. He was married for a while and had one son, Eddie Jr, but our families rarely interacted.
I don’t have many photos of my uncle Eddie. This one is from the late 30’s and was taken in Superior Az when my mom and uncle made their First Holy Communions.
My uncle made the newspapers back in 1948. This appeared in the July 27, 1948 edition of the Arizona Daily Star. I too once made a drive-through out of a place of business, back in 1975, when I drove my friend Roses’s Mustang right smack dab into a Circle K.
July 14, 1997: Application for Continuing Status and Promotion
I submitted my packet for continuing status in mid-July. This included an updated curriculum vitae and a candidate’s statement that outlined my accomplishments over the past five years. The process involved soliciting evaluation letters from colleagues from around the country who knew of my work and had the qualifications to evaluate it, a review of my accomplishments by a committee of fellow librarians, and a review by my supervisor, Carla Stoffle, who was also the Dean of the Library. Her recommendation then went to the President’s office where a final determination was made. I was granted continuing status the following year. This meant, essentially, that I had a job for life, unless there was a financial emergency or some other event or action on my part that gave the State the authority to dismiss me from my job. Even though I had my share of conflicts over the years, I’m still employed with the University. I will celebrate 33 years on the job in June, 2025.
Dwight Yoakum: Under the Covers, released on July 15, 1997
I started listening to Dwight Yoakum in the early 90s when I lived in Michigan. This album consists of covers of various songs made popular by other people. I really like his version of “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues”. See below.
Woolworth’s Closes for Good
After 117 years in business, Woolworth’s closed its doors for good on July 17, 1997. I used to love going to the one in downtown Tucson and the one in El Con. It was a great place to shop and the lunch counter was cool too.
Rest in peace, Lady Di… July 1, 1961-August 31, 1997
During the early hours of August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died from injuries sustained earlier that night in a fatal car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, France. Dodi Fayed (Diana’s partner) and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were found dead inside the car.
Mother Theresa August 26, 1910 – September 5, 1997
Mother Theresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, devoted her life to serving the poor. A good friend of mine started the process of joining the order, but the required vow of silence was too difficult for her to sustain and she was released.
Alejandro Fernandez, Me Estoy Enamorando, released on 9-23-97.
This project was a big change of pace for Alejandro Fernandez. He paired up with Gloria Estefan and other Miami-based musicians to produce a lush, romantic recording that melts one’s heartstrings. His duet, En El Jardin, with Ms. Estefan was a huge hit.
Joan Baez, Gone From Danger, released on 9-23-97.
There are some very memorable songs on this album. Most of the songs are written by newer songwriters. Joan’s voice is gorgeous, It sounds deeper and richer.
“Musica Latina” / Presentation, September 27, 1997. An overview of Latin music, given at Tucson Pima Public Library Sam Lena Branch.
Ramona Grijalva invited me to do this workshop at her library in South Tucson. She had recently received a monster cd player as part of Musica Para Todos a program sponsored by REFORMA and Columbia House, and I learned how to program it and used it in my session. There weren’t a lot of attendees, but it was a fun event. Raul Grijalva, Ramona’s husband, was there.He enjoyed it a lot.
Read more about the Musica Para Todos Program here.
John Denver, December 31, 1943-October 12, 1997
The very first concert I ever attended was John Denver at the Tucson Community Center. I loved many of his songs. My brother Rudy had his greatest hits album, so I was familiar with a lot of them. I was sad to hear that Mr. Denver had died.
October 15-19, 1997: Two Diversity Conferences in Miami, FLA.
This was my second trip to the Miami area. The UA Diversity Council sent me to represent them at a joint conference on diversity in higher education. This time around I stayed at the Occidental Hotel on 4th St in downtown Miami. I visited Calle 8, and had Ropa Vieja at a Brazilian dinner buffet. I’m not sure if I partied or not. I may have. I shopped at Casino Records, Sam Goody and CD Solutions and bought over $100 worth of cds and other recordings. I also bought a statuette of a Cuban chanteuse. I think I did go to Miami Beach one night. Not sure what I did there, but I have no memories of anything particularly bad happening.
These two conferences overlapped and were held in the same place. It was a bit odd navigating things, but I managed.
Calle Ocho was fun. I went to a restaurant and watched all the old men playing board games and then went to Casino Records and bought some Latin cds. It was a lively area, for sure.
10/19-10/21, 1997: Job Interview in Chicago
This was a quick trip. I applied for a job as head of the ALA Office of Personnel. Did not get the job. I asked for too much money, and didn’t like Mary Ghikas the operations manager at ALA. She was pretty much in charge of the whole place and we just didn’t click.. I stayed at a nice hotel on Rush St. I think. Shopped for music at different stores. I’m not sure if I made it up to Halsted St. area. I don’t think I had time.
I bought these two books while in Chicago and added them to my ever-growing collections of leftist and Chicano studies material.
I had the Ella and Aretha recordings on lp already, I believe, but found the cd versions in Chicago. The Lucha Villa cd was interesting. Recorded in the mid-80s it became one of her best selling albums, and included a lot of hits, all written by Juan Gabriel. I’m not crazy about the album, but it’s very popular. I’m not too crazy about Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie either. There are too many very slow ballads on this disc. I prefer more uptempo material from Ella. The Aretha recording is one of my very favorites. She was at her peak when she recorded this album.
We bought this antique dresser on October 23, 1997 at a shop called TLC Furniture on Ft Lowell, just east of Tucson Blvd. It’s no longer in business, but it was a wonderful little place.
I did research on this topic specifically for this class. It was my first effort. Carla invited me back again, so I must have done pretty well.
11-6-97: AZLA Annual Conference, Phoenix, AZ
I took our Saudi intern, Turki, with me to Phoenix to the AZLA conference. This was just a one day trip. He was nice, but a female colleague told me he had harassed her, so I was wary of him. He was very traditionally Arabic. He even tried to get me to convert to Islam on our drive home from Phoenix. He was persistent, but I didn’t budge. I’ve never been attracted to the Muslim faith. I don’t like how women are treated in this particular culture/religion.
Program: The Future of the Book with Dr. Geoffrey Nunberg, December 4, 1997.
I coordinated this program. Dr. Nunberg’s talk was very well received by the UA Library staff and other visitors.
To: All Staff, Students and Faculty
The University of Arizona Library cordially invites you to a presentation entitled THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK on Thursday, December 4 from 2 to 5pm in Room A313/314 of the UA Main Library. Our featured speaker is Dr. Geoffrey Nunberg, principal scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and Consulting Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University. Dr Nunberg is also the editor of the “The Future of the Book”, a new publication that addresses the various issues related to technology, libraries and scholarly communication.
Following Dr. Nunberg’s presentation, which will focus specifically on how technology is radically transforming the way scholarly communication and public discourse take place, Steven Bosch and Chestalene Pintozzi, two University of Arizona library faculty members, will offer their reactions to his presentation by comparing and contrasting how scholarly communication occurs within the sciences and humanities. Audience participation is also encouraged.
For more information on the future of the book, visit Dr. Nunberg’s website at:
http://www.parc.xerox.com/nunberg
This event is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.
Christmas, 1997
Ruben and I received many Christmas cards, but most of them weren’t dated, so I don’t know for sure which ones were from 1997. Here are two that I know for sure I received this particular year.
We ended the year with a shopping spree and bought this antique china cabinet on 12/31/97. It is now filled with a beautiful set of Wedgewood china that we were given by a good friend. We were very fortunate to receive it.
After Leslie died in 2014, when I was a member of the American Library Association Council, I authored a resolution for the Association that was passed in Leslie’s memory. I’ll never forget how encouraging and supportive Leslie was to me and my partner, with whom she became fast friends. She encouraged me to do more community organizing and complimented me on the work I did when I brought her to town all those many years ago. Introducing her to the Tucson community was one of the best moments of my career.
I am crazy about Patti Page. A few weeks ago, I bought a 45 recording of Old Cape Cod at an antique store, and listening it inspired me to revisit what I had in my record collection. As a result, I’ve been spending a lot of time recently gathering and inventorying all of my Patti Page material. It was scattered all over the place. The sheet music and the 78’s were the hardest to locate, but I think I’ve finally found it all. I started collecting her albums, cds, singles and other stuff in my twenties. I would love to play her music on my radio show, because I think her voice is magical, one that comes along once in a lifetime. It is so pure and sweet and clear. I’m sure it shocked a few people to hear PATTI PAGE on the CHICANO CONNECTION!, but oh well, too bad. I played what I wanted, and that’s what made it so much fun. The bulk of the material included here is from my personal collection. I’ve also added a bunch of tunes that are available on Youtube. I’m still purchasing her music, but it’s hard to find locally, so I rely on Ebay and other online vendors nowadays. I have recently acquired some more 45’s and cds, so this post is still under construction. Check back periodically, as I will be adding more new material in the coming weeks as well as biographical information and other fun stuff.
With My Eyes Wide Open was recorded in late 1949, and became Ms. Page’s first million selling single in 1950. The live performance is contrasted here with the one below, where she overdubs her voice several times, creating her signature sound.
Here are some of the 78’s I have in my collection.
This song amazes me. It was released as a single on the Mercury label in October, 1951. I don’t know if Ms. Page recorded any other tunes that required her to yodel, but wow, she’s fantastic at it.
Here are a few more 78’s
This is the recorded version of Tennessee Waltz. It’s another tune where she overdubbs her voice a few times. This song catapulted her to the top.
This is a live version of the Tennessee Waltz, and there are no overdubbs, just Patti’s beautiful, sweet voice. These are the earliest lp recordings that I have of Patti Page. She released so many albums, I’ll never be able to collect them all, but I’m very fortunate to have her very first one, as well as many others.
I’ll String Along with you…
Most of these were recorded in the 1950s. All are from my personal collection of Patti Page material.
This is the original recording of Doggie In the Window. It was a huge hit.
This live version of Doggie in The Window was recorded a few years after the song’s original release. Albums from the Sixties and Seventies from my collection.
Patti Page recorded over 1,000 songs and was the biggest selling singer of the 1950s. I have a lot of her 45 singles.
I have quite a few of Patti Page’s 45s. I’ve collected these over a long period of time.
Red Sails in the SunsetMore 45’s from my collection.
3 more 45’s, six songs…
Two 45 eps from my collection.
This is a 45 rpm 3 disc set that features six of the songs from the first Patti Page album.
This was one of at least three television shows that Ms. Page hosted in the 1950s. She didn’t know how to drive at the time, according to her autobiography. It would be many years before she finally learned how.
Two pieces of sheet music and Patti Page’s autobiography.
Patti Page paper dolls and a dvd of some of Patti’s songs that she recorded for her television show in the 1950s.
Here is more sheet music from my collection.
These are some of my Patti Page cds.
Here are a few more cds. The 1997 Live at Carnegie Hall recording garnered Ms. Page, age 70, her first Grammy award. She performed this concert in celebration of her 50th anniversary in the music business.
This was a huge hit for Ms. Page. Again it features her singing in harmony with herself. Each of these 3 cd sets contain music from eight previously released albums. That’s 24 altogether!
Some of her earliest recordings are my favorites. Her voice is so strong and clear.This is a photo of Patti and her vocal quintet. She always wore such beautiful dresses and gowns!
This is one of the few Patti Page songs I heard on the radio growing up. I have always loved it. The original lyrics are quite gruesome. I’m glad they were changed. The movie, starring Bette Davis and Olivia DeHaviland, is quite good. Agnes Moorehead is in it too.
May 5, 2025: I found several additional Patti Page 45s at an antique store. They were $1 apiece. It was my lucky day!
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click the back arrow key to return to the post.
Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends. It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
Introduction
At the beginning of the year, Ruben and I were settling in well and enjoying life in our newly acquired house on 10th Avenue. We were both very busy working, filling our home up with new household furnishings, and doing other things like planting trees and shrubs around the property.
I continued juggling many different responsibilities at work. As Assistant to the Dean for Staff Development, Recruitment and Diversity, I was involved in several groups and activities. I was a member of the Library Support Team, the Change Management Support Team, the Values and Vision Team, as well as Library Cabinet. I also worked with the Library Diversity Council, the Affirmative Action Committee and the Staff Development Advisory Board. I also staffed the Library Information Desk and was a member of the UA Diversity Action Council.
In addition to taking care of my regular job duties, I was actively involved in several professional organizations and committees, including serving as secretary of the U of A chapter of the Arizona Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (AACHE), serving as a member of the REFORMA national conference planning committee, in addition to being a member of the Library Administration and Management Association’s diversity committee. I also prepared articles for publication and gave a number of presentations at conferences this year, in addition to conducting workshops on resume writing for students in the UA Library school and new staff orientation sessions for newly hired staff. It was a busy, busy time.
It’s snowin’ in Brooklyn…
New York City and the east coast got hit with a huge blizzard between January 7 and January 8, 1996. Over three feet of snow fell and claimed about 100 lives, in addition to causing over 1.5 billion dollars of damage.
January 15, 1996: My 37th birthday.
I turned 37 this year. I was in good health and had lots of energy, which is a good thing, because this would turn out to be a year filled with lots with travel. I ended up visiting seven different cities this year–San Antonio, Boston, Detroit, New York City, Austin, Pittsburgh and Seattle. Most, with the exception of the vacation Ruben and I took to Detroit, were work related
A birthday card from Carla Stoffle. She was a very busy person, but always remembered her staff on their birthdays and on holidays. Her generosity to people was admirable.
The President and First Lady get into hot water over Whitewater
In early January, Hillary Clinton was implicated in what was known as the Whitewater scandal, a real estate debacle that took place when Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas, before he was President. Later in the month, Hillary would be called to testify before Congress, a first for a first lady. In the end, neither she or her husband were found guilty of any wrong doing.
When Clinton was elected four years earlier, liberals in this country had such high hopes, but lo and behold, when the midterm elections took place in 1994, the Republicans took over both houses of Congress and Clinton found himself with his hands tied. It was such a sad situation. Many of his policies, such as those dealing with gay rights and public assistance, took a turn to the right. As a result, we got Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and a much stricter welfare system.
Clinton won the election in November ’96, but it was later revealed that he had an affair with Monica Lewinsky. The republicans had him impeached, bit it didn’t stick. He served out his presidency until 2000, leaving the country with a budget surplus, unlike his predecessor, George Bush Sr.
January 20-24, 1996: ALA Midwinter, San Antonio, TX.
My second trip to San Antonio since I started attending ALA conferences in 1989 took place between January 19 and 25, and I had a great time. The weather was perfect, if I recall correctly!
I had a lot of committee meetings this time around and attended a number of interesting programs. I got to hear both Isabel Allende and Sandra Cisneros speak, and having the opportunity to a concert by the great Tejana troubadour, Tish Hinojosa, in the brand new downtown branch of the San Antonio Public Library was the absolute icing on the cake.
I heard both Sandra Cisneros (on the right) and Isabel Allende (on the left) speak, and Tish Hinojosa (in the middle) gave a concert for the opening of the new central library. I sat in the very front row in awe of her.
I also visited a couple of churches, including St. Joseph’s Church and the San Fernando Cathedral. I try to find Catholic churches with beautiful altars whenever I visit other cities.
I visited St. Joseph’s church again. I had been there back in 1992 with my friend, Mary Lynn. The new San Antonio Central Library was beautiful, and is where I got to see Tish Hinojosa perform.
The San Fernando cathedral was close to my hotel. It was beautiful inside.
In addition to attending ALA events and visiting churches, I was able to spend time with my friends Linda TerHaar and Karen Downing. Karen and I visited the Institute of Texas Cultures, a wonderful cultural museum walking distance from downtown.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn at the far end of downtown. My friend Karen and I visited the institute of Texas Cultures. It was a very nicely put together museum.
Linda and I went on a boat ride together on the San Antonio River in the middle of the day. It was fabulous!
I ate lots of good Mexican food at places like Ninfa’s and Mi Tierra, but also had Cajun food at Boudro’s with some ALA colleagues. I did a lot of shopping too. There were a lot of great little shops in Market Square and antique and record stores downtown.
On the left is the bakery inside the Mi Tierra restaurant, where I had several meals, and on the right is Market Square, which was filled with shops and restaurants. My hotel was very close to this place, so I went here several times.
I had dinner at Boudros with a bunch of library colleagues and got smashed at Ninfa’s the day I was to head back to Tucson. It was not a good idea, I must admit.
While most of the more popular gay bars like Pegasus were on a strip on N. Main, north of downtown, there were a few right in the downtown area. I had a great time visiting the Captain’s Crew and El Jardin. There were lots of great looking men all over the place!
This is a 1996 list of gay bars in San Antonio.
2-13-96: Jackson Browne released Looking East and embarks on a world tour
Looking East, by Jackson Browne, was released on 2-13-96. His eleventh album, it peaked at number 36 on the Billboard charts. The album includes some great tunes, such as I’m the Cat, Niño, and Alive in the World, in addition to the title cut. Over the course of the year, Browne embarked on a world tour to promote the album. He is one of my all-time favorite singers and is just as handsome as can be.
This is from Jackson’s album Looking East. What a great tune!
This song reminds me of his other Latin flavored tune, Lawless Avenues. He sings parts of each song in Spanish, and he does a pretty good job at enunciating the words properly. Good for him.
Transborder Library Forum: February 15-17, 1996
The Sixth Transborder Library Forum was organized by librarians from the University of Arizona, and it brought together librarians and library workers from throughout the Southwest and Mexico. While I didn’t give any presentations, I did attend several programs and made lots of new friends. The librarians and library workers from Mexico were a great bunch of people. I spent an entire evening with them partying and playing music. It was a memorable occasion.
Chinese New Year Celebration at the Library, The Year of the Rat.
The Library Diversity Council was a great group to work with. Each year, membership changed a bit, and this year’s group was exceptional and great to work with. In February, A Chinese New Year celebration, sponsored by the Diversity Council, took place on Tuesday February 20, 2:30-4 PM, in the Main Library in rooms A313/4. Diversity Council members Erika Williams, Cecilia Poon and Maureen Gray worked with other colleagues to coordinate the event, and were praised by Carla Stoffle, the Dean of the Library, for their efforts. There was lots of delicious food, games and other activities.
This little envelope was filled with candy at one point and was a giveaway at the event.
Richard Lucier visit: February 23, 1996
As staff development librarian, part of my job involved coordinating speakers’ series that introduced the Library staff to new concepts and ideas. For example, the previous year, I arranged visits by E.J. Josey, Barbara Ford and Kriza Jennings, all well respected leaders in the profession. This time around, I worked with a planning committee of library staff to coordinate a program and a day long series of meetings on February 23, 1996 with Richard Lucier, Head Librarian a the University of California at San Francisco, who spoke about “knowledge management” and the “digital library”. These were novel and innovative concepts at the time, and Mr. Lucier was leading the way in helping libraries adjust to the new technologies and possibilities that digitization had brought to the world. His visit was very well received. There was still much to learn, however, and we continued to bring experts to the Library to help us adjust to the ever changing information technology landscape.
MY FOURTH YEAR REVIEW
At the University of Arizona Library, librarians are usually hired as members of the general UA faculty, and they are eligible to receive continuing status, which is similar to tenure. This means, in practical terms, that once a librarian is granted continuing status, they are guaranteed a “job for life” at the University, unless they seriously violate University policy or the State declares a financial emergency. In order to attain continuing status, one has to do well at their primary job in addition to engaging in scholarship (writing for publication, giving presentations and regional and national conferences) and service (active involvement and leadership in regional or national library organizations and committees). A series of reviews takes place, one at two years, another at four years, and a final one at six years, at which point, continuing status is granted, or not. If a candidate is not granted continuing status, they are usually given a year to prepare their departure. The two and four year reviews are intended to let the candidate know how their supervisors and peers perceive how well they are doing in the three areas mentioned above, and whether or not they are on track for attaining continuing status. Feedback is given to the candidate that is intended to help them improve in areas of perceived “weakness”.
I prepared my four year review packet and updated my curriculum vitae in late 1995, and by February 1996, received a letter from the Dean of the Library letting me know that I had successfully passed my four year review. It was quite a relief. The Dean’s letter to me is linked below.
March 7, 1996: Presentation–Diversity in the Workplace, Tucson Business and Professional Women’s Association.
I am not sure how I ended up giving a presentation on diversity issues in the workplace to a group of local businesswomen, but I did, and it turned out to be a very interesting experience. I clearly recall discussing the notion of the ability to speak Spanish as something that was “value added” in the workplace, particularly when it came to working with Spanish speaking clients or customers. I argued that people who had this ability should be compensated for it. Not everyone in the room agreed with me, but we all remained civil. My presentation is linked here:
I have never been that interested in the British royal family, but admired Princess Diana for her charitable work and her generally liberal outlook on life and politics. Unfortunately, I learned more about her after her death than I knew before she died.
Cover of Time Magazine, March 11, 1996.
March 28-April 1, 1996: Finding Common Ground Conference, Cambridge, Mass.
In late March, I traveled to Boston to attend a conference titled “Finding Common Ground: Creating a Library of the Future Without Diminishing the Library of the Past” Shelley Phipps and I were asked by the conference organizers to give a presentation on staff and team development. I stayed at a Best Western off the beaten path and had to take a shuttle to the Harvard campus each day. The conference was held in the Charles Hotel, adjacent to campus.
Our conference was held at the Charles hotel near the Harvard campus. The area had a lot of bookstores, restaurants and other places one could shop at or visit.
My colleague Chestalene Pintozzi was there and she also gave a presentation. As the big day unfolded, I was feeling quite uncomfortable, because I had on a brand new blue suit and tie and a new pair of shoes that I bought just for the occasion. (I never wear suits!) I was also very nervous, because after all, this was HARVARD! Shelley and I had prepared well, but unfortunately, the presenters who were scheduled before us went way over their allotted time. This left us very little time to do our presentation, and we bombed as a result. There just wasn’t enough time to do what we had planned. It felt awful. I have a couple of photos of me in my brand new blue suit.
A book of the conference proceedings was published two years later and it includes the presentation that we gave. It’s linked below.
While not attending the conference sessions, I took the train to Boston to explore the area, and managed to find a good bookstore, but I did not see the old part of the city where all the historical buildings like Faneuil Hall and the old churches were located. I didn’t even know about this area. I did, however, go to a gay bar and other places too, and had a lot of fun in Boston’s South End, which was home to the gay community.
A map showing the gay bars in the South End of Boston, and a glbt newspaper. There were ony a couple of gay bars in Cambridge, closer to the MIT campus than to Harvard.
Diversity Roundtable: Not So Straight II: April 12, 1996
This was a follow-up session to one held the previous year, on March 17, 1995. In that session, several GLBT staff spoke about their life experiences and how it felt to work at the UA Library as a member of the gay community. For this year’s session, I worked with two staff members to sponsor a visit by Amy Zuckerman, who had just co-authored the book, “Sexual Orientation in the Workplace” and who was doing training across the country on gay issues in the workplace. During her visit, she gave an open presentation to the staff, and also worked with staff who were GLBT to help them discuss issues in a safer setting.
The 25th Anniversary of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference, April 24-28, 1996.
I wish I could say that I have attended every annual mariachi conference held in Tucson over the years, but unfortunately, I’ve only attended a handful. This particular year, Linda Ronstadt performed, and it was great to see her and Mariachi Cobre together, as well as all the other performers. Mariachi Los Camperos were great, as usual, and a Japanese singer named Junko Seki, was absolutely amazing. It was a memorable show!
Linda Ronstadt performed at this year’s Tucson International Mariachi Conference on April 26.
Efren Urquides, April 28, 1961-April, 26, 1996
I didn’t know Efren all that well, but had met him a few times shortly after Ruben and I got together. He was a very handsome guy, and was one of Ruben’s good friends. Unfortunately, Ruben lost several of his buddies over the years, as did I. AIDS was the cause of death for a lot of young Latino men our age in the 80’s and 90’s. Ruben and I were quite lucky to have survived the era unharmed.
Leslie Feinberg published Transgender Warriors : April 1996
I’ve already written about Leslie Feinberg here. This book was Leslie’s attempt at pointing out that there have existed transgendered people throughout history. While it received mixed reviews, it was one of the first works to tackle topics such as cross dressing throughout history and other issues relevant to the transgendered community.
My dear friend Leslie Feinberg published this in April, 1996. It’s a popular history of transgender expression throughout history. The second edition had a less provocative cover.
May 1-May 4, 1996: Living the Future Conference, Tucson Az.
The UA Library began the restructuring process in late 1992, and late 1995, plans were in the works to host a national conference that would showcase the many accomplishments that the Library had achieved, as well as lessons learned along the way as it transformed itself from a traditional, hierarchical structure with fifteen departments to a team-based organization with nine teams. People from all over the country attended the conference, and it would be held again every two years for another decade, approximately. I contributed two programs at this conference, one on diversity, and the other on staff development. My presentation outlines are linked below.
I first heard Sue Miller Hurst speak about lifelong learning at a conference in San Francisco in 1995. I found her quite inspiring, and her talk affected me deeply. I returned to the UA Library very excited about having met and heard her, and I proposed to the Diversity Council that we bring her to campus. Members of the Diversity Council then embarked on planning an all day program where the entire staff were invited to attend her talk. Unfortunately, many of our colleagues did not take what she had to say seriously. In hindsight, we could have done a better job of working with Ms Hurst in preparing her program. I left it to other members of the Diversity Council to do that, and we missed the boat. Her philosophy is outlined below.
“Designing and implementing new structures will not fully transform an organization if the people do not release themselves from the old internal structures that say “I can’t,” or “I am not worthy.” Sue Miller Hurst spoke to the learner inside each of us, talking about challenging our assumptions about our limitations and then breaking through them. Creating a learning organization requires a community of learners — and if we do not believe in our capacity to learn, then we cannot help create the space in which learning thrives. One of my favorite poems is by St. Appollonaire: “‘Come to the edge,’ he said. They said, ‘We are afraid.’ ‘Come to the edge.’ They came, he pushed them, and they flew.”“
Going away party for Cecilia Poon: May 31, 1996
On May 31, members of the Library Diversity Council held a going away party at Libby Hilmar’s home for our colleague and friend Cecilia Poon. This is the second year that we held a get together at Libby’s house. Sadly, Shizuko would pass away in early 1997. This was a wonderful group. I really enjoyed working with them.
Shown above in the photo on the left are me, Erika Williams, Shizuko Radbill, Cecilia Poon, Diane Delp, and our host, Libby Hilmar. On the right are Diversity Council members Maureen Gray, Erika Williams and Cecilia Poon.
In the above photos, Libby Hilmar is playing her flute and I, Maureen Diane, and Erika are playing with sparklers in Libby’s yard.
June 4, 1996: Protesting stereotypes found in library literature
A colleague of mine had recently pointed out that the journal Reference Quarterly (RQ) had a very interesting article in it titled “Developing Collections for the Spanish-Speaking”. I decided to look it up, and to my horror I saw the following advertisement included in the publication. It made me very angry to see Latinos portrayed in this manner. At the time, we received very little media coverage, but then to see us portrayed as gang members in a national library publication really got to me. I raised the issue on a the REFORMANET listserv, and suggested that people write letters of protest to RQ and PAIS, the company that ran the ad. Many people did, and the topic was addressed at our conference later (I organized a discussion session about it) in the summer, as well as in the REFORMA newsletter. PAIS eventually apologized, as did ALA, but their reasoning for running the ad did not convince anyone they were sincere. Here’s the ad:
This ad ran in the Spring, 1996 issue of RQ magazine, a professional journal on reference services.
June 8-Jun 15, 1996: Vacation in Detroit Michigan.
Before we met, Ruben and I had both, at one point or another, lived within an hour’s drive of the Detroit area. I lived in Ann Arbor for almost six years, and knew the area well. Ruben lived in Toledo for a much shorter period of time, but had also been to Detroit when he lived there. We decided to visit the area this year, as we both had fond memories of having spent time there. I was also looking forward to seeing my Ann Arbor friends, but things didn’t turn out quite the way we had planned them.
We left Tucson for Detroit on a red eye late at night on June 7. Our flight went to Las Vegas first, and from there we made a connection to another flight that would take us to Detroit. Unfortunately, there was a lot of turbulence in the air in the Las Vegas area right before we landed. The bumpy ride didn’t bother me too much and I was able to doze off easily on the flight to Detroit, but Ruben freaked out, and did not sleep at all. After we landed seven or so hours later, we picked up a rental car and drove to our hotel, which was in Woodhaven, a suburb south of Detroit. Once we got settled, Ruben informed me that the turbulence really got to him and that he did not want to fly home, and that we needed to figure out another way back. This caused a big dilemma because it turned out it wasn’t that easy finding a car rental company that allowed one way trips. We did find one eventually, however. Driving back would take almost three days, so we had to cut our stay in Detroit short, giving us less time to spend in the area than we had originally planned.
Woodhaven was right near I-75, which made it very convenient for us as we explored the area.
Our hotel was a Best Western and the Denny’s we ate at was close by.
We started out with breakfast at Denny’s. A waitress named Barbara served us and left an indelible impression on us. She was such an amazing worker it was unbelievable. Never have we encountered such an amazing, attentive wait person. Later that day we ate a delicious meal in Greektown at the Laikon Cafe, and shopped at Trapper’s alley and another big big mall in Dearborn.
Greektown and Trapper’s Alley. You can see the sign that says Laikon Cafe on the postcard. We sure lucked out when we chose that place for Greek food. It was amazing. Sadly both places are no longer there, as the area has become home to a huge casino.
Two iconic symbols of Detroit. The Uniroyal TIres sign lets you know you’re getting close to the city on your way in from the airport, and the statue, located in the middle of the downtown area, can be easily seen from the Detroit People Mover.
One of our more interesting experiences was having menudo in a Mexican restaurant in the Mexicantown section of the city. The menudo had no hominy in it all. It was all broth and honeycomb tripe. We weren’t impressed, and the waiters who were watching us, giggled as they saw our shocked faces when the food was brought out to us. I’m not sure if we even finished it or not. Probably not.
That evening we drove to Toledo and went to Brett’s, a gay bar Ruben had been to when he lived there. On the 11th we went back to Toledo and ate at The Linck Inn, the restaurant that Ruben used to work at in Maumee.
When Ruben lived in Toledo he worked at the restaurant in the above building. At the time, it was called the Chadwick Inn, but it has had various names over the years. It’s a historic site, built in 1836.
We spent time shopping for antiques in the Irish Hills area, near Ann Arbor. We had a great experience exploring the small towns, but we ended up driving way too far, three quarters of the way across the state, and it took a while to get back to our hotel.
We rented another car and started on our way home on the 12th. Along the way, we stopped at some antique stores in western Michigan and Elkhart, Indiana, and avoided the Chicago area by driving south of it. We spent the first night in Des Moines. We checked into a Motel 6, but it was such a dump, we could not stay, so we found a Best Western and stayed there. We drove around the city for a while, and saw a bunch of kids coming out of a rock concert. We couldn’t believe it. They were all blonde!
The next day we made it all the way to Denver where we also stayed downtown at a Comfort Inn. Unfortunately, the fire alarm went off and we kind of freaked out because we were way up high, like on the 20th floor. Everything turned out fine, however.
From there, we started our drive to Tucson the following morning, but stopped in Albuquerque for dinner, then drove home.
It was quite an experience, that’s for sure. While I didn’t get to see my Michigan friends, it was still an enjoyable vacation. I love going across country in a car!
Ella Fitzgerald: April 25, 1917-June 15, 1996
My first partner, John, introduced me to female jazz singers back in 1979. Ella Fitzgerald was one of the greats. Man, could she sing! I’ve been an avid collector of her recordings since my early 20’s. I love most of her material, but her voice got a bit wobbly in the 70s, I must admit. She came to Tucson and performed a few times, but I never got to see her, unfortunately. I love her Duke Ellington Songbook and her Gershwin recordings, especially. On her live album, Ella in Hollywood, she scats for over 7 minutes. Her vocal creativity was astounding.
July 4-10, 1996: ALA Annual Conference, New York City NY.
I hadn’t been to New York City since 1977, when I was 18 and took a Greyhound bus from Tucson to Newark to visit my sister Becky and her husband. This time around, I stayed smack dab in the middle of town and was there to attend the ALA Annual conference. It’s the only one that’s been held there since I’ve been attending (my first ALA was in 1989). It’s a very expensive place to have a conference. It was an enjoyable trip for the most part, but the heat and humidity were sometimes unbearable.
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, shown on the left in the photo below, is commonly known as the Javits Center, and is a large convention center on Eleventh Avenue between 34th Street and 38th Street in Hell’s Kitchen. It was designed by architect James Ingo Freed of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Across the street was a railroad car restaurant that I had breakfast at. I don’t remember the name of it, however.
I stayed at the Days Hotel, shown above on the right, at 790 N .8th Ave., near Times Square. It’s since changed names several times. There was a swimming pool on the roof, but the sky was gray and the air felt yucky.
I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to see, unfortunately, but I did visit some new places like the lower east side and Central Park.
I had dinner at Woody’s and later had drinks at Don’t Tell Mama. I can hardly remember being in these places, but I have receipts that prove I was there.
My hotel was close to Times Square and the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which I visited on Sunday. What a gorgeous church!
On Saturday, my friend Doreen and I attended a to a fundraiser reception for REFORMA at the Mexican Cultural Institute. We didn’t stay for very long, and decided to leave. We then went to the lower east side to hang out with one of Doreen’s friends from library school.
We had dinner there and also went to a really great bookstore, where I bought some Noam Chomsky books.
I had wandered over the Greenwich Village earlier and found Gerde’s Folk City. The place where we had dinner in the east village was called the Yaffa Cafe.
On Sunday, I walked up to Central Park to see the Marley family perform. I especially wanted to see Rita Marley. It was a hot, muggy day. I was dehydrated and got sick after drinking just one beer, so I decided to go back to my room and left before Rita Marley made it on to the stage. I was royally bummed out. Central Park was beautiful.
On the left below is a recording of the concert in Central Park that I attended very briefly. It was hot and humid, and I made the mistake of drinking a beer, which got me very sick. I had to leave the venue early. i was very bummed out.
A bridge in Central Park.. It’s a big, big place, with lots of trees. It took forever to walk through it to the bandstand where the Marley family were performing.
Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante and Javier Solis were among Mexico’s most beloved ranchera singers. There existed at the time very few biographies of these perfomers , so finding these was a big thrill. I found them at the ALA exhibit hall at the conference. Each of these is a part of a 3 volume set. Man, what a find!
Unfortunately, my flight home from New York was delayed, and I had to stay overnight in a hotel near the airport Denver. It was a nerve wracking experience, I must say. I got home a day late as a result.
Antonio Aguilar y Su Familia: Pima County Rodeo Grounds, July 27, 1996.
I’m so glad I went to this show. The highlight of the entire thing was when the great Flor Silvestre sang Mi Destino Fue Quererte while strolling around on a horse, and of course Antonio Aguilar was wonderful, as were his sons. It was a fabulous event. I have been a fan since my teenage years. In the sixties, my mom absolutely loved Flor Silvestre and her signature tune, Mi Destino Fue Quererte, and when Pepe Aguilar started recording rancheras in the early 90’s with mariachi accompaniment, I went crazy and bought every recording he put out. I’ve seen him solo a few times. He and his children perform together now all the time and have recorded some great videos. Its been a few years now since both Don Antonio and his wife passed away. Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre left behind an amazing recorded legacy of classic rancheras as well as scores of movies. The Aguilar Family is from Zacatecas, the same state where my grandmother Zeferina Torres was from.
Deadly Bombing in Atlanta during the Olympics: July 27,1996.
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, July 27, 1996, during the Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed one person and injured 111 others; another person later died of a heart attack.
A new member of the family–Noah Andres Diaz-Colwell, born on August 9 1996.
My niece Valerie, daughter of my brother Charles and his wife Elaine, married Wade Colwell the previous year. Their first child Noah was born on August 9. He grew up to be a very tall and handsome young man. It’s hard to believe he’ll be 28 this year!
My Staff Development Work
Keeping up with change in the profession was quite challenging in the mid-90s. Technology was transforming how we did our work as librarians in every area, including cataloging, collection development, and reference. The World Wide Web and the internet were new to most people, and there was a lot to learn. In addition, the staff at the UA Library continued to grapple with the changes brought on by the Library restructuring process. My job was to provide funding for workshops and training in addition to setting up training programs within the Library. While this was just part of my job, it took up a lot of time and energy, and it seemed like the staff always had something to complain about. I struggled to keep up I wrote up this annual report for the Dean of the Library. It details my work in this area.
Over the years, I’ve had several car accidents and have received a fair number of speeding tickets etc. I think I’ve participated in these defensive driving courses at least three or four times altogether over the years. I do not have good depth perception and it causes a lot of problems. I’ve had a lot of close calls while driving, many more than I care to admit! The cars I’ve had have all gotten a real beating. I’m hell on wheels, as they say! The past few years have been better, thank goodness.
This wasn’t my best year, driving-wise. I got several tickets this year, and was also involved ina car accident. I had to go to defensive driving school and completed it on August 18, 1996. Lord knows how many times I’ve had to do this over the years.
August 22-August 25, 1996:First REFORMA National Conference, Austin, TX.
My second trip to Texas this year was to Austin, to attend the first REFORMA national conference. I had a great time. I also met a lot of really cool people and had some delicious food.
I participated in the following three different programs. I was a panelist on the first two, and the discussion convener and facilitator on the last one. Each program was well-received and we had good attendance.
“How to Start and Maintain an Successful REFORMA Chapter”
“Writing Effective Cover Letters and Resumes”
“What’s Up With the PAIS Ad?”
This was my first ever visit to Austin, and I was eager to see the sights, especially 6th Street, home to a variety of music clubs, and quite a “scene”, as they say. Austin has been known for a long time as the live music capital of the world, and home to Willie Nelson and Austin City Limits.
The conference was held at the Austin Convention Center (below, left) and my hotel was the Omni Austin hotel, (below right).
Our opening reception was held at the LBJ Presidential Library, (below left), on the UT Austin campus, on the north side of downtown. 6th St., shown below on the right, was not far away from where we stayed.
Book People and Waterloo Records were great places for shopping. I went there a couple of times. My good friend Karen Downing was also at this conference, and we shopped together.
The State Capitol building was a in the vicinity, and close to it was a gay bar called Charlie’s. There were other gay bars in the area also. I went to a few of them with some people I had met at the conference.
Overall, it was a great conference. I had a wonderful time, and would return to Austin two more times over the years. It’s a great city to visit and is much more liberal than most other cities in Texas.
My quest to keep learning…
I’ve been very fortunate to have many learning opportunities come my way, particularly in the early years of my career. I’ve attended a variety of training programs, including ones on time management, project management, developing management and training skills as well as facilitation skills. This particular year, I attended a workshop on MS Access, a database management program. Unfortunately, I did not practice enough to use it continuously. Excel was more widely promoted within the Library, and I learned that program too.
Long live the queen….
Joan Baez stopped recording for Vanguard Records in the early 70’s, but the record company continually re-packaged and re-issued her recordings over the years. I have all of the re-issues in my collection, including the Joan Baez Ballad Book, The Joan Baez Contemporary Ballad Book, The Joan Baez Love Song Album, and the Joan Baez Country Music album. Joan Baez Live at Newport, appeared in 1996, and was different in that most of the songs on this album had not appeared before on any of Joan’s previous lps, although some had been included in various Live at Newport anthologies. Joan got her big break at Newport back in 1959, so it’s a big part of her history. These songs are all from her appearances between 1963 and 1965, and include two duets with Bob Dylan.
Released on 9-17-96, this is a compilation of Ms. Baez’s live performances at the Newport Folk Festival throughout the 1960s.
Shortly after the release of Live at Newport, Ms. Baez appeared on the cover of the folk music magazine, Dirty Linen. By this time in her career, she had become a much-adored living legend, and many singers, including Emmylou Harris, were starting to publicly point to her as their insipiration and their reason for wanting to become a singer themselves. Joan’s guitar playing, especially on her early live recordings, was also starting to be acknowledged as brilliant. She is a fabulous guitarist.
Tucson High School 40th Reunion, September 21, 1996
My Aunt Mary Rascon graduated from Tucson High in 1956. This is the photo she and my uncle Donato took at her 40th high school reunion gathering. Uncle Nato never finished high school, unfortunately. He joined the marines when he was 15. He has since passed, but Aunt Mary is still with us. She’s one of only three aunts that I have left. The other two are my brothers sisters, Helen and Carmen.
Ocober 12-October 15, 1996: LAMA/LITA National Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
On my second trip to Pittsburgh in as many years, I attended a conference co-sponsored by two ALA Groups– the Library Administration and Management Association and the Library Information Technology Association. It was their first joint conference, and as a member of the LAMA Diversity Committee, I was asked by the chair, Joan Howland to put together a program on information technology and its impact on diverse groups.
As coordinator of this program, I decided to write a paper on how the internet further divides the haves from the have-nots. I also asked my colleagues Patricia Tarin and Carla Stoffle to co-present with me. I was very excited about the program, but I didn’t do a great job with my part of the presentation. I was very nervous and towards the end, dropped my papers on the floor. I was very embarrassed. Pat Tarin didn’t give a very good presentation either, but Carla saved the day and hit it out of the ballpark for us.
In hindsight, I was out of my league writing about information technology. I really didn’t have a good grasp on things at this stage in my career, and was a over my head. I chalked it up as an important learning experience. My paper is linked here: “Social Equity and Empowerment in the Age of Technology”
This was a very short trip and I didn’t get to see much of Pittsburgh. I did, however, explore parts of downtown that I hadn’t seen the year before. I really like the city, and will hopefully return again and spend more time here.
Downtown Pittsburgh. What a gorgeous skyline!
October 30-November 3, 1996:Ford Foundation Diversity Conference, Seattle WA.
I first visited Seattle in 1981. At the time, my sister Becky lived in a small town close by called Lacey. I spent about a week with her and her husband Paco, and we went all over the place, including Victoria, Canada and Mt. Rainier. We also visited Pike’s Market and the Seattle Space Needle. This time around, I was there to attend a Ford Foundation-sponsored diversity conference. The UA Diversity Action Council sent me and paid for this trip.
I attended several programs and events at the conference, but don’t remember anything specific about it that stood out. My memories at this point are sharper regarding what I did on my own while in the city.
After getting settled in at my hotel, which was a Westin, I decided to head over to the Pikes Market area, where my sister Becky and her husband took me when I was last there. It’s an interesting place, with three stories of shops and lots of food vendors. There was seafood available for sale everywhere.
I also found some shops in the vicinity including one calle La Sirena Rosa. The owner there specializes in selling clothing, music and other stuff from Latin America. I really liked this store, and bought myself a Che Guevara t-shirt and some Latin music while here.
Another store I round was The Spanish Table. It specialized in Spanish imported goods, including food and household items. I bought a beautiful cookbook here.
I bought the Joni Mitchell recording, shown below on the left, on cassette at a Sam Goody record store in Seattle two days after its official release date, which was October 29, 1996. There’s a companion recording called “Misses” as well that was released on the same day. A day later, I bought the Lola Beltran recording on cassette at the same store. My first experience at the store was fine, but my second visit turned into a nightmare. The clerk was a real uptight jerk. He watched my every move, thinking I was there to steal something. I was so angry. I would’ve just walked out, but I wanted the recording badly. I had never seen it before, and I was in the midst of building my Mexican music collection. I love Lola Beltran, and Mexican ranchera music was my passion at the time.
Later, I got the royal treatment at a restaurant/bar, where I ordered a burger and fries. My waitress completely forgot about me, and my hamburger sat on the counter for quite a while. It was yet another bad experience and it left a bad impression.
On my last day in Seattle, I visited the Space Needle. I had been there before, but wanted to go up to the top again. It was fun. I bought some souvenirs there, but don’t remember what exactly.
Sometime in between doing all the things I have already mentioned, I found time to explore the gay bars in Seattle. There were quite a few close to my hotel. I had a lot of fun and met some interesting people.
Unfortunately, my overall impression of the city was that it was not a very friendly place. I’ve since been back twice, and I still don’t care for it much. It’s a hilly city and hard on one’s legs. It’s also spread out all over the place and hard to get around. There are lots of other places I got to see this year, and they were a lot friendlier. Even New York City was friendlier than Seattle. Oh well. You can’t win ’em all!
1996 Presidential Elections
Bill Clinton had a difficult time with Republican-controlled Congress once they gained control in 1994, but he still managed to beat Bob Dole in the 1996 election, winning 379 electors to Dole’s 159 and taking 49.2% of the national popular vote to Dole’s 40.7%. The following four years would be even more challenging for him for a number of reasons, but he left the country better off when his second term was over than President Bush had. As a result of the Clinton economic policies, the US attained a budget surplus of $237 billion, shrunk unemployment, created 22 million new jobs, and reduced inflation. Too bad George Jr. got installed by the Supreme Court in 2000. Things got a lot worse after that.
Clinton wins another election, November 18, 1996.
November 26, 1996: Not So White Roundtable: A Dialogue with Our Colleagues of Color
The success of the first two Not So Straight Roundtables inspired the Diversity Council to sponsor a similar program that featured staff who were members of the Native American, African American and Latino communities. Staff spoke openly about their experiences with institutional racism. The attendees listened and came away with new insights, sensitivity and awareness, which is what we had hoped would happen.
The Dean of the Library attended the event, and was very impressed with our work, as her note below indicates. Receiving this kind of feedback at the end of such a crazy, up and down year really helped boost my morale.
Alejandro Fernandez releases Muy Dentro de Mi Corazon: 12-10-96
During this period of his recording career, Alejandro Fernandez just kept getting better and better. This album has mariachis all over it, and several songs, such as “Es La Mujer” became big hits. The following Spring, the album received a Grammy award nomination in the category of Best Mexican/Mexican American album.
Released on 12-10-96, this album achieved double platinum status in the US.
Merry Christmas!
Wow! What a year it was!. I received a bunch of Christmas cards from friends and family, including my good friends Pernela and Scott Teresa, Doreen and Jose’, among others. Below is a small sample of the cards we were sent.
1986: Masters of Library Science (MLS) Degree. The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
1982: Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with a minor in Sociology. The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Chronology of Employment
2011-present: Associate Librarian and Archivist, Special Collections, The University of Arizona Libraries.
Serve as curator for the performing arts and architecture collections. Work with donors to appraise and acquire new collections, physically process collections and manage other related activities, such as the creation of collections guides. Provide reference assistance, responding to customer queries in architecture, the performing arts and other areas. Participate in staffing the reading room. Conduct classroom instruction on the use of primary resources. Supervise student interns. Participate in library-wide committees. Since January 2020, coordinate the departments’ virtual reference service, permissions and copyright processes. From 2012 to 2018, managed the department’s exhibits and events programs.
2000-2011: Associate Librarian for the Performing Arts
Served as the Library faculty liaison to the departments of Music, Dance, Theater Arts, Africana Studies, Religious Studies and Media Arts. Engaged in collection development and management, reference service and instruction in all areas of the performing arts. Managed the National Flute Association Library. Worked with colleagues to coordinate database training and a lecture series for the campus community. Supervised student assistants and interns from the Graduate Library School. Served on library-wide committees.
1992-2000: Assistant to the Dean for Staff Development, Recruitment and Diversity
Reported directly to Dean of the Library. Coordinated staff development and diversity programming and training for the Library, while serving as a member of the Library’s administrative group and Library Cabinet. Managed the library’s training and professional development budget, allocating financial resources to the staff for a variety of activities. Served as liaison to several committees, such as the Affirmative Action Committee, the Diversity Council, and the Staff Development Advisory Board. Coordinated the Library’s recruitment efforts, and ensured that our recruitment pools were diverse whenever possible. Worked with other HR staff to provide training on team development, effective meetings, and new staff orientation. Supervised staff in the HR department. Promoted to Associate Librarian with continuing status in 1998.
1987-1992: Undergraduate Services Librarian, The University of Michigan Libraries.
Worked in the Undergraduate Library, providing reference service and instruction for the undergraduate community. Areas of instruction included English, Psychology and Political Science. Participated in building the library’s book collections, focusing on adding diverse titles in Chicano Studies and LGBTQ Studies to the library’s literature collections. Coordinated the reference assistants program. Duties included student supervision, coordination of the student’s desk schedules and provision of training to new students working on the reference desk. Served on the Library’s Diversity Committee and participated in diversity-related program planning and training. Was a member of the Residency Program, and founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Library Staff organization. Received a promotion to Associate Librarian in 1991.
1987: Public Services Librarian, The Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library.
Served as the lead reference and collection development librarian, with a primary focus on children’s programming. Conducted story hour sessions, visited schools, gave tours, and purchased materials for the collection. Collaborated with members of the local community to coordinate programming for the annual Very Special Arts Festival. Coordinated the Library’s Annual Booksale. Wrote a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant for a public programming series, which was funded. Represented the library in a number of media appearances on local television. Focused on promoting the Library’s programming and related activities.
1976-1986: Retail Clerk, Fry’s Food Stores.
Worked as a part-time as a carry out clerk, then as a stocker and cashier while in high school and college. Served as a union steward from 1983-1986.
2002: Recipient,Movers and Shakers Award. This is an annual award given by Library Journal to leaders, activists and innovators in the field of librarianship. Recipients are nominated by their colleagues and selected by the editors of the journal. First cohort. https://bobdiaz.net/2021/09/28/bob-diaz-movers-shakers-2002/
Service/Outreach (limited to the past 10 years, approximately)
2022-2023: Member, Conference of Intermountain Archivists Education committee. Committee assignments include reviewing scholarship applications for attendance at annual CIMA conference, and setting up educational webinars.
June, 2021-June 2024: Councilor At-Large, The American Library Association Council. Elected position.
2021-2023: Member, representing Tucson chapter, REFORMA National Board of Directors.
JOUR 306 – Advanced Reporting. Introduction to the use of archives for primary research.2 sections. Lead instructor: Pate McMichael.
PAH 420: Innovation and the Human Condition: Learning How to Improve Life in the Community and Beyond. Resources on local history. Primary instructor: Jacqueline Barrios. 1 hour.
Spring 2023:
ARC 532, History of the Built Environment from 1350 to 1940. Introduction to classic works of architecture. Primary instructor: Natsumi Nonaka. 1 hour.
Fall 2022:
Music 533, Music of the Twentieth Century, Using archives and special collections to find music-related primary sources. Primary Instructor: Matthew Mugmon, Hours Taught: 1
Spring 2022
ARH 480/580, Art and the Environment in the US , A look at the work of Judith Chafee, American architect. Primary Instructor: Lee Ann Custer , Hours Taught: 1
Fall 2019
Geog 375, Metropolitan Tucson,Finding primary sources for the study of local history. Primary Instructor: Taylor Miller, Hours Taught: 1
GWS 240, Gender in a Transnational World ,Introduction to the use of archives and primary resources. Primary Instructor: Domale Keys, Hours Taught: 1
HIST 498, Capstone/Research Seminar, Using archives for historical research. Primary Instructor: Jadwiga Pieper Mooney, Hours Taught: 1
LIS 567, Leadership in Libraries , Leadership in archives and special collections. Primary Instructor: Carla Stoffle , Hours Taught: 3
High School students from Nogales High School , N/A, An introduction to primary sources housed at the UA Libraries. Primary Instructor: Luke Brannen, Hours Taught: 2
History 495G, Natural Resources and the Law in the Spanish and Mexican Borderlands, Finding historical materials on the borderlands in Special Collections. Primary Instructor: Michael Brescia, Hours Taught: 2
Summer 2017
WSIP Summer Camp,An overview of Special Collections and archives for beginnning researchers , Primary Instructor: Andrea Hernandez Holm, Hours Taught: 2
Anthro 150, Many Ways of Being Human,An introduction to primary source research and the use of archives. Primary Instructor: Dana Drake Rosenstein, Hours Taught: 4
Spring 2017
Honors course, Picturing Arizona, Finding primary research materials on Arizona and an introduction to archives. Primary Instructor: McStott, Jennifer, Hours Taught: 2
JH 487, American Press History,Using primary sources in archives and special collections for research. Primary Instructor: Lumsden, Johanna, Hours Taught: 2
HIST 301, Introduction to the Study of History, Using primary sources for historical research. Primary Instructor: Irwin, Hours Taught: 4
Fall 2016
IRLS 560, Collection Management , Collection Development and Diversity. Building diverse collections. Primary Instructor: Carla Stoffle, Hours Taught: 3
IRLS 557, Documenting Diverse Cultures and Communities ,Community engagement and Libraries. Primary Instructor: Richard Chabran
HIST 301, Introduction to the Study of History,Using primary sources and archives for historical research. Primary Instructor: Irwin, Hours Taught: 3
Spring 2016
IRLS 560, Collection Management ,Collection development and diversity. Primary Instructor: Carla Stoffle , Hours Taught: 3
Fall 2015
MAS 265, Overview of Mexican American Studies , An overview of Mexican American music history in Tucson. Primary Instructor: Dr. Lydia Otero , Hours Taught: 1
Fall 2014
UA, IRLS 557, Documenting Diverse Cultures , Community outreach and engagement and libraries. Primary Instructor: Janet Ceja , Hours Taught: 1
UA, Theatre Arts, Theatre of the Americas , Finding primary performing arts resources in archives and Special Collections. Primary Instructor: Kevin Byrne, Hours Taught: 3
Spring 2014
UA, CESL Conversation class for French students, Conversation,An introduction to archives and Special Collections. Primary Instructor: Holly Wehmeyer, Hours Taught: 1
Apollo Middle School, Science class, n/a, Science class, An introduction to Special Collections and archives. Primary Instructor: Steve Olguin, Hours Taught: 1
Fall 2012
MAS 265, Overview of Mexican American Studies,A historical overview of Mexican American music in Tucson. Primary Instructor: Lydia Otero, Hours Taught: 1
Student Mentoring and Advising Activities
Summer, 2022: Bianca Finley Alper, Intern. Provided supervision and mentorship.
“Latin America”, book chapter in Magazines for Libraries 11th edition. New Providence, New Jersey: R.R. Bowker, 2002. Coordinator and primary contributor to a completely revised chapter with new co-authors Olivia Olivares and Veronica Reyes. My contribution: 45%.
“Latinos” book chapter in Magazines for Libraries 11th edition. New Providence, New Jersey: R.R. Bowker, 2002. Coordinator and primary contributor to a completely new chapter with new co-authors Olivia Olivares and Veronica Reyes.
“Latin America and Latinos”, two chapters in Magazines For Libraries, 9th edition. New Providence, New Jersey, R.R. Bowker, Coordinator of and contributor to completely revised chapter, with additional contributions from Patricia Promis, Thomas Marshall, and Theresa Salazar.
“An overview of the history of Tucson and Southern Arizona”, article that appeared in a zine produced by Jacqueline Barrios’ PAH 420 class. 100% responsibility.
Diaz, J. R. (2015). Tucson: Growth, Change, Memories (exhibition and programs). Special Collections exhibition gallery. Tucson, Az.: The University of Arizona Libraries
Diaz, J. R. (2015). Celebrating Excellence: Women in Anthropology (exhibition and program). Main Library. Tucson, Az.: The University of Arizona Libraries. https://bobdiaz.net/2020/03/08/celebrating-excellence-women-in-anthrpology-exhibition-main-library-and-program/
Diaz, J. R. (2012, January 6). Company Town: Arizona’s Mining Communities During 100 Years of Statehood (exhibition and program). University of Arizona Science Engineering Library. Tucson, Az.: The University of Arizona Libraries. https://bobdiaz.net/2020/02/23/2012-company-town-exhibit/
Diaz, J.R. (2023). Coordinator, “Leadership in Archives and Special Collections from a BIPOC Perspective”panel presentation given at the annual RBMS Conference, Summer, 2023. (I wrote and submitted the proposal for this event as a member of the RBMS Diversity Committee and coordinated it, but was not part of the panel).
Diaz, J. R. (2022, December). Dr. Arnulfo Trejo: A Look At His Life And Work.VII Encuentro Internacional Sobre Comunicacion, Frontera y Movimientos Emergentes. Tucson, Az.: Universidad de Sonora, University of Arizona Confluence Center for Creative Inquiry, UA Mexican American Studies Dept. et al. https://bobdiaz.net/2022/12/01/dr-arnulfo-trejo-a-look-at-his-life-and-work/
Received a $3,000 grant from the Arizona State Library to coordinate events for the Tucson Chapter of REFORMA’s El Dia Del Nino/Dia Del Libro annual event.
Received a grant for $2,500 from the American Society of Architectects Arizona chapter to hire a student assistant to help process architectural collections.
2021
Received a $2,000 grant from the Arizona State Library to coordinate events for the Tucson Chapter of REFORMA’s El Dia Del Nino/Dia Del Libro annual event.
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click the back arrow key to return to the post.
Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
1995 was a busy time in my life. I turned 36 in the middle of January, and Ruben and I were living in our apartment on Shannon Road. I was still working at the University of Arizona Library as Assistant to the Dean for Staff Development, Recruitment and Diversity, and Ruben was in beauty school. Early in the year, we decided we wanted our own house, so we started looking around. It took about three months to find one, and by May we were moved into our own home on N. 10th Ave, just south of Speedway. Getting our own house was the highlight of the year. We could not have done it without Ruben’s parents’ help. They gave us money for the down payment, and we were able to get a loan from the VA. The house was small, but it had a very big lot, and it was close to my job. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.
Ruben graduated from beauty school in February, which was another highlight for us, and he started working immediately thereafter at Supercuts.
I did a lot of traveling this year. I attended ALA Midwinter in late January/early February in Philadelphia, where I gave a presentation on recruitment in a team-based environment and where I had the privilege of meeting the great gay rights leader, Barbara Gittings, and then Ruben and I went to Disneyland at the end of February. It was a fun trip. We have a photo that was taken of us when we rode the canoe on the Splash Mountain ride. It was hilarious. Ruben and I were in the front and the looks on our faces spoke volumes. In April, I attended the ACRL National conference in Pittsburgh, where I got to spend time with Mary Lynn and Doreen, two colleagues that I met at the University of Michigan, and hear the great historian Ronald Takaki, author of “A Different Mirror: A HIstory of Multicultural America,”speak. In June, I attended the ALA Annual conference in Chicago, and gave a presentation on GLBT issues in the workplace, and marched in the gay pride parade with my friend Richard DiRusso. That was great fun. In September, I traveled to San Francisco to attend the National Staff Development and Training conference with my good friend Karen Downing. I met Sue Miller Hurst, a motivational speaker and educator there and found her very inspiring.
Work was hell. I worked with a number of consultants and coordinated scores of training sessions for the staff, including anti-racism training, communication skills training, and customer service training, to name a few topics. I found this work to be thankless. It never seemed to be enough. It was in other areas of my job, however, that I found some fulfillment. Working with the Diversity Council was a lot of fun. We held a number of very interesting programs, including a session called “Not So Straight: A Dialogue with your Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Colleagues”, and a Juneteenth celebration with Barbea Williams and her dance troupe. Kriza Jennings, a diversity consultant with the Association of Research Libraries, visited in October and was a big hit with all the groups she met, both on campus and in the community. As Assistant to the Dean, I had many other responsibilities as well and attended hundreds of hours of meetings.
I was also heavily involved in professional service this year, and was a member of the REFORMA National board of Directors, the ALA GBLT Book Award Committee, the AZLA Services to the Spanish Speaking Roundtable, as well as a number of other organizations.
I also gave presentations, worked on publications and taught.
In other areas of my life, my dear friend Ana Elias’s husband Thad died in the Spring. It was a very sad time for the Elias family. In July, my niece Valerie married Wade Colwell, who was one of Anthony Quinn’s grandsons. My Aunt Carmen and Helen celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, and my niece Estrella gave birth to her daughter Gabriela.
In terms of hobbies, I continued to build my music, film and book collections. This particular year saw the release of several great music recordings, including Wrecking Ball, by Emmylou Harris and Joyas de los Siglos by Ana Gabriel, just to name a couple. Ruben and I continued to buy classic movies on vhs. We helped make Blockbuster and Bookman’s rich!
Overall, Ruben and I did well this year, even though we were a bit deeper in debt than before. We spent a lot of time furnishing our new home and making improvements to it. All in all, we made some big strides together in just over two years. We had a lot to look forward to as we settled into our first home.
For a more complete look at my work and accomplishments, click here.
The following section is a compilation of photos and graphics of all the things that happened this year.
From the Arizona Daily Star, January 14, 1995. The Barraza-Aviation Parkway was named after my partner Ruben’s uncle Maclovio Barraza, Ruben’s mother’s brother. Barraza grew up in Superior and was a miner at Magma Copper Co. He became a union leader and fought hard for worker’s rights. My dad knew him well.
I grew up just to the east of the intersection of the Barraza Aviation Parkway and 22nd St. A dedication ceremony for the parkway was held sometime in the summer. Ruben and I accompanied his parents and his uncle’s family at the ceremony. From the Arizona Daily Star, January 14, 1995.
I turned 36 on January 15. These were birthday cards from Carla Stoffle and Libby Hilmar, two colleagues at work. Carla, who was the Dean of the Library and my supervisor, sent me both birthday cards and Christmas cards every year for approximately 20 years. Libby sent me the same birthday card three years in a row. I still have all three.
Getting positive feedback from my boss was a rare occurrence. When it happened, it sure felt good! She had high standards and expected her staff to work 50 to 60 hours a week. It was insane. The affirmative action committee worked very hard on the report.
After the successful Leslie Feinberg visit that I coordinated in 1994, the folks at Wingspan offered me a seat on their Board of Directors. I accepted the offer. However, after a couple of months, I realized this assignment wasn’t for me, and unfortunately, I had to resign. I had too much going on and this job required more time and attention than I could give it.
The Library Diversity Council made presentations to all the teams in the Library, starting in mid-January. The information we shared can be found here:
Ruben and I made a quick trip to Nogales on January 22nd. I don’t remember why we went. At times, we would just go for the drive or to eat and shop for the day.
I attended ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia in February. (2/2-2/7).
This was my first visit to Philadelphia. I’ve since been there several times.
This program was held on Friday, February 3 from 2 to 5 in the Four Seaasons Hotel. I was a bit nervous, but ended up doing very well on my presentation.
Barbara Gittings was a legendary figure in the gay rights movement. She was also a librarian, and at this conference she spoke about how gays at ALA made a stance about the need for acknowledgement and acceptance. I just had to include the famous steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Scenes of the movie “Rocky” were shot here.
Ms. Gittings shared the following document about the history of the ALA GLBT Task Force with the attendees at her presentation in Philadelphia: Gays in Libraryland
I attended several programs in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the GLBT Task Force.
The gay bars in Philadelphia were in the downtown area. I had a great time.
My hotel was located at Penn’s Landing, a bit off the beaten path. I had to take the Philly Phlash shuttle back and forth every day to the conference.
More scenes from Philadelphia. The public library is on the bottom right. I fell in love with the music room.
The Reading Terminal Market was a blast. It was next door to the Gallery shopping mall. The bridge took one over to the New Jersey side of the river.
Ruben graduated from beauty school. (2/8/95)
Ruben started working at Supercuts almost immediately. He would stay with the company for many years and worked at various locations in town.
Tucson’s own Lalo Guerrero paired up with Los Lobos to create this wonderful music for children of all ages, released on February 14, 1995.
On February 20, the Library Diversity Council sponsored a program featuring scholar, oral historian and educator Ruth Edmonds Hill, who discussed her work on the Black Women’s Oral History project.
I went to Disneyland in Anaheim with Ruben in February (2/25-2/28).
We took the “northern” route (Interstate 10) to Anaheim and arrived in less than 8 hours.
Ruben and I were all freaked out, as one can tell.
We just had to go on this ride, because you know what they say…. It’s a Small World after all…
This time we took the I-8 to Tucson. It’s always nice to avoid the Phoenix traffic.
This is an amazing album. It was released on March 6, 1995. The following video is a work of art. I love the song!
I gave a presentation on resumes and cover letters on February 15 at the Library school.
I attended the ACRL National conference in Pittsburgh March 28 through April 1.
Ronald Takaki was one of the keynote speakers at this conference. Listening to him speak was a high point of the event.
The David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, where our conference was held.
My friend Mary Lynn and I visited the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. Wow, what a beautiful place!
My dear friends Doreen Simonsen and Mary Lynn Morris both attended the ACRL conference, and I spent time with them while there. It had been three years since I left the University of Michigan, which is where this photo was taken. Doreen and Mary Lynn are shown here standing at the reference desk at the Undergraduate Library. I spent an average of 12 hours a week at this desk for over five years.
My friend Doreen and I visited the Penn Brewery and had a scrumptious German dinner.
Tejano star Selena’s life came to an abrupt end on March 31, 1995. Fans from all over the US and Mexico mourned her death.
On April 5, the LIbrary Diversity council sponsored a program featuring Felipe Molina who spoke about the Easter traditions of the Yaqui people. Molina is a Yaqui deer singer who has served as governor of Yoem Pueblo and as a member of the Pascua Tribal Council. He is also co-author of Yaqui Deer Songs, a book of Yaqui poetry.
Sandra Bernhard performed at Spring Fling on April 7 on a stage at the intersection of Cherry and University Blvd. I didn’t know she could sing so well. She tore it up when she sang the song, “Janie Got a Gun”. She also trashed the Catholic Church as she looked toward the bell tower of the Newman Center. I am glad I saw her perform. She was pretty wild. Below is her version of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. She is not from Arizona, however.
She’s amazing.
April 19, 1995 was a very sad day indeed. 158 people lost their lives and over 500 were injured when Timothy McVeigh bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City.
I loved seeing Los Lobos in concert. I’ve been attending their shows since the mid-80s.
Released on May 2, 1995. Alejandro Fernandez would soon become an international superstar. The following song, which appeared on this album, was a big hit for Fernandez.
Released on 5-3-95. I really enjoyed this movie. It was really well done.
Ruben’s parents treated me like one of their own sons. They gifted us $10,000 for the down payment on our new home. We could not have bought it without their help.
We put an offer on this house in March and by April were notified that it was accepted. We were all moved in by the first week of May.
in the Spring, we bought this small, two bedroom house on 10th Ave, just south of Speedway, and moved in at the beginning of May. The neighborhood was built on top of “the Court St. cemetery”, Tucson’s old city cemetery. Unfortunately, in some cases, only the headstones were moved…
Carla Stoffle, my boss at work, sent us this beautiful dracaena as a housewarming gift. We kept it alive for years, and it got very tall.
This sideboard/buffet was the first big piece of furniture we bought after we moved in to our new home.
Then we found this beautifully preserved upright baby grand piano. The clock was purchased shortly afterwards.
Then we bought this beautiful table. The chairs came later. We also purchased a big sectional couch and a china cabinet. Our little house soon began to feel even smaller….
The Equity Institute visited the UA Libraries in 1994 and again this year. They also did community training, sponsored by the YWCA, later in the summer. Staff enjoyed these sessions, although they could get pretty intense.
Elizabeth Montgomery 4/15/1933-5/18/1995. One of my favorites.
The Diversity Council sent out to the staff a training needs assessment survey, and by mid-June, we had compiled the results.
This is one of my favorite Juan Gabriel albums. It was released on June 19, 1995. He was such a great singer/songwriter. Nobody else has come close since he passed. The following song was part of this album. It protested Proposition 187, which was passed in California the previous year, but eventually deemed illigal by the courts.
Barbea Williams and her dance troupe visited the UA Library on June 20, 1995 and did a performance centering around Juneteenth.
I attended ALA Annual in Chicago in June. (6/23-6/28)
Chicago is my favorite big city.
Things I did at the 1995 ALA Annual conference in Chicago, according to my report to Carla
Not a very pleasant trip. Too humid and uncomfortable.
Gave a presentation on gays and lesbians in the workplace at the GLTF Pre-conference.
Attended a LAMA program on leadership development for minority librarians
Attended a LAMA Cultural Diversity Committee meeting.
Attended the ACRL Personnel and Staff Development Officers discussion group meeting.
Met with Kriza Jennings.
Marched in the gay pride parade in the gay librarians contingent on Sunday.
I marched in the gay pride parade this year with my friend Richard. We had a blast.
Meanwhile, back home, my nephew Marcus was doing this…
The heat wave that hit the Midwest in mid-July, 1995 took the lives of over 500 people in Chicago, and just as many across the rest of the Midwest. I had just been there to attend the ALA Annual Conference. Wow.
Selena’s English-language album, Dreaming of You, was released on July 18, about 3 1/2 months after she was killed by a deranged fan. The title cut of the album follows.
To see the actual work, click on the words “”Latin America” below.
The great Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995. Deadheads all over the world were devastated.
This photo was taken in 1992 in my office at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library. That’s my good buddy Mike Robbins sitting next to me. He died in 1997. The news hit me pretty hard.
An amazing compilation of live performances by Joan Baez and friends. Released in September, 1995. The following song was not included in the original cd, but was released later on the collector’s edition of this album. I just love this old song. She first recorded it on one of her “in concert” albums way back in 1962.
I attended a conference on staff development in San Francisco in September. (9/10-9/13)
I roomed with my good friend Karen while at this conference. We worked at Michigan together and this photo was taken in my office at the Undergraduate Library.
AULC Trip to Flagstaff in September 9/21-9/22.
I’ve been going up to Flagstaff for one thing or another since I was six years old. This particular trip was a quick, work-related visit.
Released on 9/26/95. What a joyful album! The following tune is just lovely, as are all of them!
Also released on 9/26/95 and a stark contrast to the one by Gloria Estefan. Heavy stuff, this one. The title cut follows.
I raised over $600 for this year’s Aidswalk. Most contributors were library staff.
OJ was found not guilty, but nobody believed that. He was later arrested on other charges and spent a lot of time in prison. The first magazine is dated 10/9 and the second one is dated 10/16.
As a librarian who was continuing status eligible, I had to prepare a candidate’s statement for my four-hear review, which was a critical point in the process leading toward achievement of continuing status. My statement, which summarizes my work and accomplishments for the past three years, is linked here: Joseph R. Diaz: Curriculum Vitae Statement of Objectives for 4-year review 10-15-1995
This is one of my favorite country artists. The album was released on 10-31-95.
Released on 11-21-95. Reminds me a lot of Springsteen’s Nebraska album. It’s rather dark, but so, so soulful. The song “Across the Border” follows. This is a live version Springsteen recorded in the studio. Linda Ronstadt later recorded the song on the album, “Western Wall: The Tucson sessions, which she recorded with Emmylou Harris in Tucson.
I was invited back again in the Fall to do another resumes and cover letters workshop for the students at the UA Library School. I enjoyed this work immensely.
My favorite Ana Gabriel album, released some time in November, 1995. I wish she would do another one like this. She performed the following song “Reconciliacion” live on a special program hosted by Raul Valasco on Mexican music back in the 90s. I was lucky to record it and still have it.
Coordinating staff development programming and training as well as providing the staff with funding for training and conferences was a big, big part of my job. The work was endless, and unfortunately, the staff were never satisfied. It was a thankless job. I didn’t like it, but I had to do it. I was very frustrated doing this work because I had certain colleagues breathing down my neck all the time who tried very hard to get me to resign, and worked behind the scenes to sabotage my work. I stuck it out for eight years, however. I’m glad I kept records of my work, because it’s proof of what I accomplished. To this day, I can’t stand when people use words like “competent” or “incompetent” to describe other people’s capabilities in the workplace, because I know from experience that it’s all political. These words become weapons used to attack others. They serve no useful purpose.
I don’t remember much about this particular event, but I was elected secretary of this group in late 1995. It was not my favorite assignment, if I recall correctly. I do not like the job of secretary. It is very tedious, but I’ve served in this role a couple of times over the years. I was also national secretary of REFORMA in the early 90s.
Dean Martin 6/7/1917-12/25/95. I love his voice. I think it’s gorgeous. I used to love to play the following song on my radio show.
Back in September 2023, I had the pleasure of participating in a class on Mexican American iconography taught by my colleague Alba Fernandez-Keys in Special Collections . Dr. Jacqueline Barrios is teaching about the history of the murals at the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center to a group of undergraduates. She asked me to provide a quick overview of the history of the Mexican American Community in Tucson, and I came up with the following. I didn’t use footnotes or do a lot of reading or research for this. I gave the talk using only what I already knew about our history. The document was recently edited and included in a “zine” that Dr. Barrios and others produced. Here’s the original document.
A quick overview of the history of the Mexican American community in Tucson
By Bob Diaz
The Tucson region is one of the longest continuously inhabited regions of North America, and was home to indigenous (Hohokam, Tohono O’Odham, Apache) and Mexican people long before the arrival of the Anglo. The Spanish arrived in the late 1400s and within 30 years, defeated the Aztecs, who ruled the valley of Mexico at the time. Spanish adventurers explored this area in the 1500’s and by the late 1600’s had managed to build a series of missions in northern Sonora and southern Arizona, subjugating the native populations through religion and the use of force. The Spanish ruled in the borderlands region for over 100 years, but the area was never heavily populated, because the Apache and other tribes were not willing to be subjugated to Spanish rule, and they fought back. The desert heat and a lack of water also made the area a difficult place in which to live .
By 1820, Mexico defeated Spain in a 10-year war for liberation. However, establishing strong leadership and a strong army to protect itself was difficult to accomplish, and the United States, hungry for land, began to set its sights on conquering Mexico. Manifest Destiny, the idea that the United States was destined by God to rule North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, provided justification for American aggression and expansion. The discovery of gold in California also fueled US interests. The US made up some trumped-up excuses to go to war with Mexico in 1846, and within just two years, claimed victory, along with all the land from the southernmost part of Texas all the way up to the state of Washington. Mexico reluctantly signed the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. The original treaty was watered down by the time it was finally signed, but the people who decided to remain were granted the right to retain their religion, their customs, and their language. Most lost their property, however, and there occurred rampant violence and discrimination, especially in California, where gold fever drew thousands of Anglos and a variety of other groups to the region in the mid-1800s.
The area south of the Gila River down to the current US Mexico border did not become part of the United States until 1854, when both countries signed the Gadsden Purchase. The US wanted the land to build a transcontinental railroad and word had gotten out that the area was also rich with mineral wealth. Tucson remained a very small town until the late 1880s, when arrival of the railroad brought with it many people from the east coast, including Jewish and Anglo capitalists, and various other European ethnic groups.
The town grew, and land was passed from Mexican/Indigenous to Anglo owners within a few short years. Anglos dominated commerce and politics as early as 1900s.
Many Mexican families lived in rural areas on ranches, but Tucson was also populated with a considerable number of Mexicanos. In fact, they constituted the majority until 1900 or so.
The time period between 1910 and 1920 was one of the most volatile of the 20th century. There was a great deal of labor strife in the US, a revolution in Russia and a world war in Europe. The Mexican Revolution that started in 1910 and lasted for a decade, displaced many Mexicans, and a lot of them ended up north of the border. They were also actively recruited by mine owners who promised steady work.
Mining became a big industry, and boomed in towns like Bisbee, Tombstone and Ajo, and there were mines surrounding Tucson to the north and south. Mexican laborers were recruited from Mexico. They came and went freely until the mid-20s, approximately.
As the make up of Tucson changed, it became segregated, with the Anglo population for the most part moving east and north, and the Mexican population moving south and west. Mexicans worked in the mines, laundries and railroads and in other labor intense occupations. Very few graduated from high school. This pattern continued through WWII. Mexican Americans were punished for speaking Spanish in school, and many of the children of couples who married during world war II had to abandon learning their parent’s native language.
Lots of young Mexican Americans were drafted during WWII, and afterwards some took advantage of the GI Bill and received college educations.
By the 50s, the only Mexican American leaders were in organized labor. There were but a few educators. None were involved locally in politics.
The Sixties brought changes. The civil rights movement, the farmworker movement, the women’s rights movement, the gay liberation movement, the American Indian movement, and the Chicano movement created some significant shifts in people’s understanding of the American power structure.
At the same time, some Mexican Americans became “professionals” with degrees. There were educators and politicians. Some fought for bilingual education and a few were even elected to public office.
As urban renewal was happening in the 60s, and the destruction of the barrio was taking place, some young Mexican Americans began to embrace the label, “Chicano”. Basically, a Chicano is a Mexican of American descent with a sense of cultural pride and a political awareness and understanding of history.
These young Chicanos typically clashed with their parent’s generation. They dressed like hippies, wore long hair, did drugs and were politically aware. Their heroes became people like Che Guevara and Emiliano Zapata. Cesar Chavez, and other contemporary leaders like Rudolfo Gonzalez, Reies Lopez Tijerina and Jose Angel Gutierrez. They immersed themselves in music, art, theater and literature. Works like “Yo Soy Joaquin” and films like “Yo Soy Chicano” began to tell the story of the Mexican people from a more radical, leftist perspective, and a sense of pride developed around their indigenous roots. People started using Aztec, Mayan and other indigenous symbols in their works. Groups like Teatro Campesino wrote plays with pro-labor messages. Aztlan, which was known as the original homeland of the Aztecs, became the symbolic place of origin that people pointed to as “our homeland”.
The local community protested the destruction of the barrio, and while most of it was destroyed, it was able to stop the state from building a freeway through what remained of the old barrio. People rallied around the El Tiradito shrine and were able to get it recognized as a historically significant site.
Across the nation, young Chicanos began protesting the Viet Nam war and became active in the farmworker movement, picketing liquor stores and boycotting grape. Young Chicano activists in Tucson began protesting a lack of public accommodations for people in the barrios. A group called the El Rio Coalition, for example, fought City Hall and demanded that a “people’s park” replace the El Rio Golf Course on the City’s westside. As a result, the City finally listened and built Joaquin Murrieta park and the El Rio Neighborhood Center, and developed community based programming for senior citizens, children and others. It also created meeting spaces for local groups to meet. A library was also included in the Center. This facility was the first in Tucson to serve the local Mexican American Community. Within a few years, neighborhood centers were built in the African American parts of town and on the City’s Southside. The El Pueblo Neighborhood Center was built in the mid-70s and served a very large Mexican American population, that previously did not have many facilities, other than the YMCA and the rodeo and fair grounds.
The El Pueblo Neighborhood Center filled a very important need for the City’s southside residents, and hosted fiestas, senior citizen clubs, daycare, English as a Second Language classes, health screenings, and was home to community organizations such as Teatro Libertad, which produced skits and plays and performed them there in the Center. A branch of the Tucson Public Library was also opened there. Congressman Raul Grijalva was named director of the Center when it opened. He went on to serve on the TUSD School Board and the Pima County Board of Supervisosors. He has served as a Congressman in Washington for approximately 20 years.
This blog post started out as a presentation for a University of Arizona course called Public Art History (PAH) 420, a humanities class taught by Professor Jacqueline Barrios. I met Dr. Barrios last Fall. She and her students visited Special Collections last semester, and I gave a quick, impromptu lecture about the history of Mexican Americans in the US. My colleague Alba Fernandez-Keys also worked with the class and introduced them to Pre-Columbian art and other relevant materials that could be found in our collections. Dr. Barrios invited us back again this semester to work with a new crop of students. Their work involves studying the murals that were created at Tucson’s El Pueblo Neighborhood Center in the 1970s and 1980s and understanding why and how those came to be. By the end of the semester the students will present project proposals to help improve the Center. The El Pueblo Center opened in 1975, and has had its share of ups and downs. Within the past year or so, Congressman Raul Grijalva decided to move his local office to El Pueblo, and efforts are underway to revitalize the space. Dr. Barrios and her students are working in partnership with the Sunnyside Foundation, Congressman Grijalva’s office, the El Pueblo Library and others, including Special Collections staff like myself.
My task this semester was to provide some context as to how the Center came to be, so I decided to give a presentation about the history of the Chicano community in Tucson in the mid-70s, with a particular focus on 1975, since that was the year that the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center opened. I grew up in Tucson and have vivid memories of the Center, as the theater group, Teatro Libertad, had its home base there for a long time. I also spent a lot of time as a youngster visiting relatives and going to various events held on the south side of town.
I also happen to be a local history buff. I admit up front, however, that I am not a trained historian, nor do I pretend to be. The history of our community, however, has only been touched upon in a few written works. Tom Sheridan’s “Los Tucsonenses” comes to mind as one such work, but it does not focus on the 70s, when the Chicano movement in Tucson was in full bloom. Here’s hoping that a comprehensive history of that rich period of time in our community’s life will get the in-depth treatment and analysis it deserves at some point down the line. Perhaps this blog post will be of some use to whoever accomplishes that task.
The text of my presentation is included below. I’ve been adding graphics and articles to it, so it has developed into a much more detailed story than what I presented to the students recently. As I’ve noted elsewhere on this website, my blog posts are intended for educational purposes only, which is why I argue that it’s okay to borrow and include material from other sources. I consider it fair use. However, if someone comes along and claims ownership of a photo, graphic, or news article, and asks me to take something down because I did not ask for permission up front to post it, I won’t be too happy about it, but I’ll comply because I am not the copyright owner of much of this material. Again, I claim fair use for educational purposes only. I can be reached at jdiaz@arizona.edu.
A map of Tucson from 1975.
It’s estimated that between 1/3 and 1/2 of the population of Tucson in the 70s was Mexican American.
Chicano culture in the 70s in Tucson
Overview
Americans of Mexican descent are not all the same. We are a diverse cultural group, and exist in every socioeconomic bracket, although the vast majority of us are working class or lower middle class. Many of us have been here for generations and can trace our roots back to the building of the Tucson presidio in the 1770s. Others are newly arrived.
We do not agree on what to call ourselves. The word Chicano, however, was very popular in the 70s, particularly among young people. Many of us, especially our parents, never preferred to identify with the word Chicano or “chicano culture”. It had derogatory connotations carried over by previous generations. Assimilation and acculturation was the goal for many families.
There have always existed subcultures, especially among our youth. In the 70s, there were stoners, rockers, cholos, “chicanos”, jocks, and geeks.
Many Mexican American kids are as Americanized as other groups. Many do not speak Spanish, although it is often spoken among relatives and parents.
In Tucson, we lived mostly on the west and south sides of town. Segregation, while not mandated and illegal, still existed. Very few Mexican American families resided east of Alvernon or north of Broadway, even in the 70s.
About Me
My junior year at Salpointe, 75-76.
I grew up on 22nd, just north of the railroad tracks, which was the dividing line, pretty much, between the southside and the rest of the city. I’m half indigenous and half Spanish. My paternal grandfather was from Asturias, Spain and immigrated to North America in the early 1900s. He was a miner and farmer by trade. My maternal grandfather was from Tarachi, Sonora, Mexico and moved to Arizona in the early 1920s to work in the copper mines. My paternal grandmother was from Pinos, Zacatecas, Mexico and my maternal grandmother and her mother were both from Arivaca, Arizona. My father was born in Jerome, Arizona and my mother was born in Superior, Arizona. I was born in Tucson.
For the most part, I spent most of my free time in my youth in my own neighborhood. We went to the local swimming pool at St. Ambrose, to Randolph Park, where we played little league baseball, and the alley in back of my house, where I played with my friends, or 21st street where we played flag football. We went to Hi Corbett Field to watch the Tucson Toros and the Cleveland Indians play baseball.
I attended Robison Elementary School. It had a mix of Anglo, Jewish and Mexican students. I then attended Mansfeld Jr. High on 6th Street, across from the University of Arizona. The school was much more diverse. From there, I attended Salpointe, a Catholic high school, with mostly Anglo students. There was a small population of Mexican American students, and they came from all over the city. Salpointe charged tuition and it was expensive. My parents barely managed to make the payments.
Due to economic necessity, neither of my parents graduated from high school. My dad left school before the 6th grade to work on the family farm, and my mother left after the 8th grade so she could work full time to help support her family, as her father died when she was only 12 and she was the oldest child. As a result, both of them knew from experience how important it was to get an education. My dad was especially encouraging and was always telling me to go as far as I could in school. Because I did well academically, I assumed that I would go on to college. However, one day a high school counselor at Salpointe confronted me and told me, “what makes you think you’re going to college? You shouldn’t get your hopes up. Your people are not college material”. Wow. I could not believe my ears, but that was what things were like in the mid-70s, even at a so called progressive high school like Salpointe. I’m a pretty stubborn guy, and this only made me more determined to do my best in school and to pursue a college education.
I believe that institutional racism, embodied by people like my high school counselor at Salpointe, was rampant in Tucson in the mid-70s. Very few Chicano students continued on to college, not because we weren’t capable of doing well academically, but because of ignorance and bigotry among adults with authority, power and influence who kept us from advancing and who deliberately held us back.
Robison Elementary, Mansfeld Jr. High and Salpointe High School.
The South Side
Most folks now think of the south side as beginning at 22nd street, but in my opinion, the “south side”, especially back in the 70s, began in South Tucson. One could also say that it starts at the railroad tracks but no matter how one defines it, I’ve always felt at home there. When I was a child, my parents would shop at Southgate on S. 6th Ave, near the freeway. My mother would usually go to Saccani’s to buy us new school clothes every year and she would shop at McLelland’s for household goods. I would love to wander the aisles where the toys were located. There was also a Lucky’s (formerly Goodman’s) grocery store and a hamburger stand called Mr. Quick there. Every year, carnivals were held in a big lot in back of the shopping center. I went to a lot of them as a kid. We would also go to the movies at the Rodeo Drive-in, where Rudy Garcia Park is now located, or the Apache Drive-in out on the Benson Highway. The rodeo grounds also served as the site of the Pima County Fair back then, and we (me, my family, my friends) would go to that at times. On pay day, which was every other Friday, my parents would go grocery shopping at the El Grande on Irvington and Park, and on Sunday afternoons, they would take us to San Xavier or we would visit my grandmother, who lived in South Tucson.
The Apache Drive-In was on the Benson Highway. Southgate was at S. 6th Ave near the freeway, the Rodeo Drive-in was on Irvington and the Nogales Highway, and the Pima County Fairgrounds were just north of it, on the northeast corner of Irvington and S. 6th, the current site of the rodeo grounds.
Southgate opened in the late 50s and was for many years the only major shopping center on the south side.
Mission San Xavier. My parents have been taking me here since I was a baby.
My cousins, the Olguins, attended Elvira Elementary, Sunnyside Jr. High, and Sunnyside High School in the sixties and seventies. Our family used to visit my aunt Mary and Uncle Fernando and their kids regularly, especially on Easter and Thanksgiving, and my older brother and I spent time with our cousins in the summer a lot. It was our version of summer camp. LOL. It felt like they lived in another town because while there were people living throughout the south side, it was not as densely populated as it is now. I recall my parents driving along S. Park or S. 6th and passing by big swaths of undeveloped land, filled with nothing but creosote bushes between Ajo and Valencia on the drive to my Aunt and Uncle’s house.
In 1981, TCE contamination on Tucson’s south side became headline news. I remember visiting my cousins who lived on Elvira Rd and 6th Ave, and noticing how cloudy and bad tasting their drinking water was. Their bathroom tile was also falling out because of the contamination from TCE. Many people became ill with various forms of cancer. One of my cousins, my age, died of cancer of the jaw and mouth.
The broader community
High schools that served the Mexican American community and the south side included Tucson High, Pueblo, Cholla, Sunnyside and later, Desert View. The majority of students were Mexican American or Native American.
Gathering places: Dances and concerts were held at the El Casino Ballroom in South Tucson or the Del Rio Ballroom, on Speedway near the freeway.
The El Casino Ballroom
Fiestas held during El Cinco de Mayo and el 16 de Septiembre were held downtown at Armory Park, at Santa Rita Park, then Kennedy Park.
Celebrating El 16 de Septiembre/Mexican Independence Day at Armory Park.
A mariachi group performs at one of the communities’ outdoor fiestas.
The Community Center was popular for concerts by big name artists like Santana, the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and the Rolling Stones. Boxing matches were also held here
My friend Richard and I went to see Santana on August 17, 1975. He opened for Eric Clapton, but we left right after Santana finished. Eric who? Santana returned the following year as a headline act. Feliciano opened for him.
An interior shot of the Community Center. Those steps were often a challenge to navigate, especially after a couple of beers…
Paco Flores was a Tucson boxing legend, and many of his matches were held at the Tucson Community Center. Flores was born in Cananea, Sonora Mexico but moved to Tucson when he was 8 yrs old. As a welterweight fighter, Flores was 19-5 with 11 knockouts. By the end of his career, Flores had won three golden gloves, one as a featherweight, welterweight, and middleweight.
I went once with my uncle Donato and brother Charles to one of these matches, and I slept all the way through it.
Tucson celebrated its Bicentennial in August, 1975. The official schedule and description of events program was printed by Mr. Albert Elias, owner of Old Pueblo Printers. I helped my friend Richard put the booklets together. Here is a photo of the cover of the program. It is filled with activities that showcase the Mexican American community’s history and culture. See the full program here.
Every year, the League of Mexican American women sponsored an event called “La Fiesta de Xochimilco” that included a dance where a number of young women were presented to the community as “Florecitas”. It was our version of the “cotillian ball” where debutantes made the entry into “society”.
From the August 28, 1975 issue of the Tucson Daily Citizen
Churches were also places where our community gathered for events like baptisms, funerals, weddings, and first holy communions. The majority of the population has always been Catholic, but there have also existed various protestant denominations with predominantly Mexican American congregations scattered throughout the south side.
Catholic churches with predominantly Mexican American congregations include: Holy Family, St. Margaret’s, St. John’s, Santa Monica, the Cathedral and Santa Cruz Church.
A family prepares to have their baby baptized.
As noted, Tucson’s youth were represented by various subcultures. The south side, however, had an abundance of young people who were into cars and “cruising.” Places like Kennedy Park and Randolph Park were crammed on the weekends with long lines of cars filled with teenagers driving very slowly through the parks. Drinking beer and smoking pot was common among the youth of the community. However, gangs weren’t around that much. The film, Boulevard Nights, premiered in 1979, but it depicted life in East LA in the 70s. Tucson was much calmer than L.A. at the time. The community was smaller, but growing.
A vintage low rider. Tucson had had its share of low rider clubs over the years. Many are still active at present.
Low Rider magazine began being published in 1977 in San Jose, California. It quickly developed into a glossy publication and became quite popular.
Radio: KXEW and KEVT radio were very popular among the older generation. KIKX, KTKT and KWFM were big among our youth. In the early 70’s, KIKX took dedications from listeners. It was a very popular thing to do among young teenagers like me. Later, KHYT hit the airwaves, and young djs like Raul Aguirre and Neto Portillo, Jr. brought us Chicano music, Latin jazz and salsa.
From the Arizona Daily Star, August 18, 1975
A note about downtown—
Up until the mid-60s, downtown was home to a large Mexican American population. The tearing down of the old barrio occurred in 1968, and all the families that lived there were dispersed to other parts of town. It was a mess. Urban renewal did not have the effect that was intended, to draw more white, affluent people to downtown. Instead, many storefronts were boarded up. Businesses had moved out to the newer parts of town. The Fox Theater was offering 3 movies for $2, and it was falling apart. There were dive bars galore and prostitutes walked the streets in broad daylight. JC Penney, Woolworth’s and Jacome’s were still open, however, but not for long.
The Fox Theater by the end of the 70s.
The Community Center attracted people, but was dead most of the time. La Placita Village bombed and never attracted many visitors. Some say that all the steps made it difficult for older people to comfortably navigate the complex, which was a complicated mess to begin with. Others say that an old “bruja” from Barrio Viejo put a spell on the place to make it fail. Who knows? It did indeed fail over time The entire complex was eventually torn down and the space is now home to a giant condominium complex.
La Placita VIllage
Politics and consciousness raising
Social movements were abundant in the early 70s. The women’s movement, the gay liberation movement, the black power movement, and the American Indian Movement all took center stage, as did the Chicano movement and the farm worker movement. Consciousness raising was happening everywhere.
Within the Mexican American community, from, LA to Denver to Tucson to the Texas-Mexico border, we witnessed major acts of protest, including the Chicano Moratorium, high school walkouts in East LA and Tucson, strikes, boycotts and many other acts of civil disobedience that occurred throughout the Southwest. Youth were forming organizations like the Brown Berets and organizing against bad schools, bad policing, bad housing, and a lack of social services.
El Plan de Santa Barbara was written. It outlined educational goals incorporating Chicano studies into high school and college curricula. Bilingual education advocates were fighting to have bilingual ed implemented in the schools.
Political organizations like the “La Raza Unida Party” led by Jose’ Angel Gutierrez, were working to raise the consciousness of their communities and to have Chicano representation on school boards, city councils and state legislatures.
In some parts of the country, people were fighting to have their land grants honored. Reies Lopez Tijerina led the battle in northern New Mexico. He was targeted by the FBI and vilified in the press as mentally unstable.
Rodolfo Corky Gonzales was another leader who authored the poetry book Yo Soy Joaquin. He was from the Denver area and organized the “Crusade for Justice”. The FBI also targeted him and his work. Their cointelpro program targeted activists in the Native American, Black and Chicano communities.
Cesar Chavez, Jose’ Angel Gutierrez, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, and Dolores Huerta were all well-known and well-respected leaders in the Chicano Movement.
Reies Lopez Tijerina
Phoenix New Times, March, 1975
Locals boycotting Market Spot on E. Speedway
In Tucson, Raul Grijalva fought for representation while a student in college (see article below) and became the first Chicano to serve on The Tucson School District #1 School Board in January 1975. Later that year, he was named director of the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center. The following article provides details about Raul’s activism up to early 1975.
Another local leader, Maclovio Barraza, decided to step down from his leadership position with the National Council on La Raza, which he helped organize in the mid-60s. He continued his work as a union organizer until his untimely death in the early 1980s.
The local movement also included women. The Manzo Area Council, for example, worked in the barrio to help provide social services to families with a variety of needs. Margo Cowan managed the organization for many years. She and Isabel Garcia, another Manzo Area Council associate, later became lawyers and have fought for years for immigrant and Chicano rights. Lupe Castillo and Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith were Chicano/a Studies professors at Pima College and they also worked for Manzo. A new documentary is in the works that highlights the work of these amazing Chicanas. You can find out more at the following website: Las Mujeres de Manzo.
Margo Cowan and Lupe Castillo have been fighting the good fight for many, many years.
Here’s an example of the kind of work done by women in the community.
This is one of many Chicano publications available in the mid-70s. The UFW also published one called “El Malcriado”, which received broad circulation.
The following two articles appeared together in the June 15, 1975 edition of the Arizona Daily Star. They speak to the results of the community fighting for recognition and demanding services that other areas of town were provided.
As was noted, the FBI was hard at work infiltrating the various movements with the intention of destroying them. The war in Vietnam continued into the mid-70s and ended shortly after Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States in ’74.
By the end of the 70’s however, there was a shift toward conservative beliefs, and a rise in evangelical Christianity and values. Attacks on minority communities became more prevalent. Affirmative action was challenged, and when Ronald Reagan became president, there was an increased crackdown on activism (union busting) and an increase in surveillance. The US supported dictators in Central America, causing many refugees to flee their homes and head up north to the US.
My own political awakening and education…
It was in high school in the mid-70s that I became aware of my cultural roots and history. During the second semester of my freshman year, I took a class called Cultural Awareness, which opened my eyes to the history of the Mexican American people in the southwest. It was taught by a man named Ron Cruz. I also took classes from his wife Jane, who taught Chicano literature. I learned nothing like this before. Prior to this I was influenced mostly by what was on television and the radio. A lot of Mexican American kids my age were in the same boat.
My two wonderful Chicano studies teachers, Jane and Ron Cruz. We have remained close friends for the past 50 years.
The class changed my life. I became interested in politics, and started participating in the farm worker support movement, where we picketed local businesses for selling grapes and Gallo wine. I got involved in trying to get “scab” lettuce out of the high school cafeteria, and I even got the chance to meet Cesar Chavez in Tucson and later received a thank you letter from him that I still have. It’s one of my prized possessions.
I attended this film and met Cesar Chavez here. It was the thrill of a lifetime.
The Tucson Citizen May 26, 1975
I clearly remember going with my friends Richard, Ron and Jane to various liquor stores in town, one on Tanque Verde and another on Stone, to picket and protest their sales of Gallo wines around this time. One of the owners put loudspeakers out on the sidewalk and played the Stars and Stripes Forever while we slowly and quietly marched in a circle around the store.
I was lucky to have teachers who taught me about my own community’ s history. Elsewhere in Tucson, there were no Chicano Studies courses taught in the public schools. Instead, school segregation and the issue of how to end that became a very volatile topic, with lawsuits brought forward against Tucson public school district #1 by members of both the African American and Mexican American communities. Here are two articles that detail what happened in 1975. To this day, the issues have yet be fully resolved.
At the University of Arizona, Mexican American students began fighting for Chicano Studies in the late sixties, and by the mid-70s there were a handful of courses available on the topic, but not many. During my first semester of college in 1977 at the University of Arizona, I decided to enroll in one such course. It was offered by the department of Sociology and it was titled “The Chicano In American Society”. This class helped me to deepen my knowledge of the history of my community. The instructor’s name was Dr. Rumel Juarez. I thought he was a great teacher. Unfortunately, he didn’t stay at the U of A, but went on to have a very successful career in the Texas higher education system. Here’s a photo of Dr. Juarez.
Here are samples of Dr. Juarez’s syllabus for the course. I also still have all my notes and readings.
This is the syllabus for Dr. Juarez’s class.
These are some of the readings for the class.
Across campus, a new program intended to train students in becoming bilingual librarians was just getting started in the Graduate Library School. Dr. Arnulfo Trejo, a University of Arizona faculty member spearheaded the effort, which was named the Graduate Library Institute for Spanish Speaking Americans (GLISSA). This federally funded program would continue for nearly a decade, and by the time the program ended, scores of bilingual librarians had received their library degrees. Here’s a news story from the June 12, 1975 issue of the Arizona Daily Star that describes the program’s beginnings.
The College of Education, in the meantime, was preparing more bilingual teachers.
Chicano cultural production
Literature:
There was an abundance of literature about Chicanos published in the 70s, This included both non-fiction and fiction. Some of the major works that appeared in the 70s include Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima, Rodolfo Acuna’s Occupied America, The Chicano Manifesto by Armando Rendon, Y No Se Le Trago’ La Tierra by Tomas Rivera, the novel “Chicano” by Richard Vasquez, Oscar Zeta Acosta’s Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, and 500 Years of Chicano History, edited by Elizabeth Martinez.
The University of Arizona Spanish Dept. was home to the writer. Miguel Mendez M., whose work, Peregrinos de Aztlan, published in 1974, is considered a classic work of Chicano literature.
Theater:
El Teatro Campesino began life in the mid-60s in the fields of the San Joaquin valley during the farm worker strikes, under the direction of Luis Valdez. Within a few years El Teatro de la Esperanza, from Santa Barbara, was also producing plays, as was Teatro Libertad in Tucson. The form of theater they employed was political street theater, which was modeled after the work done by the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
Teatro Campesino
Teatro Libertad looked to writers like Bertoldt Brecht for inspiration. One of their plays, La Jefita, for example, was modeled after Brecht’s work, “The Mother”.
From the Arizona Daily Star 6-15-75
From the Arizona Daily Star, 12-19-76.
Art:
Mural artists in East L.A. influenced artists in the rest of the Southwest. In Tucson, several artists created murals at the El Rio Neighborhood Center and also at the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center as well as in other parts of the city. They incorporated in their works a lot of Pre-columbian and contemporary political motifs.
La Pilita Mural by Martin Moreno.
Martin Moreno had several art showings at the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center in the early 80s.
The following appeared in the Arizona Daily Star on September 13, 1975.
Music:
Popular music was very diverse and everyone, it seems listened to the radio, or had their own record collections. Mexican Americans, since the 50s, have gravitated toward oldies, R & B and soul music. Beginning in the mid-60s, groups emerged that incorporated both Latin rhythms, elements of R&B, soul, and later funk. They included Santana, Rufus, War, Tierra, Los Lobos. Funkadelic, Rick James, The Commodores, Malo, and El Chicano, to name a few. Some of the songs sung by these groups were in Spanish as well.
Musica Tejana was sung in Spanish and quite popular at the time. Little Joe y La Familia and Ruben Ramos and the Texas Revolution were all the rage. Other groups that sang in Spanish included Ritmo Siete and Ray Camacho and the Teardrops. In the mid-seventies disco became a predominant genre.
The song Soy Chicano” appeared in the film, “Chulas Fronteras” in 1976. The film featured the music of the people of Texas and included segments on musicians like Lydia Mendoza and Flaco Jimenez, two beloved Tejano musicians.
Freddie Fender, Linda Ronstadt were also quite popular and both sang a lot of country, although Linda Ronstadt was mostly known for her rock music. Oldies was very, very popular among the lowrider/cholo subculture. Salsa, while especially big on the east coast, was not all that popular in this region.
Daniel Valdez’s album Mestizo, and Joan Baez’s album Gracias a la Vida were political in nature. Later, the farmworker album, Si Se Puede was produced and it featured Los Lobos, a group from East LA that started out by playing traditional Mexican son jarocho, boleros and other Mexican tunes.
Locally, the members of Los Changuitos Feos, a youth mariachi group founded in the Sixties, entertained audiences throughout the world. Some of the original members went on to form Mariachi Cobre.
Tucson Citizen, December 9, 1977.
Film, television and performance art:
Cheech and Chong and Richard Pryor were our favorite comedians, and on tv, we watched Chico and the Man, Sanford and Son and The Jeffersons. By the mid-70s there was Spanish language tv and telenovelas were big. Before that we had Mexican Theater that aired on Sunday mornings.
Our family would watch this program every Sunday. My mother loved it when Lola Beltran and other Mexican ranchera singers would appear on the show.
There were not many feature films including Chicanos that were produced in the mid-70s. It wasn’t until the end of the decade that Zootsuit and Boulevard Nights were released. Both films proved to be quite popular.
Zoot Suit first premiered as a play at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1978, then became a Broadway production in 1979. The film, which starred Edward James Olmos, Daniel Valdez and Tyne Daly, was released in 1981.
Fashion:
Young people in our community wore mostly bell bottoms and t-shirts at the beginning of the decade. Both the girls and the boys had straight long hair, or long, bushy hair. By the mid-70s, leisure suits, khakis and white t-shirts (the pinto look), and polyester were very popular. Hats were popular too, as were wings on girls hair. The cholo subculture included young women with big hair, black lipstick, and pencil thin eyebrows. They usually wore jeans and body suits, and the guys wore their hair slicked back. Khakis, t-shirts or pendleton shirts buttoned all the way up and black shoes were the norm for the guys. Not everyone wore these types of clothes, however. There was a lot of diversity in the way kids dressed.
These photos appeared on the covers of an albums series called “East Side Story”. The songs were all “oldies but goodies,” recorded mostly in the late 50s and early 60s.
A big group of friends, most likely from Southern California.
This is my dear friend Richard Elias’s senior photo, taken in 1975 when we were at Salpointe. He’s wearing a polyester leisure suit, a puka shell necklace and has on Rayban glasses, which got dark when exposed to the sun. His hair is long here and parted down the middle. In later years, he would wear it much shorter.
Popular cars of the era included the 1975 Ford Torino, Chevy trucks from the 50s, the 1975 Chrysler Cordoba and the 1975 Monte Carlo.
For more information, check out this this Arizona Public Media produced video on Tucson in the civil rights era.
I traveled to Washington DC in early March, 2024 to attend the American Library Association’s “Voices for Libraries” day of advocacy, where library leaders from all over the country gathered to meet with their Congressional representatives (or their aides) to convince them of the need for library funding for fiscal year 2025. This was the second year the American Library Association’s Washington office invited me to attend, and like last year’s adventure, it was a great experience. My colleague Erin MacFarlane and I attended training on the first day, and on the second day, we met with representatives from the offices of Senator Kelly, Senator Sinema, Congressman Grijalva, Congressman Gallego and Congressman Ciscomani. We were very warmly welcomed. The aides listened intently, asked great questions and took lots of notes so they could report back to their bosses about our meetings. All agreed that libraries are important and that the funding we asked for should be supported.
This was the second time I had the opportunity to participate in advocating for American libraries. Last year’s event was called the ALA Congressional Fly-In. Erin and I both represented Arizona last year as well, and we were able to meet briefly with Congressman Grijalva. This year we had no such luck. We met with five different congressional aides, but they were very nice to us. Erin MacFarlane and I outside the US Capitol. She works for the Maricopa County Library system in the Phoenix area, and is a wonderful person.VIsiting the different congressional office buildings was very exciting. We even had lunch in one of them and saw Senator Kelly at one point walking into his office. It surprised me to learn that he’s not very tall at all! Senator Kelly and Senator SinemaCongressman Ciscomani, Congressman Gallego, and Congressman GrijalvaOur task was to convince our hosts that federal library funding was badly needed in Arizona. We received training in storytelling the day before our visits and were provided with a bunch of talking points that we could use as we described the various services federal funding helped to provide. Erin and I enjoyed ourselves as we talked our way through each session. I tried to get each assistant to write 232 billion instead of 232 million in their notes. It was fun. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. That same night, President Biden delivered the State of the Union address. It was thrilling to know that I was in a hotel room just about a mile or two away from where the President gave his speech.
I took an extra couple of days to go sightseeing and to buy souvenirs, but my plans were dampened a bit by a day full of cold, rainy weather on one of those days. Oh well. I did manage to visit a museum and to wander around some. Here are some photos I took of the places I stayed at and the buildings I saw. I had a great time.
ALA footed the bill for my stay at the Riggs Hotel, shown here. I later moved to the Hilton Motto Hotel in Chinatown. I went to a few souvenir shops and found a bunch of stuff to bring back, including a Biden for President t-shirt and a decal. Unfortunately, there was a lot more Trump memorabilia available than Biden memorabilia. I think that’s because the Trump garbage doesn’t sell.
The only museum I was able to visit on this particular trip was the National Building Museum. I’m glad I went, even though they didn’t have very many exhibits. The National Building Museum was built in the 1880s and was the former home of the US Pension Bureau. It served a variety of purposes until 1985, when it started a new life as a museum. The terra cotta frieze by sculptor Caspar Buberi in the bottom photo on the left depicts Union veterans from the Civil War, who received benefits from the US government processed by workers housed in this building
The ceramic San Xavier figurine on the right is identical to the one I have at home. It’s really a little coin bank with a slot in the back. I’ve had mine since the 80’s and was quite surprised to see one exactly like it on display in this exhibit of building miniatures from every state.
Here are some of the buildings I saw during the day. The cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom.
Included here are the Supreme Court, Cherry Blossom trees, The US Capitol and the Martin Luther King Library building.I ventured out for a walk one evening along Constitution Avenue. It was a beautiful night. The buildings in the bottom row are the National Archives and the old Post Office, which is now a hotel. The statue is of Benjamin Franklin.
I just had to include the following about the National Archives building. The article is from the March/April 2024 edition of the magazine, Archival Outlook, published by the Society of American Archivists.
The photo on the top left is of the entrance to Chinatown. I stayed at the Hilton Motto Hotel my last couple of days in Washington. The room I stayed in was very small, but the only thing it lacked was a coffee maker. Oh well. The nightly rate wasn’t bad and it was just for a couple of days.
There were other things I got to see and do, like have delicious Chinese food in Chinatown. I also bought myself a new waterproof jacket at Macy’s and took the Metro up to the Dupont Circle area to Second Story Books, where I splurged and bought a few books. I walked around the downtown area a lot too.
I really missed my friends Ron and Jane this time around, however. They moved to New York’s Hudson River Valley last year, so I’ll just have to go there to visit at some point. I also missed seeing my friend Elizabeth Robinson. We’ve been friends since the late 80s and met while working at the University of Michigan. I love her and Ron and Jane dearly. They are wonderful, amazing, beautiful people, and I am very lucky to know them.
Ron and Jane. I’ve known them since I was in high school.
My friend Elizabeth. She’s head of rare book cataloging at the Library Congress and has worked there for many, many years.
Oh well. Maybe next time. Overall, I had a great visit. DC is always a blast!
Lately, I have been doing research on my various visits to Philadelphia over the years. I’ve been there several times–in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2008 and 2014. (To see my blog post about my 2014 trip, click here.) I’ve always had an enjoyable experience. It’s a great city, with a lot of historic landmarks and interesting things to do. I have in my travel files the following booklet that I purchased somewhere along the way. It was published in 1908, and is in the public domain. I don’t know if many of the buildings still exist. Downtown is now filled with tall skyscrapers, none of which are shown here.
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Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
This particular entry is divided into two parts. The first is the narrative for my life story in 1994. The second part includes a lot of graphics, including photos, postcards, maps, documents, news articles etc.
I began the year by continuing to work at the University of Arizona Libraries and living with my partner Ruben in a spacious, two bedroom apartment on the west side of town on Shannon Road, near Pima Community College. I turned 35 in mid-January, and was presented with a beautiful birthday cake that our friend Roberto made for me. It was delicious too. At the end of February, Ruben and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary as a couple. We had our share of ups and downs during our first year together, but we managed to work things out as we got to know eachother. We’re still together 31 years later. In March, he started school at the Allure College of Beauty, and within a year he would become a licensed cosmetologist and hair stylist. In April, we bought a new car, a 1993 Nissan Sentra, and we soon began taking road trips to places like Albuquerque and the Grand Canyon. It was so nice having a car that didn’t break down every other week, and we kept it for a very long time, 11 years to be exact.
Work-wise, 1994 was a very busy year. I passed my second year review as I continued to juggle a variety of responsibilities in my role as Assistant to the Dean for staff development, recruitment and diversity. Each area of responsibility was quite demanding. I was also a member of the Administrative Group and Library Cabinet, the library’s leadership teams, and attended every meeting and every training session held for these groups. The restructuring process was still unfolding, and there was a great demand for staff development and training. I continued to set up, as I had the previous year (for example, see: Library Wide-Training Plan Summary, June, 1993-December, 1993), scores of training sessions for the staff and the administration this particular year, and allocated several thousand dollars of funding for staff attendance at workshops and other events. However, I enjoyed the work I did in the area of diversity the most. I worked with the Library Diversity Council to set up a variety of informative programs, including a lecture on women in Islam, a Passover seder, a lecture on Black aviators, as well as a Cinco De Mayo lecture and celebration, among others. In July, the Diversity Council wrote an annual report for 1993/1994, that outlined all of the activities it sponsored and issues that it confronted. The Dean of the Library was quite impressed and pleased, and commended the group for its work. In July, E.J. Josey, a distinguished leader in African American librarianship and former president of the American Library Association, visited and gave a lecture on diversity in librarianship for the campus. In the Fall, I received funding from the University administration to host the writer Leslie Feinberg, whose novel, Stone Butch Blues, had just won the ALA Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Book award for fiction. Feinberg was at the forefront of the budding transgender rights movement, and I organized both campus and community events that gave people the opportunity to get to know this amazing individual. As a result of my organizing these events, I was invited to become a member of the board of directors of Wingspan, Tucson’s lgbt community center. I accepted the invitation, but within a month or so realized that this was too big a responsibility to take on, so I resigned. Wingspan needed a lot of attention, and I just didn’t have the time. In November, the Diversity Council hosted the Equity Institute, a diversity training organization that provided training to the Library faculty and staff on the issue of racism. This was the first of several all staff diversity-focused training events that I would be involved in coordinating while assistant to the Dean. Looking back, it’s a miracle I didn’t collapse from exhaustion. It was a very busy time for me. It was not without its ups and downs, either. I experienced some conflict with one of my senior colleagues in particular, whose good friend, one of our library consultants, told me flat out at one point that I was not qualified for the work I was doing. This was after I refused to go to the student union to buy her and my senior colleague sandwiches one night while we were working on planning training for the staff. I told them I wasn’t their errand boy. They also told me that they weren’t there to teach me, after I asked questions about the work we were doing. I later mentioned this to the Dean of the Library, and she gave me the authority to decide whether or not to bring this particular consultant back for more training. We never did bring her back as a consultant, but she managed to continue working with us in other ways.
I was also involved in a lot of service-related activities, including the ALA GLBTF Book Award Committee, which I’ve noted awarded Leslie Feinberg that year’s award for fiction; REFORMA, at both the national and local levels, and the Arizona State Library Association, where I chaired the Services to the Spanish Speaking Roundtable. I also managed the student chapter of REFORMA, and we took a number of field trips to various libraries, including a college library in Nogales, Sonora as well as local libraries like the El Rio Center Library, located in the heart of Barrio Hollywood. Because I was on the “tenure-track” at this point in my career, I also had to engage in scholarship. This took the form of either writing for publication or giving formal presentations at professional conferences. This particular year, something I had written while at Michigan, a chapter titled “Collection Development in Multicultural Studies” was published in the book, Cultural Diversity In Libraries, edited by my colleague Pat Tarin and Don Riggs, Dean of Libraries at the University of Michigan. I also participated in writing a couple of chapters for the publication, Magazines for Libraries. I recruited colleagues from the UA Library and the local public library to help me write descriptions of recommended core magazines and journals from Latin America for libraries. We also included magazines and journals focusing on the Latino experience in the US. The work would not get published for another year, but we completed it in summer, 1994, and the editor of the publication, Bill Katz, a well-respected library leader and publisher, was quite happy with our work. I also participated in a number of professional development workshops, including a seminar on time management, a workshop on working with the media, strategic planning training, facilitation skills training, and other programs. I also attended two national conferences, ALA Midwinter in Los Angeles and ALA Annual in Miami Beach, and one state library (ASLA) conference in Phoenix.
There were several major family events that occurred this year. My dad married his companion, Guadalupe Lopez, in March. They already had a child, my little brother Jose’, the previous September. The marriage took place in Bullhead City, Arizona, and was attended by most of my dad’s brothers and sisters. My great niece Estrella Ochoa had her first child, a boy named David. In December, both my aunt Dora Sainz, one of my mom’s younger sisters, and my cousin Martin Olguin died. I went to my aunt’s funeral in San Francisco, and attended my cousin Martin’s services in Tucson. I grew up with Martin, and we were very close at one point. His death made me very sad. He was only in his mid-30s.
My childhood friend, Richard (Ricky) Fass was killed in late June. He was an undercover DEA agent, and was shot by drug dealers in a botched up undercover operation. It was quite a tragedy. Ricky and his brother Bubba grew up two houses up the street from me, and we spent lots of time together as kids. Another friend, Kidd Rivenbark, also died this year. We weren’t that close, but he was a very nice man. I met him when I was with my first partner, John. They had been in the Air Force together. Kidd was from North Carolina. He was quite fond of me, but I was young and flighty and didn’t keep in touch with him.
Several major events occurred in 1994, including the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico, and the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement by the US, Mexico and Canada. Both events occurred on the same day, January 1. Later in the month, a major earthquake hit southern California and was centered in the town of Northridge, just north of Los Angeles. 1994 also saw the emergence of both the internet, the World Wide Web, and the companies Yahoo and Amazon. OJ Simpson was accused of murdering his wife, and Nelson Mandela won the presidency in South Africa, in its first ever fair and free elections. California’s Proposition 187, which would have denied many social and public services to the undocumented, was passed and then quickly repealed as illegal.
The following musicians, actors and other celebrities died in 1994: Amparo Ochoa, Cab Calloway, Papa John Creach, Dinah Shore, Jackie Kennedy, Cesar Romero, Harry Nilsson, Henry Mancini, Carmen MacRae Marion Williams, and Major Lance.
My personal interests at this time revolved around collecting Mexican music and classic movies. I loved the music of Lucha Villa, and sought out her recordings whenever and wherever I could. Pepe Aguilar and Alejandro Fernandez were two other Mexican ranchera singers who were both relatively new to the music scene, and I purchased every recording of theirs that came out. I even got to see Pepe Aguilar perform with his father Antonio Aguilar and his mother Flor Silvestre at the Pima County Fairgrounds.
Ruben and I became big movie buffs and we bought the following films, all on vhs:: The Story of Ruth, Of Human Bondage, El Cid, Paris is Burning, Shindig Soul, Two Mules for Sister Sarah, All In A Night’s Work, The Man in the Iron Mask, Stage Door, James Brown and Friends, Pretty Baby, Sweet Bird of Youth, Dark Shadows, 2,000 Year Old Man, A Stolen Life, The Children’s Hour, Barbarella, Making Love, Aretha Live at Park West, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Night of the Iguana, Reefer Madness, Norman Is That You?, The Country Girl, Nijinsky, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Quartet, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Guitarras, Lloren Guitarras, Where the Boys Are, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Midnight Cowboy, Yours, Mine and Ours, The Last Emperor, Fantastic Voyage, La Cage Aux Folles, The Count of Monte Cristo, In This Our Life, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Gone With the Wind.
Little did we know that the vhs format would soon be replaced by dvds. We still have some of these tapes, and they do work, but we gave many of them away and replaced them with dvds. Maybe one day they’ll, like lps, make a big comeback! You never know.
Happy New Year!
1-1-94 –The beginning of the Zapatista rebellion in Mexico.
On the same day-January 1, 1994-The North American Free Trade Agreement, signed into law in December by President Clinton, takes effect.
I celebrated my 35th birthday on January 15.
My friend Roberto Ramirez made me this gorgeous birthday cake. It was quite yummy.
An magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit Southern California’s San Fernando valley on January 17, 1994.
ALA Midwinter in Los Angeles was interesting and fun. The conference was held in the downtown area. I had never really spent any time there before, so it was a new experience. I stayed at a hotel called the New Otani Hotel, in Little Tokyo, which was close to City Hall, Olvera Street, the train station and skid row. One evening I took the bus to West Hollywood with my friend Mario, and we spent the night partying at a bar called the Ramrod II. It was great. I also found some very hard to find Lucha Villa recordings at a store called Ritmo Latino and I visited Olvera Street, where I had some very tasty champurrado and bought some Jesus Hilguera prints. It’s LA’s original site, and is home to several historic buildings.
The Northridge earthquake had just hit two week prior to this conference. Some of the hotels in downtown LA suffered damage. What was I thinking? In hindsight I should probably have skipped this conference and avoided LA for the time being, so soon after a major natural disaster! Oh well. Thank goodness things turned out fine.
This was my fifth ALA Midwinter Conference. I had been to Chicago in ’90 and ’91, San Antonio in ’92 and Denver in ’93. I would continue to attend these conferences every year for many more years before I slowed down.
A map of downtown LA showing all the hotels in the area. My hotel was the New Otani on the northeast side in an area called Little Tokyo. Getting to the Convention Center took some time, as it was at the opposite end of downtown.
This is the hotel I stayed at while in Los Angeles. I’d never stayed in the downtown area before. One had to be careful on the streets as skid row was not that far away.
An older postcard of Olvera Street. This is LA’s birthplace, and there are several historic buildings in the area. I had some delicious champurrado, which is like hot chocolate, but a bit thicker, and I bought some Jesus Helguera posters. It was fun–kind of like being in the tourist area in Nogales, Sonora, only much more compact.
This place, now closed has become legendary for carrying a very wide range of Latin music. I was in heaven!
I found the cd re-issue of this recording by Lucha Villa, one of her very first, issued in 1962, at a record store called Ritmo Latino in downtown LA. I was so happy when I bought it. There’s nothing like her early recordings. I was in the middle of my Lucha Villa craze and finding this recording was like finding the mother lode.
This is one of my very favorite Lucha Villa songs.
Amparo Ochoa dies. February 8, 1994. She was a great promoter of “la nueva cancion” in Mexico, and recorded some beautiful, traditional Mexican folk music including an entire album of corridos and songs from the Mexican Revolution.
What a sad, beautiful song. Amparo Ochoa was one of a kind.
Valentine’s Day cards.
My valentine card from Ruben.
Ruben and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary as a couple in late February. He celebrated his 31st birthday in June.
Ruben started beauty school at Allure in early March. The tuition was expensive, but in the end, it was well worth it. He’s been cutting hair now for nearly 30 years.
My dad and and his partner Lupe got married on March 19. Accompanying them in this photo are my Aunt Josie, Aunt Carmen, Aunt Helen, and Uncle Ralph.
I bought a new car in the Spring, a 1993 Nissan Sentra. We needed it badly. My old Corolla was literally falling apart. Unlike the car in the photo, mine was a four door.
Nelson Mandela wins the presidential election in South Africa on April 27 in South Africa’s first fully multi-racial elections. He becomes the first democratically elected president the following month.
In celebration of El Cinco de Mayo, Lupe Castillo, a well-known local Chicana activist and history instructor at Pima Community College, was invited to the Library by the Diversity Council to speak about the cultural and social significance of El Cinco de Mayo to Tucson’s Mexican American community. She talked about immigration along the way, which ruffled a few feathers, but I thought it was great. The event included a musical performance by Mariachi Arizona and a potluck. I coordinated this program on behalf of the Library Diversity Council. When Mariachi Arizona was playing, the leader asked me if I would sing the song “Volver, Volver”, and I did! It was a lot of fun, and I wasn’t even drinking any booze! Ha ha ha!
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis passed away on May 19, 1994.
Not sure exactly when, but this album be El Vez, Graciasland, has one of my favorite songs. It’s called “AZTLAN”.
This was our second trip to Albuquerque in two years. We went in 1993 for Ruben’s birthday and again this year in early June. We visited his sister Mina while there.
ALA Annual in Miami was a lot of fun, but getting around to the various meetings was a real challenge. Some of the meetings were held in Miami Beach, and others in the city of Miami. It was a logistical mess. I had fun any way and went dancing several times, hung out at the beach, and I also enjoyed spending time with my friends Richard DiRusso and Mario Gonzalez, who drove us around in a red convertible one bright, sunny day. It was great.
This was my sixth ALA annual conference. I had been to Dallas in ’89, Chicago in ’90, Atlanta in ’91, San Francisco in ’92 and New Orleans in ’93. I was on a roll. I loved to travel!
My buddy Richard DiRusso and I roomed together at the Hotel Carlton.
On this particular ALA trip, I roomed with my friend Richard DiRusso. He and I were both on the ALA GLBTF Book Award Committee.
Everyone was glued to their television sets as they watched O.J Simpson elude the police on the California freeways. He was tried for murdering his wife. It was a huge spectacle, and people argued at length over whether or not he was guilty. It even split some families apart.
Another American Tragedy –Richard Fass, a close childhood friend, is killed on 6/30.
What a great movie! The soundtrack is wonderful!
The Library Diversity Council held a get together at Libby Hilmar’s house on July 17. Libby was a wonderful friend.
July 25, 1994 cover of Time Magazine.
The world wide web was born in 1994. According to some estimates, there were just 10,000 websites and two million computers connected to the Internet. Amazon, Yahoo! and Mosaic Communications (later Netscape) were in the beginning stages.
This was my second visit to the Grand Canyon taken during the first week of August. Ruben drove most of the way. My first visit took place back in 1976 when I was 17.
What fun, crazy movie. Some of the scenes are quite racy, to put it mildly.
Leslie Feinberg won the 1994 ALA GLBTF Book Award for fiction, and as a member of the book award committee, I had the pleasure of meeting her and inviting her to speak at the Univeristy of Arizona campus on September 30.
This beautiful flyer was designed by Ken Godat of Godat Design.
California’s Proposition 187 was designed to deny social services, non-emergency health services, and public education to undocumented immigrants. California voters passed the proposed law by a margin of 59 percent to 41 percent at a referendum on November 8, 1994. The law was challenged in a legal suit the day after its passage, and found unconstitutional by a federal district court on November 11, 1994.
Mom’s sister Dora died in early December. She was one of my favorite aunts. She and her husband left Tucson in the late 40s and never turned back. They lived in the city at first, but then settled in South San Francisco, and lived there until her death. Our family visited them when I was a kid, back in 1966. In 1978, I visited again. Aunt Dora was a very smart lady. She had to quit school at a young age to help support her family, however.
My cousin Tish drove a bunch of us into the city when we visited for my Aunt Dora’s funeral. I asked her to take me to the Mission District so I could buy some Lucha Villa stuff at the Mission Music Center, and I wound up purchasing a number of cassettes there. Unfortunately, many of them have deteriorated and are no longer playable. I should’ve bought the lps instead!
My crazy cousin Martin. This photo was taken while he was in high school. He was a very talented musician, but didn’t keep it up. We took a summer school class together in high school, but ended up partying a lot more than we studied. He was a travieso.
Cousin Martin dies.
Some new music releases from 1994.
I was a member of the ALA Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Book Award Committee in 1994. I received complimentary copies of a number of books, many of which are listed below. My job as a committee member was to review them and to be prepared to discuss and debate which ones were the best in their respective categories. It was quite an assignment, as there were many, many wonderful books published in 1994.
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Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
As I look back at 1993, I have come to realize that my job was just a part of my life, not my entire life. I’ve delayed writing about this period because I’ve been avoiding writing about the years when I served as Carla Stoffle’s assistant at the University of Arizona Library. In many ways, I felt inadequate, humiliated and burned as the Assistant to the Dean for Staff Development, Recruitment and Diversity. By the time I stepped down from the job eight years later, I was totally fried. I don’t want to just focus on the bad stuff, however, and I don’t have to, so I’m going to mostly write about all the other stuff that happened in my life. I have many fond memories.
1993 was a year that changed my life for the better overall. However, I had just been hired at the University of Arizona Library in June the previous year and was beginning to realize how intense my job was. It was very demanding, and at times I struggled to keep up with the pace. We were in the midst of a major organizational overhaul, and there was a constant demand for staff development and on-the-job training. I worked with a variety of people–national consultants, local consultants and other staff– to coordinate and deliver these efforts. We were in unknown territory, working to completely change the structure and culture of the library while consolidating units, changing work priorities and trying to convince people that diversity and working in teams were good ideas. There was a lot of resistance among the staff to these changes, but we charged forward.
My colleague Karen Downing and I worked on this project before I left Michigan in early 1992. It was finally published at the beginning of 1993. We received very positive reviews for our contribution and were later asked to conduct this workshop live at UC Berkeley. Click the link below to access the full chapter.
This recording was released on January 1, 1993. Judy Collins and Bob Dylan have known each other since early 60s, when they both were part of the Greenwich Village folk scene. Many of her albums contain Dylan material. Her versions of Masters of War and The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll are outstanding. This album is great and full of new Dylan material like Sweetheart Like you and Gotta Serve Somebody.
I lived alone at the beginning of the year and turned 34 on January 15, but didn’t do anything but watch movies at home. My car was giving me problems, so I was stuck. The photo below is what my car, a 1980 Toyota Corolla, likely looked like back in 1980, when it was brand new. After having survived 12 Michigan winters, it was not nearly as pretty as it once was, but it was what I had at the time. I spent a lot of money on repairs, but by the following year, I’d have a new vehicle.
This is a 1980 Toyota Corolla, the same model that I owned in 1993. I bought mine in 1990. It never looked as good as this one.
Here are some of my birthday cards from that 1993.
My sister Irene has been sending me birthday cards every year for over 30 years.
I really missed my Michigan friends. Barb Hoppe and I were very close. She was one-of-a-kind.
This was from the staff at the UA Library. There were some very nice people who worked there.
My buddy Richard and I attended this Charlie King concert on January 16, a day after my birthday. King is a professional protest singer, and that night I wasn’t in the mood to hear that kind of music, so I made fun of it the entire time. I still feel had about my behavior. I was being a real jerk.
Nevertheless, here’s one of the songs of Charlie’s that I really like:
I have had lots of trouble with the issue of political correctness over time. I think my leftist friends can get quite dogmatic and they easily put people down who aren’t “enlightened” like they are. I disagree with a lot of what they espouse, especially when it comes to one’s chosen use of language/ terminology and attitudes about various issues like what foods one should or should not eat. There are certain words like queer and latinx, for example, that I’ll likely never use in my own day-to-day speech because I don’t like those terms, but they’re politically correct, so to speak. I also refuse to add pronouns to my signature. If you can’t tell I’m a dude, something is wrong! Seriously, if you want to know, just ask. But don’t make me feel obliged to include it as part of my signature. Oh well. I know who I am–a gay Chicano socialist, or as Archie Bunker might say a “commie, pinko, fairy” through and through. That won’t ever change.
Bill Clinton became our new President in January. He was on several magazine covers. The one on the far right was photoshopped, for sure, but was quite popular with the gay crowd at the time.
Even though I had an uneventful birthday, a week or so later I got to go to Denver to attend the 1993 ALA Midwinter conference. I’d never been there before.
I love Denver. What an interesting city!
I was in Denver for just a few days, so I made the most of it and had a very nice time, but I was also there to work. In 1992, I had been elected national secretary of REFORMA, The National Association for the Promotion of Library Services to the Spanish Speaking, so I was obligated to attend and take minutes at all of the REFORMA meetings held at Midwinter ’93. Here are the minutes from two of the meetings I attended:
My hotel was right in the middle of downtown Denver. It was a great location. It was formerly called The Brown Palace Hotel and is now a Holiday Inn Express. At the time of my visit it was a Comfort Inn.
We were in Denver at a time when there was a lot of conflict in Colorado over Amendment 2, a ballot initiative passed by Colorado voters in 1992 that prohibited the state from enacting antidiscrimination protections for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, but that had been blocked by the courts. I and other colleagues from the UA Library, including our Assistant Dean Shelley Phipps, attended a protest rally at the Capitol in support of the gay population of Colorado. I did my best to keep up with what was happening.
These are some of the lapel buttons that I collected during my visit to Denver.
The protest rally I attended was held at the steps of the State Capitol.
The following article provides more detail about the controversial conference location and many of the activities that took place at the conference.
The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the exhibit titled “Aztec” at the Denver Museum of Natural History. I was blown away by the incredible sculptures and artifacts that were on display. The exhibit was gorgeous. I remember I hitched a ride with one of my colleagues, Janet Fore, but the car was crowded and Janet wasn’t very happy, so I had to find my own way back to my hotel.
Exterior view of the West side of the Denver Museum of Natural History and Science at dusk.
A very fuzzy photo of the exhibit gallery.
I bought this poster and book while visiting the exhibition at the museum in Denver. I was blown away. I later gave it to my partner Ruben and we had it framed. We still have it.
This book served as the exhibition catalog. I bought a copy for my personal library.
I also got to eat at a few really good restaurants and explore the various record stores and bookstores in the downtown area, as well as the 16th Street Mall.
16th Street has always been the center of downtown. It’s now a pedestrian mall.
Waxtrax Records, Denver.
I enjoyed visiting this bookstore. It was well stocked and busy.
I also went out a few times to the gay bars and nightclubs. I remember one in particular. It was called “Charlie’s” and it was a very crowded country western bar. There were other gay bars around too, just to the east of the Capitol building on Colfax.
Colfax Avenue went on for miles and miles. It was very busy thoroughfare.
I really enjoyed the conference, but I had a lot of work to do at the Library when I got back. We were training our staff how to become teams, and we worked with a consultant named Maureen Sullivan. It was my job to communicate our plan to the staff. This work kept me quite busy. Having fun was a luxury, but I did manage to go to a few concerts like the one noted below.
This was released in 1993, the same year I saw these guys at Coyote’s on W. Lester. They were a fun group.
This was one of my friend Richard’s favorite songs of all time.
Arizona Daily Star, February 12, 1993.
Premiered on February 17, 1993. This is a great movie and the book is fantaastic too.
We held a Mardi Gras celebration for the UA Library staff on February 23. My good friend Chestalene Pintozzi helped out a lot. It was a fun party. It’s been a long, long time since I was this thin!
I recently found the following announcement in a 1993 Library newsletter.
The woman standing next to me is Debbie Friesen, a good friend. She worked in our business office and was longtime volunteer for Tucson Meet Yourself.
On the last day of February, I met someone. His name was Ruben. We hit it off and we fell in love. His mom grew up in the thirties in Superior, Arizona, next door to my dad’s family. She used to play with my aunts Carmen and Helen, and my dad knew her brother, Maclovio Barraza, a union organizer who had recruited my dad to join the union at the mine. Ruben and I had also gone to the same high school and worked at the same grocery store, but at different points in time so our paths never crossed before. It was uncanny. We became inseparable and by May, we decided to live together. It’s now been over 30 years!
I had never heard of the great transgendered writer and leftist activist Leslie Feinberg at the time of the publication of this book, but within a year or so, she would win the American Library Association’s GLBT Book Award and I would bring her to Tucson to speak to the gay community.
Released on March 23, 1993.
What a song!
Released on March 25, 1993. Dwight Yoakam is one of my favorite contemporary country singers.
I just love this song.
Ruben was born in the year of the Rabbit and I was born in the year of the Boar, and according to this place mat, which we got from a Chinese restaurant on Speedway near Tucson Blvd, it says we were compatible. I’ve kept the place mat all these years! Ruben thinks I’m crazy.
Piel de Nina was released on April 1, 1993. Alejandro Fernandez was new to the music scene, and this was his second album. He and Pepe Aguilar started out roughly at the same time, and I bought every album of theirs that I could find. At this point in my life, I was deeply into Mexican ranchera music, and Lucha Villa was my very favorite singer of all, although I sought out all the traditional material I could find. Que viva la musica ranchera!
This guy is amazing.
In early April, at Easter time, I rented a car and Ruben and I drove with his friend Enrique Gomez and another guy named Roberto, who Enrique was dating, to Rocky Point. We had to take the long way, through the back roads in Sonora to get there, because Roberto was from the other side and could not cross into the US. It was a rough road, and the rental car I drove took a beating. This was not a great trip. We had some misunderstandings with Enrique, and things got tense. I realized on this particular trip that I didn’t like Enrique at all, and was never able to get over it. Ruben and I ended up finding our own hotel room in Rocky Point. The only thing that I liked about the trip was the food. We ate grilled fish and later found a little taco stand outside the hotel that sold the most delicious tacos. There’s nothing like tacos and beer to satisfy one’s hunger!
The grilled fish was amazing.
Our hotel wasn’t the best, and the water barely made it out of the shower spigot, but we got by. We stayed for just one night.
The tacos we ate were mouthwatering. We must’ve eaten at least six apiece.
I bought this in Rocky Point. I’m sure there were a few other things I found, but I can’t remember what! It’s been thirty years!
Best American rock band ever.
Arizona Daily Star, April 18, 1993. I’ve seen this group so many times, I’ve lost count. They are my all-time favorite band.
Aaron Neville’s newest release, The Grand Tour became available in record stores on April 20, 1993. I love Aaron Neville’s voice and have several of his albums. This one includes the Song of Bernadette and Betcha By Golly Wow as well as other great classics.
It’s rare to hear a man sing this one, but he does it justice.
I missed it! This event drew thousands.
Urvashi Vaid was an Indian-born American LGBT rights activist, lawyer, and writer. An expert in gender and sexuality law, she held a series of roles at the National LGBTQ Task Force. I loved listening to her. I found her inspiring and eloquent. She is shown here speaking at the National March on Washington. I was quite saddened to learn that she had passed away in May, 2022.
At the same time as the March on Washington, Tucson was hosting its 11th annual Tucson International Mariachi Conference. This year’s featured performers were Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, Mariachi Cobre, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Angeles Ochoa and Linda Ronstadt. I made sure not to miss this event!
Here’s Linda Ronstadt singing the great song, Por Un Amor.
I had the honor of meeting Cesar Chavez twice in my life, the last time just two years before he passed. My dad saved the newsclipping shown below. Chavez died on April 23, 1993. He was 66 years old.
There are various version of this corrido. This one by Los Perros del Pueblo Nuevo is great.
Sometime in late Spring, Ruben’s niece Marissa, Jerry’s daughter, had her first holy communion at St. Ambrose Church. She was only five or six at the time, and was the cutest little girl. She lived with Ruben and her grandparents. Ruben bought her a beautiful dress for the occasion. We all gathered at his parent’s house afterwards. This was the first time I had been around his extended family. Here are some photos of the occasion.
By early May, Ruben and I were living together in a two-bedroom apartment on N. Shannon Rd, on the far west side of town, just down the road from Pima Community College West. The apartment complex was called Desert Hills Apartments and had been built sometime in the Sixties. He had convinced me to move there because the rent was a lot cheaper and it was close to his parent’s house. The complex consisted of several long buildings like the one shown below. We spent a lot of time at Ruben’s parents house, and they were very nice to me. Before I knew it, I was part of the family. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about my own family. They weren’t very nice at all.
The photos that follow were taken around his birthday on June 7. Our friends Roberto and Enrique Navarro joined us during the day, and later we drove to Albuquerque and stayed for a day or two. It was a fun trip. Some of the photos were taken on our drive back through central Arizona.
Ruben and I on his birthday, June, 1993.
I had visited Albuquerque 10 years earlier when I went to see my friend Frank. Brent and I also drove through there on our way to Michigan in 1985. I’ve always enjoyed visiting this place. It reminded me to the Tucson I grew up in, before the population swelled.
Ruben and I visited the Spanish History Museum and I bought this coat of arms. It’s one of many Diaz coats of arms out there.
Central Avenue, looking east from San Mateo Boulevard. We visited several antique stores along this street.
These photos were taken somewhere near Globe Arizona. We were on our way home from Albuquerque.
These photos were taken in our apartment.
As soon as I got back to work, I had out of town guests to take care of and host. They were visiting the library from the University of Michigan. Barbara MacAdam was head of the Undergraduate Library there and Karen Downing was a librarian and member of her library staff. Lester Refigee was a student assistant who worked at the reference desk and was part of the Peer Information Counseling program. Carla Stoffle asked me to arrange for them to visit the UA Library to talk about undergraduate services and peer information counseling. They stayed at the Arizona Inn. Over the weekend, I took them on a tour of southern Arizona. We visited San Xavier, Patagonia, Tumacacori, Nogales and the Saguaro National Monument. It was a fun, but exhausting day, and they really enjoyed themselves. I did too. Barbara is now retired, and Karen still works at Michigan. Lester went on to get a medical degree and is now a physician in the Chicago area.
Barbara MacAdam is the woman with the blonde hear on the left and Karen Downing is the the right of Lester in the above photo taken in front of the Arizona Inn.
This is Gloria Estefan’s masterpiece. It was released on June 22, 1993.
At the end of June I was traveling again, this time to New Orleans to attend the American Library Association’s annual conference. Man, it sure was hot there, and very, very humid. I cannot stand this kind of weather, but I wasn’t about to stay indoors. New Orleans is a hopping place, and I made sure to visit the sites and eat a lot of good food in the French Quarter. While at the conference, I attended REFORMA meetings and took minutes, but also found time to have dinner with friends, party at the gay bars and visit various bookstores and record stores, of which there was an abundance.
This was my first of several trips to the Big Easy.
My hotel was just outside the French Quarter. It was nice.
A pocket guide to gay New Orleans. There were bars everywhere in the French Quarter.
The Rawhide. Wow, what a place! I had a lot of fun in this bar over the years.
This was one of several amazing record stores in the French Quarter. I spent a lot of money in these places. Unfortunately, only one or two of them are left. Lps, while having made a comeback in recent years, were not as sought after for a long time after compact discs and mp3 files were introduced into the marketplace, and many record stores ended up closing their doors. Now all the old records are collector’s items!
I bought this for Ruben. It was the first of three that I purchased over the years.
I spent quite a long time sorting through zillions of these, until I found just what I wanted.
This is Bourbon Street, the heart of the French Quarter. It got very, very crowded at night, with people drinking and carrying on in the street. The fist time I was there, it was fun. After that, the novelty wore off and I felt claustrophobic most of the time while there.
In early July, the Diaz clan held its first family reunion in Tucson. My dad and all of his living brothers and sisters showed up with their children and grandchildren. His brothers Raul and Val had already passed, but their children and families and the rest of the brothers and sisters and their families came from all over to partake in the festivities, which were held at St. Demetrius’s social hall and at Reid Park. We held another family reunion in 2007, and there’s currently talk of another being planned.
My dad’s family in 1993. Ruben and I felt totally out of place. I had no idea my extended family would react so badly to our being at this event together. It was awful. I was the first in the family to openly admit to being gay. It would take a few more years for others to come out. We now have several family members who are happily out and proud.
The families of Raul, Valentin, Belarmino and Tony Diaz, 1993.
The families of my tios: Ralph Diaz, Josie Diener, Helen Mendoza and Carmen Basurto, 1993.
My dad and his wife-to-be, Lupe at the park during our family reunion in 1993. She was pregnant at the time with my little brother, Jose’, who was born in September.
Premiered on July 16, 1993. What a fun film!
Ruben and I bought two birds just like these at the Desert Pet Center on July 18, 1993. The are called orange cheek waxbill finches. They were so cute!
The Clinton administration came up with this policy, which was officially enacted by the end of the year. It was disastrous. The gay community had such high hopes when he was elected, and this was a real let down. It would take years and years before more progressive measures were put in place that allowed gay men and women to serve proudly and openly in the nation’s armed services.
I was the primary organizer for the opening reception for this conference, held in Special Collections at the UA Library. I wrote a separate blog post on it. See below.
Some of my library colleagues who helped at the event. They include Patricia Promis, who would later become my team leader, Atifa Rawan, and Mimi Hernandez. The other two people’s names escape me at this point.
Dr. Arnulfo Trejo, Tami Echeverria and Carla Stoffle, whose face is just barely visible.
I rarely wore a tie at work. It was a very casual atmosphere most of the time.
My best friend Richard with his daughter Luz. He and his wife Emily were so proud of her.
I had spent the first half of the year at work coordinating workshops, participating in training and learning how to juggle many responsibilities at the same time. In August, after new team leaders were hired or appointed, we were finally ready to get the staff together to begin designing the work of their individual teams. We held all staff workshops, led by our ARL consultant Maureen Sullivan, at the Student Union in mid-August. The photos that follow give a snapshot of the work we did.
This anthology of previously released and unreleased recordings by Los Lobos was issued on August 31, 1993. It included songs both in English and Spanish.
I furst heard Los Lobos’ version of Bertha on the Just Another Band from East LA Anthology. This live version is just great.
This is yet another film that first appeared as a book. It premiered on September 8, 1993. Both are excellent.
Released on September 18, 1993.
This rare tune appears on the above anthology. Joan sings this Donovan-penned tune with her sister Mimi Farina.
Released on September 28, 1993.
I think this is her masterpiece. Oh, Emmylou, I sure do love you!
I participated in the Tucson Aidswalk again this year. There was a high turnout at this particular event, and lots of money was raised to support the cause.
In October, I attended a workshop on management skills in Chicago. It was another program sponsored by the Association of Research Library Office of Management Services. I had attended one the year before in Raleigh, NC called “The Training Skills Institute”. Once I was done with the workshop, Ruben flew in from Tucson and we stayed and enjoyed a nice vacation in the city. It was lots of fun. I had been to Chicago before, but this was Ruben’s first visit. We went to the Art Institute, the Natural History Museum, the Al Capone Museum, and the Chicago Historical Society, and saw some great exhibits. We also went to the top of the Hancock building, and ate tons of great food.
Ruben and I stayed at this hotel on Ohio St.
We took a boat tour along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. It was a lot of fun.
Visiting the Art Institute of Chicago was one of the highlights of our trip.
When we visited the Chicago Historical Society we saw Lincoln’s death bed. It was a somber moment for sure.
We visited the short-lived Al Capone museum. Public outcry over the glorification and celebration of a know murderer led to the closing of the museum. That didn’t stop me from taking a picture with him. What was I thinking?
The Chicago Historical Society was a wonderful place to visit. It had some great exhibits.
This is one my favorite Jackson Browne albums. I especially love the title cut. The album was released on October 26, 1993.
I love this song. It’s one of my all-time favorites.
Released on November 2, 1993. This album is great, one of my favorites.
I love this.
I spent a lot of time in my job establishing ties with various Latino groups, including the services to the Spanish-speaking staff of the public library and Latino faculty on campus who were members of the Arizona Association of Chicanos in Higher Education, of which I became secretary for a year. I also met with Latino students enrolled in the library science graduate program. They helped me coordinate the reception for the Trejo Institute in July, and I later hosted them for dinner one evening at my home. On November 12, several of us took a field trip to Nogales, Mexico, where we visited with staff from El Colegio De Sonora and had lunch. It was a great group of students. One of them is now a library science professor at San Jose State. Others have already retired or are continuing their work as librarians in communities across the country.
These are some of the graduate students enrolled in the library science program at the UA that I worked with in 1993. Their names are Adrian, Jose’, Ramiro, April and Pilar, if I remember correctly. Adrian works and lives in the San Jose’ area. Jose’ is now a professor of Library Science at San Jose’ State University, Ramiro is a retired public librarian, April, who is married to Jose’, works in Phoenix for a medical library, and I don’t know whatever became of Pilar. I think she moved to Colorado shortly after having graduated.
Premiered on November 19, 1993.
Premiered on November 22, 1993.
Released on November 23, 1993.
Linda’s powerful vocals on this Tish Hinojosa song transform it into something far beyond what’s written on paper.
The Arizona State Library Association conference was held in Phoenix in early December. I was chair of the ASLA Library Services to the Spanish Speaking committee, and coordinated a panel program on library services to the Latino community. It was titled, “Library Services to Latinos in Arizona: A Diversity of Perspectives,” and in addition to me, who filled in for someone who didn’t show up, it featured three speakers, including Liz Rodriguez-Miller, Guadalupe Castillo, and Pernela Jones.
The ASLA Conference took place December 1-4, 1993. I traveled by bus from Tucson and back this time around.
Ruben and I took Vivian Sykes, a library consultant to the Desert Museum on December 5. It had been a long time since I had been there.
Right before Christmas, Ruben and I were invited to Nogales by his friend Enrique Gomez, the same Enrique that we went to Rocky Point with back in April. We stayed in a hotel about seven blocks from the border, and hung out with Enrique and his friends at his house. We were supposed to go out to the bars with them, but decided to stay at our hotel. Enrique and I did not like each other, and I think we sensed that things weren’t going to go too well if we went along. Ruben, who doesn’t speak Spanish, was also badly treated by one of Enrique’s friends. We ended up eating campechanas at a small seafood stand across the street from our hotel, and shopping in the tourist area. I always enjoyed doing that.
Our hotel has since changed its name to the Motel San Luis, but when we were there it was the Motel Don Luis. It wasn’t a five star hotel, that’s for sure. Not even a two star…
Premiered on December 22, 1993.
A summary of the bulk of my 1993 staff development, training and diversity-related work activities (mostly June, 1993 to the end of December 1993) is included in the report linked below. I wrote this in January 1994. It gives one an idea of how busy I was in 1993. And the fun was just beginning….
We bought a couple of movies to help us get into the Christmas spirit.
The lady in the photo is Joanne Preston. She was our receptionist at the UA Library. I really liked her, and was said when she took a job somewhere else.
I met Teresa Jones when I was a member of Teatro Libertad back in the 1980s. We re-connected when I moved back to Tucson and would have lunch together all the time. She worked at KUAT television and produced a program called “Reflexiones” that was very popular in the local Mexican American community.
Although we had a bit of a rocky start, Ruben and I made it to the end of the year. This was our very first Christmas tree in our new apartment. We bought a lot of new decorations. Shopping for them was fun.
Most of the material included here–record albums, photos, cds and magazine articles, etc.– comes from my personal archives. However, I’ve added a few videos, photos and graphics from other sources to help tell the story of my lifelong infatuation with the music of Tina Turner.
My earliest recollections of Tina Turner go back to when I was a 12-year old kid watching her on television performing Proud Mary with Ike Turner and the Ikettes back in the early 70s. She had long legs, wore mini-skirts and a long dark brown wig, and could dance and sing like nobody’s business. I can close my eyes and clearly see her and her girls dancing in unison like crazy, tossing their hair back and forth as they did a rolling motion with their arms, while Tina belted out the lyrics to Proud Mary. It was a wild thing to witness. The group must’ve appeared on several tv shows in the Sixties and Seventies. Their onstage energy was unmatched.
The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner / 1961
I must admit, I have not studied Ike and Tina Turner’s recording history much until just recently. Slowly but surely, I’m piecing things together. They first recorded together in 1960-61 and had a couple of hits that included “A Fool In Love” and “It’s Gonna work Out fine” which I remember hearing on some of the oldies anthologies that I had bought when I first started collecting albums in earnest while in college. I have a cd re-issue of their first album, shown above, titled “The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner”.
This version of A Fool In Love was recorded for the program, Shindig on November 25, 1964, not 1960 as the note on the video screen indicates.
This is from my music videos collection. Tina performs Ooh Poo Pah Doo.
I also have a video of Tina performing with Marvin Gaye on the tv show Shindig in the mid-60s. I think they sang the song Money and I’ll be Doggone. She also performed A Fool in Love and Ooh Poo Pah Doo on the program. I used to love to watch the show on television. Aretha Franklin also appeared on it a number of times. It was great. Lots of popular groups performed on it and other shows like Hullabaloo.
On this tape, also from my music videos collection, Tina performs A Fool In Love.
The medley includes the tunes, “Money”, “I’ll Be Doggone” and “That’ll Be The Day”. What a pair!
Here’s another TIna Turner performance on Shindig. It’s available on the following–“Shindig Presents Legends of Rock N’ Roll”:
1992 video compilation of Shindig programs from the Mid-1960s. From my collection of music videos..
Ike and Tina also performed on a television concert program called the “Big T.N.T. Show” in 1966. The songs they performed were: Shake, A Fool In Love, It’s Gonna Work Out Fine, Please, Please, Please, Goodbye, So Long and Tell The Truth. The above concert tape is from my music video collection.
Here’s more about the Big T.N.T. concert from Wikipedia : “The Big T.N.T. Show is a 1966 concert film. Directed by Larry Peerce and distributed by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and the United Kingdom. A sequel to 1964’s The T.A.M.I. Show, and, like it, executive produced by Henry G. Saperstein, The Big T.N.T. Show was likewise shot on videotape and transferred to 35-millimeter film. Some footage from it was reused in the film That Was Rock, a.k.a. The T.A.M.I. / T.N.T. Show (1984).”
River Deep, Mountain High / released in the US in 1969.
Two of the first record albums I acquired when I was in college were the legendary recording, River Deep Mountain High, and a compilation album titled, The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner, which consisted of songs recorded in the mid-60s on the Kent record label. Phil Spector recorded Tina singing River Deep Mountain High in England. He paid Ike to stay away from the recording studio while he recorded Tina’s vocals. The song has that very unique “wall of sound” quality that Spector was so famous for, and it features Tina singing her heart out. It was released in both the US and England, where it was a big hit. It didn’t do well at all in the States, however, and it is said that Phil Spector closed down his record company and went into seclusion afterwards because he was so disappointed in how the song did in the U.S. The album, while recorded in 1966, was released in England in 1967. In the US, the A & M label issued it in 1969. My copy has a few snap, crackle and pops, but doesn’t skip.
The original release of The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner, released in 1966, is on the left , and the 1971 French re-issue which I have in my collection is on the right.
I have a 1971 French import issue of the album, “The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner” (not to be confused with their very first release from 1961, which has the same title), which consisted of songs Ike and Tina recorded in the mid-60s on the Modern and Kent labels. The album was released originally in 1966 on the Kent label. The recording I have is in pristine condition and sounds amazing.
Two additional albums that I have are of live performances recorded at the Skyliner Ballroom (Fort Worth, Texas) and the Lovall’s Ballroom (Dallas, Texas) in 1964.
The first recording was originally titled, “Live!: The Ike and Tina Turner Show” and was released in January 1965 on the Warner Bros. label (Catalog Number: W 1579). The version I have is titled “Somehing’s Got A Hold On Me”. It was released in 1971 on the Harmony Records label. Three of the songs on the original recording are omitted from this version.
The second recording of the 1964 live performances was originally titled, “The Ike and Tina Turner Show, Vol. 2”, and was released in January 1967 on the Loma label, (Catalog number: LS 5904). The version I have was released in 1969 on the Harmony Records label, and is titled Ooh Poo Pah Doo,
Because I had no idea of the details around the nearly 20 year recording history of Ike and Tina Turner, when I first started buying their records, I collected whatever I could find at the used record stores. There was no rhyme or reason to my collecting strategy, except that I liked finding records that cost under $5, and most of the ones I have averaged about $3 a disc.
The Hunter / 1969________________________The Best of Ike and Tina Turner / 1973
In the late sixties, the group recorded for the Blue Thumb label, and many of the songs on the albums from this period are blues numbers. I really love the album, The Hunter, which I gave away to my good friends Mike and Denice. In hindsight, sometimes I think it was dumb of me to do that, but they were leaving town and I had to give them a gift, something memorable, so I chose that recording plus a John Lee Hooker album and a Taj Mahal album, all of which I had a hard time finding later. I did manage to find some of the Blue Thumb recordings on compact disc later.
She sang the blues like nobody’s business, but I’ve read that she didn’t like singing those songs that much. Dang. She’s one of the best blues singers I’ve ever heard. That’s really too bad, but there’s probably too much association with Ike Turner and the pain she endured while with him. I don’t think she sang the blues in the eighties at all.
This is the only 45 I have of Ike and Tina Turner.
Ike and Tina Turner began performing Proud Mary in their live shows in 1969. In 1970, they recorded the song and it came out on their album, “Workin’ Together”. It became a huge hit in 1971. The performance that follows was recorded for the Ed Sullivan Show, where they appeared live on January 11, 1970. It also includes Bold Soul Sister.
Bold Soul Sister appears on this anthology of musical performances from the Ed Sullivan Show. From my personal collection of music videos.
I didn’t know this, but Ike and Tina were the first rock act to play at the brand new Tucson Community Center back in October, 1971. Here’s a brief announcement about the concert:
A lot of their recordings in the 70’s appeared on the United Artists label. Here are the ones I have in my collection:
Acid Queen / 1975 _______ Greatest Hits / 1976
Tina suffered severe abuse as Ike’s wife, but she finally broke free in July, 1976, and never looked back. Their divorce was finalized in 1978. All she got out of it were two cars and her name, which Ike had trademarked years ago. The ensuing years were difficult for her, but she persevered. Her Buddhist faith kept her strong and focused.
It took her a bit of time to get back on her feet and find her own way, but by the early 80’s she was once again performing and attracting attention as a great singer and performer, this time as a solo act. I hadn’t really known the details about what was going on with her, but in the early 80’s, I clipped and saved some Village Voice ads promoting her performances at the Ritz in New York in September and October of 1981. They appear below:
In the late 70s-early 80s Tina would make her entrance flapping these wings. It reminds me of the drag shows I used to see at Jeckyl and Hyde’s in Tucson back in the late 70s. This was a very popular costume!
Here are a couple of import cassettes that I found, both released in 1981. Both have the exact same song lists too. I can’t seem to find the original albums in which these songs first appeared.
I found a copy of the 12” single, “Let’s Stay Together” shortly after it was recorded in 1983 and released early in 1984. Al Green wrote the tune and it was a big hit for him in 1972. It was the first big record for her since she had left Ike, and it marked a major turning point in her career. She was especially big in England where the song went to the top of the charts.
Throughout her career, Tina has been on of the hardest working performers in show business. This concert is one of many examples of her amazing energy and talent. It’s from 1982, when she was performing on her own, a year before things started getting much better for her:
Here’s another amazing performance from around the same time:
Tina’s version of Let’s Stay Together, released in late 1983 in England and early 1984 in the US, rose to the top of the charts in England, and was the beginning of her rise to superstardom. Within a year, her breakthrough recording of Private Dancer would change things for her in a big, big way. She finally got the recognition she deserved as the world’s queen of rock and roll.
This version of Al Green’s classic went to the top of the charts in England.
Rolling Stone, October 11, 1984. This is one of three Rolling Stone magazine covers on which Tina appears. Details of the abuse she endured are revealed in this lengthy feature. People Magazine, however, back in 1981, was the first national publication to reveal why Tina left Ike.
Private Dancer was released shortly after this in May, 1984.
Here is a snippet from Wikipedia, that details the incredible success of this album:
“The album was released on May 29, 1984, and became an outstanding global commercial success.[20][21][22] The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart for ten consecutive weeks[23] and remained in the top ten for 39 weeks from August 1984 to May 1985. In the United States it was certified 5× platinum.[24] In Germany, the album went 5× gold becoming one of the best selling albums in history. It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, where it was certified 3× platinum, remaining on the charts for 150 total weeks. It was certified 7× platinum for the shipment of over 700,000 copies in Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. The album has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.[25][26] At the 1985 Grammy Awards, Private Dancer won four of the six awards for which it was nominated.”
Her first big hit after her breakthrough album Private Dancer was released was “What’s Love Got To Do With It”. I liked the record a lot, but Tina has said she was reluctant to record it. She didn’t really care for it. I heard her say in an interview that “love has everything to do with it”, so I can understand why she didn’t care for the song. However, she also noted that the tune was catchy and that the public loved it. The video was quite popular, if I recall correctly.
The single, “Private Dancer” was also a big hit, but I didn’t like it much. I saw Joan Baez sing it in concert once with just her guitar. I thought it quite odd, but Joan loved Tina Turner, and there are several photos of them together, including the one below.
Joan Baez and Tina Turner
Tina sang on the We Are The World record, recorded on January 8, 1985. She was part of a huge superstar line-up that included Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Ritchie, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Madonna and Bob Dylan.
I enjoyed seeing her on Live Aid on July 13, 1985. Her duet with Mick Jagger was quite memorable, especially the part where he rips off her skirt. I vaguely remember Patti Labelle and Tina getting into a bit of a tiff over one of them touching the other, and there being a bad reaction from one of them, because of the sweat that was pouring out. What the hell?
Just a few days after Live Aid, Tina appeared on the cover of People magazine. (This article and the US article are both in my personal collection of memorabilia). No mention is made of her life with Ike Turner and the abuse she endured during their marriage. She revealed all those details the following year in her autobiography.
Released on September 1, 1986. I read it at the time, but never had my own copy.
A week later, she appeared on the cover of US magazine. In this interview, she provides details about her relationship with Ike Turner. She had such a rough life with him, it’s incredible that she endured it for so long.
After Private Dancer, Tina appeared in the film, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. I never saw the movie, nor do I have any of the recordings from it, although the song, “We Don’t Need Another Hero” was a big hit. I never took to it for some reason.
The following year, Tina released the cd, Break Every Rule. I never bought it, but I do have a 45 of one of the songs from it. I also have just the cover of another song from that album. I have no idea where I acquired it.
I just love this song. Man oh man!
Tina appeared in concert in Tucson in early December, 1987. I was living in Ann Arbor at the time, but would have gone if I’d been here.
By 1988, Tina was an international super star She had millions of fans, and drew immense crowds to her concerts. Here are some items from my collection, including her live album (part 1 is on cd, part 2 is on cassette. I don’t know how that happened) and an ad for a HBO special of a concert she gave in South America.
Tina turned 50 in 1989. I clipped this article from the Ann Arbor news.
I also have the following two photos in my Tina Turner file. These are from 1990.
In 1991, Tina released the following greatest hits compilation, which I have in my collection.
She has said that her favorite song is “Simply the Best”. She noted that her record producers didn’t care for the tune, but that she fought hard to have it recorded. Thank goodness. It’s become her signature song, and every time I see her perform it, I’m amazed at her energy and joy.
Little did I know, but I had this in my movie collection all along!
In 1993, the movie, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” was released. Directed by Brian Gibson and written by Kate Lanier, it is based on Tina’s 1986 autobiography I, Tina, and stars Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as her abusive husband Ike Turner. I’ve seen bits and pieces of the film, but not the entire thing. It’s something I plan to do soon.
Jumping forward to 1999, Tina appeared in the VH1 Divas 1999 concert. She tore the place up with her songs, “The Best” and “Proud Mary” on which she shared the stage with Elton John and Cher. She arrived in a limousine, and walked right on to the stage to sing Simply the Best. It was a moment to behold.
Rounding out my collection of Ike and Tina Turner recordings are two cd compilations from the late 60s, both consisting of material recorded on the Blue Thumb label.
When I hosted my radio show, “The Chicano Connection” (1983-1986, 2005 to 2020), I would regularly feature the music of Ike and Tina Turner. Below is a quick bio sheet I wrote up for my segment on Tina Turner in celebration of her birthday one year. I’ve also included a sheet full of the songs by Ike and Tina Turner that I played over the years while on the air.
Aretha Franklin had her feathers ruffled in 2015 when Beyonce’ called Tina “the queen” at the Grammys 50th anniversary show. This only made Aretha look bad. She was always quite insecure about her status as one of the world’s greatest singers. Tina later noted that Aretha was the queen of soul and that she was the queen of rock and roll and said there’s room for more than one at the top. I heartily agree.
Those performances that Tina Turner did live on television with Ike and her dancers will be forever embedded in the collective memory of people from my generation. There’s no justification, however, for what Ike did to her over the years, but I believe that you can’t just erase what you don’t like about the past. You have to acknowledge it. It happened and that’s that. However, there are indeed other things one can focus on at present, so I would rather just do that rather than ever, ever glorify Ike Turner.
Tina didn’t let her fame go to her head. She was a devout Buddhist and remained so from the mid-70s to the very end. She chanted the same chant my cousin Tish chants. I still have the card Tish gave me with the words Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
For a long time, my favorite songs were the blues tunes from the late 60s. 3 O’Clock in the Morning Blues, Dust My Broom, You’ve Got my Running, and Mean Old World are all very heartfelt and beautifully sung. Tina’s raspy, low voice is well suited to these kinds of songs. Too bad she didn’t care for the genre much. Oh well. At least we have the Blue Thumb records and cd compilations.
Lately, I’ve been enjoying discovering some of her newer work. I really like, “It’s Only Love”, the duet she sings with Bryan Adams, and I enjoy the song Steamy Windows a lot. I’m sure there are a lot more songs that I’ll enjoy as I continue to listen and learn.
What a wonderful recording legacy she left us. And it started in 1960, not 1983.
Here are two recent magazines featuring Tina Turner that I bought for my collection at Walgreens in early June, 2023.
My newest acquisition, People’s Tina Turner commemorative issue, published in June 2023.
I recently went on a shopping spree and found these cds–Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (1989); In The Beginning (1993); Break Every Rule (1986); Foreign Affair (1989); Wildest Dreams (1996); and Twenty-Four Seven (1999). The first two are Ike and Tina Turner compilations from the Sixties and Seventies, and the rest are from Ms. Turner’s solo career.
I couldn’t resist. My very own Tina Turner T-Shirt!
I borrowed this book from the University of Arizona Library and read it in just a few days. It was published in 2005. I finished in on 6/21/23. It was okay. Bego got a lot of the details of Turner’s life wrong and he’s very repetitive. A good editor would have helped clean it up a bit. Nevertheless it did have a lot of interesting information, especially about Tina’s relationship with Ike Turner.
My latest acquisition, received in the mail on 6/23/23, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” released in conjunction with the movie by the same title in June 1993. This compilation includes versions of some of Tina’s earliest hits as well as her latest efforts.
I had no idea this duet existed until today, which is July 12, 2023. It’s amazing. The are great together. I’d never even heard of Jimmy Barnes until today, but he’s quite popular.
AN IKE AND TINA TURNER TIMELINE TO EARLY 1991 (borrowed from the book, “Rock Movers and Shakers” by Dafydd Rees).
Tina Turner left behind a lengthy, rich recorded legacy going all the way back to 1960. The following lists of Ike and Tina Turner and Tina Turner 45 rpm singles is borrowed from the book “Goldmine 45 RPM Records Price Guide, 8th edition“, by Dave Thompson.(Krause Publications, 2018).
Today I am going to provide an introduction to the UA Libraries and how to access materials using our online website and other tools. More specifically, I will focus on materials housed in Special Collections. I will also give you the opportunity to get some hands on experience using our materials, and if there is time, we will take a brief tour of the facility. By the end of today’s session, you should be able to know what kinds of information you can find here, as well as how and where to look for and locate materials that will aid you in your genealogical research.
About the University of Arizona Libraries
The brand new University of Arizona Main Library building, 1977.
We are a major research library with a strong focus on Latin America and the Southwest. We’re also a major repository for federal government information. We have millions of items, including books, journals, documents and materials in every format imaginable. For the past 15 years or so our emphasis has shifted from a focus on building physical collections to providing access to collections via regional and national consortia or electronic access. We provide access to newspaper and journal/magazine literature through our subscriptions to various online indexes and full-text journal collections. We invest a lot of funds into Inter-library Loan.
Established in 1958, Special Collections is home to rare books, archives, and manuscript collections, photographs, maps and multimedia materials owned by the University of Arizona Library. We have primary research material in a wide variety of subject areas, including these areas of particular focus: Arizona and the Southwest, with a strong emphasis on mining and ranching, the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, literature, political affairs, the performing arts, the history of science, University of Arizona history, and architecture. We are currently open to the general public Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm. One need not make an appointment to visit, but it is strongly encouraged that one be prepared with lists of materials to request before arriving. We have limited staffing available at our front desk and prefer to have patrons make appointments with individual specialists in advance if in-depth assistance is required. To find a specialist in your area of study, contact us using our online research request form, available here.
Community member access to the UA Libraries
Our libraries provide a wealth of information and for the most part, as tax-paying, community members you have access to all of it.
Community members can:
Use non-reservable spaces at the libraries during public hours
Request a computer card to use the 6 public computers at the Main Library
Use library databases when logged into the UAGuest wireless network anytime at any location on campus
Community members can also apply for a library card ($50 per year) to check out up to 25 books, journals, and documents at a time and use additional computers at the library. You can also place holds on materials.
Community members cannot remotely access databases, borrow laptops and technology, or reserve rooms and spaces, even with a library card.
The UA Libraries website is your gateway to the world of information. The more comfortable you are navigating it, the easier it will be to find materials in our collections and beyond. The key to mastering how to navigate this site is practice. (Think of Family Search or Ancestry.com. It probably took you several bouts of trial and error searching before you were able to use these sites effectively. The same principle applies to the UA Library website.) There are many links and layers to this website. It provides access to books, journal literature, full text material and a wide array of other products and services. I will provide a quick overview for you today, but it will be up to you to go back to it and explore it further. I encourage you to take time to learn how to find books and journal literature. There are a variety of easy-to-use tutorials embedded within the site that can help you learn how to be an effective researcher.
I will quickly review the various sections of the site for you, but we do not have time to go into a lot of depth.
Sections:
At the top: Services by category. Find Materials/Borrow and Request/Study and create/Research and Publish/About us/Ask Us-Chat
In the middle: searching tools (books, articles etc). Information about Library hours
Next: News and information about our public programs and exhibitions
Information about our branches. Information for specific populations, including alumni and visitors.
A closer look at access to primary research materials and newspaper access.
Local newspaper access is spotty. Online databases available through the UA Library only cover selected years of the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen. There exists a paper index to the Arizona Daily Star that also only covers a specific time frame. The best source that I have found for finding information in these newspapers is Newspapers.com, a commercial database available via subscription. I pay about $140 a year out of my own pocket for access to it because it is an indispensable resource. One can get a 2-week trial subscription to it before the service is cut off or payment is made to continue.
The UA Libraries have digitized a number of local Spanish-language newspapers including El Tucsonense. The search platform for these newspapers is not the best, however. The Arizona Memory project also provides access to El Tucsonense, I prefer using that one.
As with the UA Library website, the Special Collections site has various sections, drop down menus, and a lot of information embedded underneath the surface. I encourage you to explore this site, as once you can navigate it well, you’ll be able to find just about everything housed in Special Collections here. We have a number of digital collections and exhibits that I encourage you to view and explore, including many digital photos of the University and southern Arizona.
The middle portion of the site is where one can find information about our collections by broadly arranged topics.
The next two sections feature information about our exhibits and events and news from our department.
About our manuscript collections and other specialized materials
There are a variety of ways to access our archival collections, including using our online catalog, doing a google search, using our Special Collections page, or other sources like Arizona Archives Online. Collections of manuscript material and personal papers are what are known as primary research resources. These are usually unique items like photographs, letters, diaries, draft manuscripts of publications, business ledgers and other materials.
When we receive a collection, there are several steps involved in the process. We first assess the material to determine if it fits within our collecting scope. If it doesn’t, we politely decline the material. If it does, we go through a lengthy process of preparing the material for public use. We sort the material, disposing of duplicates and other materials that are not “unique”. Then we determine how to arrange the material. We usually try to preserve the donor’s original order of material, but sometimes the material has to be organized by a staff member. We categorize, re-house the material into acid-free folders and boxes, inventory the materials, and keep track of what is in a collection, using ArchivesSpace. We do this by creating what is called a finding aid or collection guide. Nearly every archival/ manuscript collection in Special Collections has a corresponding collection guide. Here is a description of a typical collection guide: Using Collection Guides.
When you visit Special collections, there are various protocols that we ask you to follow. A list of do’s and dont’s is available here:
Tools we use to provide access to finding aids/collection guides:
According to the website: “The mission of Arizona Archives Online (AAO) is to provide free public access to descriptions of archival collections, preserved and made accessible by Arizona repositories, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums. Through the collaboration of the Arizona repositories we strive to inform, enrich, and empower the researcher by creating and promoting access to a vast array of primary sources across the state of Arizona”.
There are currently 14 institutions throughout the state of Arizona that contribute content to Arizona Archives Online: The Arizona Historical Society: Northern Division Arizona State Library, History and Archives Division Arizona State Museum Arizona State University Libraries, Department of Archives and Special Collections Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Aviation Safety and Security Archives, Prescott Campus Heard Museum Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives Lowell Observatory Library and Archives Museum of Northern Arizona Northern Arizona University, Cline Library Special Collections and Archives Peggy J. Slusser Memorial Philatelic Library Sharlot Hall Museum University of Arizona Library Special Collections University of Arizona Libraries. Arizona Health Sciences Library
The UA Library starting using this product just a few years ago. It is similar to Arizona Archives Online, but a bit more cumbersome to use. It includes some information, such as materials in our backlog, not found in Arizona Archives Online.
Specific Collections that we will explore today:
This list is but a sampling of the various collections where one can find information about people for one’s genealogical research. Samples from these collections will be used in the next section of our session, where you will get hands on experience using our holdings.
Alianza Hispano-Americana Records,1894-1965, 1920-1950 MS 663. Papers relating to the Alianza Hispano-Americana, which offered low-cost life insurance, social activities, and other services to primarily Mexican/Mexican-Americans living in the United States and Mexico. Founded in Tucson in 1894, Alianza was one of the first organizations to offer life insurance and burial policies to Mexican-American citizens. This collections includes photographs, financial files, correspondence between lodge secretaries, convention files, published materials, scrapbooks, and ledges pertaining to the daily operations of Alianza. Many of the ledgers include membership enrollment information, including members, their addresses, and lodge information.
Arizona and Southwestern Biographical File. The Arizona and Southwestern Biographical File contains biographical sketches, clippings, articles, and miscellaneous documentation of various people from the late 1800’s to the present. Individual files vary in content and size and do not contain photographs. Access to the material is through an index guide arranged alphabetically by surname. Single items on individuals will be found in the general folders for each letter while people with several items have their own folder.
Arizona Copper Company Records, 1882-1922 AZ 146. Business records of the company pertaining to administration of its copper mines which included the Longfellow Mine, Coronado Mine, Metcalf Mine, Clay Mine, and Humboldt Mine. Records include financial journals, ledgers, cost statements; payroll records, including accident reports and industrial compensation; production and sales records and inventories. Also included are records of the Arizona and New Mexico Railway Company; Clifton Hospital; and Metcalf Hospital; which were owned by the company.
Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives Arizona Reference Files, ca. 1850-1998 (bulk 1870-1970). SJA 004. This collection contains wide-ranging types of material regarding Jewish individuals and institutions in Arizona, principally southern Arizona. This material is especially reflective of the late-nineteenth century and the role of Jews in the Arizona Territory. The files consist primarily of newspaper clippings, scholarly and popular articles and excerpts, obituaries, auto-biographical reminiscences, copies of historical records, and correspondence. The bulk of the collection consists of secondary source material.
Catholic Church Diocese of Tucson Diocese Records, 1721-1957 MS 296. The bulk of the records in this collection are holographic sacramental registers that document baptisms, marriages, burials and confirmations of individual church members from 1863 until 1903, from parish and mission churches under the supervision of the Vicariate Apostolic of New Mexico (1850-1867), the Vicariate Apostolic of Arizona (1868-1896) and the Diocese of Tucson (1897-present). Two earlier registers from the Spanish Colonial Period document baptisms, marriages and burials from the missions of Tubac and Calabasas-Tumacacori under the administrative supervision of the Diocese of Durango (1620-1778) and the Diocese of Sonora (1779-1829).
John W. Murphey RecordsMS 603. This material demonstrates the day-to-day operation of Murphey’s many business ventures. The records contain construction job files, leases and mortgages, promotional and advertising materials, flooring and paint samples and schematics, correspondence, and financial ledgers. Most of the materials pertain to individual construction or renovation jobs between 1926 and 1957, or document the establishment of Catalina Foothills Estates. Also included are payroll records, which may be of interest to genealogists doing research on families in Tucson.
Pima County, Arizona Records 1864-1923 (bulk 1867-1904) Financial accounts, petitions, bonds, reports, leases, deeds, abstracts of titles, tax lists, bids, and correspondence related to Pima County operations. Chiefly records of the Board of Supervisors, such as letterpress copies of correspondence, petitions for appointments to county office, and financial demands and warrants. Other Board records include 1879 orders to incorporate the villages of Tombstone and Arivaca, and papers related to the construction of the first and second County courthouses. Assessor records consist of correspondence and a 1900-1907 block book. School records include financial records, correspondence, and reports. Teachers’ monthly reports indicate number of students enrolled; reports for Florence, 1873, and Tres Alamos, 1874-1875, give student names. School census reports, 1874-1904, list student names, race, whether native or foreign born, and parents’ names. Records of other county offices are from the Justice Court, District Court, Coroner, County Hospital, Jailer, Sheriff, Treasurer, and Election Office. A Probate Court docket dates from 1883 to 1885, and an Arizona tax list is for 1879.
University of Arizona Biographical Files The University of Arizona Biographical File has both photographs and printed materials of numerous UA faculty and staff, dating from 1867 to present. Individual files vary in content and size, containing biographical sketches, resumes, clippings and photographs. Since the photographs are interspersed throughout the collections, not every folder will have images. Access to the material is through this index guide arranged alphabetically by last name. Most individuals have their own folder, otherwise, the information will be found in the general folders for each letter.
Archive Tucsonis a project of the University of Arizona Libraries and Special Collections to preserve the stories of our neighbors in Tucson and Southern Arizona. Most of our interviews focus on the second half of the twentieth century. We believe that a knowledge of local history matters: it confers a sense of place, community, and uniqueness. Our goal is to record interviews with a diverse cross-section of Southern Arizonans and ensure that their stories are shared today and preserved for tomorrow. Many of our interviews are online right now, and we’re adding more every month. All interviews are conducted by our resident Oral Historian, Aengus Anderson. If you have suggestions for interesting Tucsonans to interview, you can contact him here.
About me:
My name is Bob Diaz. I am a librarian and archivist here in Special Collections. I coordinate our department’s online reference service and am the curator for our collections in the areas of architecture and the performing arts. I will be celebrating my 31st year on the job here at Arizona on June 1. Prior to starting here back in 1992, I was employed at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library as a reference and instruction librarian for over 5 years, and I started my library career as a children’s librarian at the Nogales/Santa Cruz County Library in early 1987. I received my Masters of Library Science degree from the University of Arizona in 1986 and my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1982, also at the University of Arizona. I was a volunteer disc jockey for KXCI radio, where I hosted a weekly program called the Chicano Connection for nearly 20 years. I put away my headphones in early 2020, just as the pandemic hit. Some of my radio shows can be accessed here. You can learn more about me and my work by exploring these sections of my website:
While I do not consider myself an expert in genealogy, I have, for the past several years, been doing research on my own family history. I have focused specifically on my paternal and maternal grandfathers’ families, and have written about them on this website. You can learn more about them by clicking on the captions underneath each photo.
Ruben and I love to travel, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we hadn’t taken a vacation since 2019. This year, however, we decided it was time to get out of town and go somewhere, so we decided to visit Boston again. I’d been there twice in the nineties, once to give a presentation at a conference at Harvard, and another time to visit a friend. Most recently, Ruben and I spent a week there in 2018, and we both really liked it, so we decided to go back. This time we stayed for 10 whole days, and had a great time immersing ourselves in learning more about the history of Boston and its role in the colonial period in US history. It’s never really interested me much before, but this time I decided it was time to pay closer attention to such things. I’m glad I did. Boston has a fascinating history and is a city rich with architectural treasures and historic monuments.
A vintage postcard of Boston.
Boston has one of the best skylines in the country. Our point of reference whenever we got lost was the Custom House clock tower, which is front and center in this photo. It was once the tallest building in all of Boston. Things sure have changed.
There is so much to see and do in this city that it would take several weeks to do it all. We didn’t get to do everything we wanted, and I’d really like to go back again.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2022
It took all day to get from Tucson to Boston. We arrived at the Tucson International Airport at around 7:30am. Our flight was delayed by two hours so we didn’t take off until 10:45am. We had a layover in Dallas and finally got to Boston at around 10pm. It was a very long day.
NOTE: CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF IT.
We flew on American Airlines this time around. It isn’t our favorite. They charge for everything, it seems, and their planes are often completely booked and cramped. They don’t serve any food except for snacks, but I guess that’s pretty much the norm nowadays. They also changed our flight, with less than 24 hours notice that the flight we had originally booked had been cancelled and that we’d have to take a later one.
We stayed at the Embassy Suites in East Boston. It was just a hop skip and a jump from the airport and free shuttle service was provided from the airport and back. Unfortunately, there were very few places to eat in East Boston so late at night, and after calling around, we found nothing. We ended up walking about half a mile to a Walgreens near a very busy restaurant a few blocks away. We bought frozen pizza, snacks and water. The pizza wasn’t all that great, as we only had a microwave in which to heat it up, but it was something. Oh well. We hoped things would get better in the food department the next day, and they did. Little did we realize how expensive it would all be, however.
This was the view of the city of Boston from our hotel room. We really lucked out.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2022
We walked through East Boston Memorial Park every morning to catch the train to the downtown area. It was a short, five minute trek down a paved path that curved around the park’s soccer field. The train stopped at the Aquarium station in downtown Boston, which was an area we were already familiar with, close to Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market. The weather was perfect the whole time we were there.
We shopped in the Quincy Market area and bought some t-shirts and postcards. We also wandered through downtown on our first day, but didn’t stray too far. We’d eventually venture out beyond the historic area to other parts of town.
I bought these unconventionally shaped postcards in one of the shops in the Quincy Market area on our first day. The round ones are about the size of coffee coasters.
We decided to splurge on lunch and had lobster rolls at a restaurant on State St. called Provisions. We had been there the last time we were in Boston and it was really good, so we tried it again. The lobster rolls, while expensive, were delicious, and were served warm on a buttery, toasted, delicious bun.
These are some of the interesting buildings we saw on our first day. We bought some souvenirs in the Old State House museum store, including the postcard below.
The Old State House building has a museum featuring life in revolutionary Boston. Ruben and I had seen it on our previous trip.
This little green space was called Post Office Square. Ruben and I stopped here for some coffee. The Fall colors were breathtaking!
The evening sky was clearer on the second night of our stay.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2022
We had complimentary breakfast in the hotel every morning. Here we are showing off our new clothes. We ended up buying lots of t-shirts and sweatshirts on this trip. Our second day in the city was about to begin. We decided to walk the entire length of the Freedom Trail.
Our first stops of the day before we hit the Freedom Trail were Commonwealth Books, City Hall and the Boston Common Visitor Center, where the Freedom Trail begins. A very nice lady helped us find our way to the Boston Common, as we were hopelessly lost. I could never figure things out in the downtown area. The streets were all crooked and curved.
I bought these two books at the Commonwealth Bookstore.
Even though we had already visited many of the monuments along the Freedom Trail, such as Faneuil Hall, we decided we would walk the whole thing after we finally we made our way to the Visitor’s Center. From there we tried our best to follow the red brick path that took us to each monument along the trail. It was a 2.5 mail trek. We had no idea it would be such a strenuous journey. It kicked our butts. We even missed visiting the Bunker HIll Monument because we were so tired.
Below are a hodgepodge of photos we took while walking the freedom trail. They are in no particular order. We did see all the buildings and monuments shown above, except the Bunker Hill Monument, but I didn’t photograph every single one, and I also photographed other stuff along the way.
We had lunch at Ye Olde Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in the country. We were a little bit disappointed, unfortunately. We probably would have been better off ordering something different off the menu than what we had, which I can’t even remember. We made it across the bridge to Charleston, but just barely. The walk in the North End up to the bridge was all uphill and we were dead tired by then. We saw the USS Constitution and went on board for a bit, but we didn’t make it to the Bunker Hill monument. We bought a few things in the gift shop and caught a ferry boat back to the downtown area. Thank goodness we didn’t have to walk all the way back.
Ever since childhood, I’ve had an intense fascination with sailing ships and stories about pirates. The above photo of the USS Constitution doesn’t really capture it in all its glory, so I’ve added a few images of the ship at sea. I just love these.
Looking back, it was a great experience, and we could not have wished for better weather. It was a lovely, but exhausting, day!
Once we got to our room, we crashed and didn’t go anywhere else. We wound up ordering dinner via room service. It was way too expensive, but we had no energy left. We were done for the day.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2022
The following day, we were still very tired and worn out from having walked the Freedom Trail, but we did manage to get out for a little while. This time around, we ventured into Little Italy for lunch and to look at some of the churches. Unfortunately, the one church I really wanted to visit was closed. We had a delicious lunch at a place called Limoncello and walked around some before heading back to our room. It was a short day, unlike the day before.
Vintage postcards of Little Italy at the turn of the 20th century. According to one source, “by 1920, Italian immigrants and their children made up roughly 90 percent of the North End’s population and owned more than half of its residential property. The bustling neighborhood became known as Little Italy during these years and had one of the highest population densities in the world.”
Sacred Heart Church
The church was closed when we visited. The photos of the stained glass, the saints and the altar were all found on the internet. I wish we could have seen the inside.
We ate lunch at a nice Italian restaurant called Limoncello. The food was delicious. The bread was amazing. The mural on the wall in Ristorante Limoncello was breathtaking.We saw this vintage convertible parked in front of one of the restaurants, and this lovely home with flowers everywhere in Little Italy. This guy sang quite well, and performed a couple of Paul Simon tunes when we were in the Quincy Market area. The two birds on either side were taking a break from fighting each other for the food inside the styrofoam container. They’re mean little guys.
We went back to our room and called it a day a bit earlier than we had planned. Again, the trek through Boston along the Freedom Trail wore us out. We also wanted to be well rested for our trip to Salem the following day.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2022
A map of Salem. We spent all of our time on Essex St in the tourist area.
Once we arrived, we both needed to use the restroom. The only place we could find a bathroom was at City Hall.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2022
We decided to visit Cambridge again. Below are some photos we took. Harvard yard was full of people, and it literally felt like it was raining leaves. The wind was blowing them all over the place. The leaves were gorgeous, floating in the air like feathers.
Such gorgeous scenery!
We got to experience Fall in Boston!
We had lunch at a place called Bartleys. It was pretty good. I had clam chowder.
When we got back to Boston, we stopped at Macy’s where Ruben bought a new jacket. We also bought dessert and took it back to our hotel room where we gorged out on it.
Covid has messed stuff up for everyone, and the holidays, especially in 2020 and 2021, were a really rough period for people. We lost my buddy Richard in 2020 and Ruben’s dad in 2021. A lot of other friends and family also passed away these past few years. When Christmas came around last month, however, things were looking better, and I was determined to make this holiday season a more enjoyable experience for me and Ruben. And indeed, it turned out to be a much more pleasant holiday than the last few have been.
My favorite Christmas song…
Thanksgiving turned out well. Ruben and I took his mom with us to have dinner at his brother Robert’s house. The occasion put us in the mood to start decorating the house for the Christmas season. I got the outside lights up the first weekend in December and Ruben started working on setting up the tree at that point too. It felt good to have this stuff done and out of the way. We kept the both the tree and the outside lights up through early January.
Ruben and I spent Christmas eve at home together. He made us a big stuffed baked chicken. It was delicious. The following day, we drove to my sister Irene’s house to pick up a dozen tamales and some gifts (socks etc.) she had for us. We then drove over to my other sister Becky’s house and dropped off some tamales for her. From there we went to Ruben’s mom’s house. We shared the tamales with her and Ruben’s brother Jerry and his partner Petra. Here’s a photo of Ruben’s mom with her two sons, and Petra. It’s been two years since Mr. Jimenez passed away, and we all miss him terribly, especially during the holidays. Mrs. Jimenez is 91, but active and as sharp as can be.
Petra, Mrs Jimenez, Ruben and Jerry.
It took me a few hours to get the outside lights up. The older I get, the more difficult this task becomes.
It’s a good thing I had extra strings of lights on hand. Several strands were burned out and needed replacement this year.
Getting the lights up above the awning is always a difficult task. The awning sticks out at least 3 to 4 feet, making it difficult to hang the ligths.,
We bought some new decorations this year, including the lit up Santa that’s in this photo. Ace Hardware on 22nd St had an amazing selection of holiday decorations.
Ruben and I have had this little Christmas village since 1993, our first Christmas together. Friends of his went to Germany this past year and found more little people for us to add to the village. They were the perfcet size.
The statue of the holy family on the left and the little snowman were more new items that we purchased this year. The statue is quite heavy..
Tamales and menudo, gifts from my sister Irene. An annual tradition during the holidays.
This year, I decided to send Christmas cards to my friends and family. I hadn’t done it in years, but just felt like it this year. Below are a sampling of cards Ruben and I received this year.
From Fran Gordon
From Albert and Sarah Elias
From Doreen Simonsen
My good friend Doreen’s annual Christmas letter. We met when I worked at the Undergraduate Library at the University of Michigan. She was a student intern. She’s been sending these to me since the early 90’s, and I still have all of them too!
From Emily Elias
From Shelly Black
From Carla Stoffle, my old boss at the UA Library.
From my sister Irene and her husband Phil. Irene sends me a Christmas card and a birthday card every year.
From Belisa and Frank. Belisa also sends me a Christmas card every year.
Vintage color lithograph from 1898 showing Father Christmas and his reindeer flying through the sky. I used this as my Facebook background photo this year.
I don’t remember where I found this card, but I just love its vintage look. Reminds me of Christmas when I was a little kid.
I used to decorate my trees with vintage Christmas ornaments. I found this ad and posted it on Facenbook. The colors are gorgeous.
Another Internet find.
Ruben and I were in Boston in November, and this was posted on Facebook this year. I had to keep a copy of it.
Love it! She reminds me of Patsy Stone on Absolutely Fabulous!
When I was six or seven, maybe eight years old, my parents went out and bought a silver tree and a color wheel, just like the ones shown here. I would sit and stare at the changing colors on the tree for what seemed like hours at a time.
This was my Facebook banner this year.
Ruben and I bought our families kringles again this year. They seem to really enjoy them. We didn’t buy each other anything. We stopped doing that a while back. We figure that we can buy anything we want for ourselves any time of the year, so why bother with the crowds and the congested roads at Christmastime? He gets lots of gifts from his customers at work. This year, I bought myself a brand new turntable. I consider it my Christmas present to myself.
I purchased this Sony turntable at Best Buy. It’s pretty basic, but it works and I don’t have to adjust the tone arm! It sounds great!
Here it is. 64. I feel great today. No aches or pains or worries. I have Ruben here with me and we are content to be at home. I love my home, and my work. I am a pretty lucky guy. I don’t need anything. I’ve had a lot of fun in my life, and am content now. I am clear headed and healthy for the most part, and I am rich with music, clothes, books, a nice home, family and friends.
The first thing I did this morning was play the song “When I’m 64” by the Beatles, and then I posted it on Facebook. It brings back some very fond memories. Way back around 1967 or ’68, my brother Freddie and I would love to play my brother Rudy’s copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on his little record player in the back bedroom at home. We were just kids. Freddie was 10 and I was 7. When this song would come on, we’d dance around like Dick Van Dyke, twirling our dad’s cane around, singing every word, and getting all silly. This was one of the few times when we actually got along and had fun together. The Beatles had that kind of effect on us.
My sister Irene sent me this birthday card a couple of days early. Then this morning, one after the other, she, my friends Ernie and Nancy, and my other sister Becky all called and serenaded me with “Happy Birthday to you” over the phone. It was so touching. Armando Cruz from work sent me an online birthday card too on behalf of the Library.
The only paper birthday card I received this year was from my sister Irene.
Ruben re-arranged all his appointments so he could stay home with me. I told him I wanted to go antiquing today. He also suggested that we go to the Desert Museum, but it’s likely going to rain, so maybe not. We agreed to go for a drive and out to eat. I’ve been wanting steak.
This was a Facebook gif sent to me by my great niece Estrella.
We ended up going to the 22nd Street Antique Mall. It was a fun adventure, as always, but very crowded. I found a few things, including a Ken doll dressed up as a not very convincing pirate. I also found some old postcards and a couple of books, including a cookbook filled with recipes from local restaurants and a calendar of African American events, plus a Jackie Wilson 45 rpm single titled “To Be Loved,” which was one of his big hits.
Tucson has a handful of antique malls. This is one of my favorites.
I found a bunch of postcards of cities and states I had been to before for just $1 apiece, plus a couple of books, a record, a bank bag and a Ken doll. Neither the clerk at the shop nor Ruben liked my little pirate, but I thought he was cute. That was the problem. He was too cute. There was no eye patch, no scars or any other blemishes anywhere on his body. A long-haired pretty boy…
At around 2:30, we then went and ate at the Longhorn Steakhouse out on Broadway just east of Craycroft. I had a porterhouse steak, salad and macaroni and cheese. Ruben chose asparagus as one of his sides. Yuck. The steak was big, but a bit dry. In hindsight, I would’ve preferred the ribeye. Oh well. Next time.
From there, we drove out to the Tucson Mall to walk off some of the food, and I bought a pair of pants, a shirt and a sweater at Dillards. Oh boy. I love buying clothes. I need to start dressing up more often. I think it’s time.
Dillard’s was having a big sale, so Ruben and I both bought clothes.
Walking in the mall usually wears me out. I think it’s the concrete flooring that does it. When we got back home, it was time to take a nap!
Another Facebook graphic
Throughout the day, I spent time thanking everyone individually on Facebook for their kind birthday wishes. Altogether, nearly two hundred people sent me a birthday greeting. Some friends, like Jane Cruz and Teresa Jones and my tocaya sweethearts Emily Elias and Katya Peterson (our birthdays all fall on the same day), sent me special messages, and others simply said happy birthday. It was all so overwhelming. I feel so blessed and lucky. I need to remember this day when I get to feeling blue. I really am very fortunate!
Margo Cowan and Barbea Williams both posted this on my Facebook wall today. The photo is from a program I produced at work in 2018 in conjunction with the 1968 in America exhibit that I curated. Included in the photo are Ted Warmbrand, Barbea Williams, Lupe Castillo (Margo’s life partner), me and Greg McNamee. It was a night to remember and the last event I ever produced as curator of exhibits and events for the UA Library.
Later in the evening, Ruben went to Sprouts and bought us cake and ice cream. It was a great way to end a wonderful day.
Ruben ran to the store and got us cake and gelato. It was delicious.
Yet another Facebook gif that was sent to me.
Before I went to bed I posted a video of Rodney Crowell singing “It Ain’t Over Yet” on Facebook. I love this song because it speaks perfectly to how I feel about my life. It’s been three years now that I have been completely sober and substance-free. I finally got my act together, and life is GOOD! I am eagerly looking forward to the coming year. It is going to be a great one. I can just feel it!
I love this song.
Lyrics
It’s like I’m sitting at a bus stop waiting for a train Exactly how I got here is hard to explain My heart’s in the right place, what’s left of it I guess My heart ain’t the problem, it’s my mind that’s a total mess With these rickety old legs and watery eyes It’s hard to believe that I could pass for anybody’s prize Here’s what I know about the gifts that God gave You can’t take ’em with you when you go to the grave
It ain’t over yet, ask someone who ought to know Not so very long ago we were both hung out to dry It ain’t over yet, you can mark my word I don’t care what you think you heard, we’re still learning how to fly It ain’t over yet
For fools like me who were built for the chase Takes the right kind of woman to help you put it all in place It only happened once in my life, but man you should have seen Her hair two shades of foxtail red, her eyes some far out sea blue green I got caught up making a name for myself, you know what that’s about One day your ship comes rolling in and the next day it rolls right back out You can’t take for granted none of this shit The higher up you fly boys, the harder you get hit
It ain’t over yet, I’ll say this about that You can get up off the mat or you can lay there till you die It ain’t over yet, here’s the truth my friend You can’t pack it in and we both know why It ain’t over yet
Silly boys blind to get there first Think of second chances as some kind of curse I’ve known you forever and ever it’s true If you came by it easy, you wouldn’t be you Make me laugh, you make me cry, you make me forget myself
Back when down on my luck kept me up for days You were there with the right word to help me crawl out of the maze And when I almost convinced myself I was hipper than thou You stepped up with a warning shot fired sweet and low across the bow No you don’t walk on water and your sarcasm stings But the way you move through this old world sure makes a case for angel wings I was halfway to the bottom when you threw me that line I quote you now verbatim, “Get your head out of your own behind”
It ain’t over yet, what you wanna bet One more cigarette ain’t gonna send you to the grave It ain’t over yet, I’ve seen your new girlfriend Thinks you’re the living end, great big old sparkle in her eye It ain’t over yet
It’s been a great birthday. One of the best. Thank you, Ruben. I love you!
This is a great album. It was released in 1969 in the Musart label. It’s one I do not have (I have most of them), and there are four songs on it that don’t appear in any anthologies that I have either, so I decided to piece the whole thing together, using recordings that are available on Youtube. Here you go. Enjoy!
When I was in high school in the mid-70s, my journalism teacher, Jane Cruz, enrolled in the Graduate Library Institute for Spanish-speaking Americans (GLISA), a special master’s of library science program at the University of Arizona. The program, a federally funded initiative to train librarians of Hispanic descent and those wishing to serve the country’s ever-growing Spanish-speaking population, was directed by Dr. Arnulfo Trejo, a longtime librarian, academic, and founder of REFORMA, the National Association for the Promotion of Library Services to the Spanish-speaking. The curriculum of the GLISA program focused primarily on training librarians in outreach and programming for the Spanish-speaking and in building Spanish-language library collections.
Jane and her husband Ron had just acquired ownership of La Campana Books, a local bookstore that specialized in leftist literature, Latino literature and bilingual materials, and Dr. Trejo, a regular visitor to the bookstore, encouraged her to apply for a spot in the GLISA program. She was very busy at the time, raising two children, teaching at Salpointe High School, and running a new business. Unfortunately, she was also dealing with some serious health issues, and as a result decided, after having devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to her studies, to leave the program before she completed her degree. It was a difficult decision.
Learning about Jane’s experience with the GLISA program sparked my own interest in librarianship, as ever since childhood, I had loved visiting the library and reading. Jane’s experience helped me realize that being a “bona fide” librarian meant one had to have a master’s degree in library science. I kept that thought in the back of my mind as I entered college.
I attended the University of Arizona from 1977 to 1982 and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology with a minor in sociology. Shortly thereafter, I decided to apply to the graduate program in Sociology at the U of A. I was accepted into the program and took courses for a semester or two, but didn’t really care for it after a while, as it turned out not to be what I thought it would be. I didn’t know that so much of the study of sociology deals with “data” and its manipulation and interpretation.
By the Fall, 1984 semester, I remembered that I had thought about becoming a librarian at one point, so I decided to try my hand at library school, and I was accepted into the program in January 1985. By then, Dr. Trejo had retired and the GLISA program had folded. There weren’t many other Latinos in the program at the time, and I felt like a lone wolf, but I soon discovered REFORMA and I learned more about the important role that Dr. Arnulfo Trejo played both in its founding and in the broader profession as a leader in the effort to provide library services for diverse populations through recruitment of Latino librarians and the promotion of reading among the Spanish Speaking.
I joined REFORMA around 1986 while still in library school, but it wasn’t until I was working as a librarian and attending conferences that I became more involved in the organization. By the early 90’s I had served as national secretary and president of the Arizona Chapter, and had made a lot of friends who were fellow REFORMISTAs.
In 1992, I landed a job as Assistant to the Dean for Staff Development, Recruitment at Diversity at the University of Arizona, and it was at this point that I really got to know Dr. Trejo. My boss, Carla Stoffle, asked me to start laying the groundwork for the creation of a Mexican American borderlands archives program, so I set out to meet and interview a number of influential Latinos in the Tucson community, including Dr. Raquel Goldsmith, Lupe Castillo, Salomon Baldenegro and of course, Dr. Trejo, to gauge whether or not there was interest in such a program and if it was really feasible. Would there be enough material available locally to build such a program?
Dr. Trejo was a member of my parents’ generation, and I approached him with the utmost respect. He seemed very formal to me, always dressed in a suit and tie, but also very kind, approachable and thoughtful. My own style at the time was much more informal. I never wore suits or ties, and I remember him encouraging me to think twice about that. He said to me “people generally will remember you for what you say, but also for how you looked”. I didn’t take too well to the advice, but have come to realize over time that his words were quite true. I still don’t wear suits and ties, but I can see how one’s appearance does affect one’s overall impression on people.
Over the next 10 years, I would run into Dr. Trejo a lot. He was a very busy man, organizing educational institutes, selling Spanish Language books, and participating in our local REFORMA meetings. His wife, Ninfa Trejo, also worked at the U of A Library, and we worked together on planning the local arrangements for the 2nd National REFORMA Conference, which was held in Tucson in 2000.
It was a sad day when we all heard the news that Dr. Trejo had passed. The following January, a tribute was held in his honor at the 2003 Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association in Philadelphia, and I was asked to contribute to it by writing a corrido about Dr. Trejo’s life and work. I don’t consider myself much of a songwriter, but I have written one or two of them. This particular request came from a good friend named Ben Ocon, who was the national president of REFORMA at the time. I couldn’t turn him down, so I rose to the challenge, and I ended up performing “El Corrido de Don Arnulfo Trejo” in a room full of librarians (the lyrics are included at the very end of this post). I engaged everyone in a sing-a-long, and by the end of the performance, the crowd was on its feet applauding like crazy. The corrido was a hit! It was a moment in my life that I’ll never forget.
Dr. Trejo’s papers were left with Special Collections at the University of Arizona Library, and in 2014, I was asked to write the biographical note for the finding aid. I used Dr. Trejo’s biographical file and his papers to write the summary and I learned many details about his life that I and many others didn’t know. It was a real eye opener. I later re-published and expanded the biographical sketch and posted it on my blog. It has become one of my most popular blog posts. It, along with the corrido are available here: Remembering Dr. Arnulfo D. Trejo, 1922-2002.
I was recently asked to give a presentation on the life and work of Dr. Arnulfo Trejo at the VII Encuentro Internacional Sobre Comunicacion, Frontera y Movimientos Emergentes, held at the Sam Lena Branch of the Pima County Public Library on December 2 and 3, 2022. PCPL library associate and REFORMA member Escarlen Chavez invited me to do this because this year’s encuentro was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Trejo, and she knew I had written about him in the past. I was happy to oblige.
It was a great honor to be in the presence of such luminaries as Dr. Adalberto Guerrero, Dr. Macario Saldate and Dr. Armando Miguelez, who each spoke a bit after my program. I was honored and humbled by their words of thanks and appreciation. Dr. Trejo was their colleague and they were glad to know that his memory and legacy live on. They recommended that my presentation get published in “La Estrella De Tucson” and that we encourage our current UA President to create an award in Dr. Trejo’s memory. Both of these efforts will take some thought and work, but hopefully my colleagues in the local Tucson chapter of REFORMA will help me achieve these goals.
Here is the flyer for the two-day program:
Here are some photos of the event:
After the program, we took a group selfie. My friends Lorenia Diaz, Bianca Finley-Alper, Escarlen Chavez and Sila Gonzalez were all very kind and supportive.
I opened my presentation with the following quote:
“According to Salvador Guerena and Edward Erazo, in their article, “Latinos and Librarianship“(source: Library Trends, V. 49, no. 1, Summer 2000), “of all the people who have contributed to Latino librarianship in this country, there is no one who has made a greater impact advancing this cause than Arnulfo D. Trejo, indisputably one of the country’s most illustrious and distinguished library leaders.”
I then presented the following slides, elaborating and adding context along the way:
Dr. Trejo received ALA’s highest honor, that of Lifetime member. the award was given to him by then president of ALA, Nancy Kranich.
Dr. Trejo and many of the former presidents of REFORMA, some of which were his students in Library School.
Some of Dr. Trejo’s publications. The one in the middle is titled, “Bibliografia Chicana: A Guide to Information Resources”.
The following title, a work that Dr. Trejo edited, is available in full text online. See the page, The Chicanos: As We See Ourselves, and click on the download button to retrieve the full text of the book.
El Corrido de Don Arnulfo Trejo
by Bob Díaz
Voy a cantarles un corrido
De un hombre valiente y de verdad
Don Arnulfo Trejo se llamaba
y luchó para nuestra libertad
CORO:
Libertad pa’ ser Americano
Libertad pa’ hablar en Español.
Libertad pa’ ser educado
Libertad pa’ leer en Español.
Nació en México de veras
Pero a este lado su destino fue a quedar
Se creció en Tucson Arizona y desde joven luchó por la libertad
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Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
My mom and dad sometime in the 50s.
At the time I was born, my parents and five siblings all lived together in Tucson on 22nd St. in a small three bedroom house, a red brick tract home just east of the Southern Pacific railroad tracks in a subdivision called Country Club Manor, the boundaries of which were 22nd St. to 17th Street and Plumer Ave to Country Club. We lived next to a big empty lot, and had a lot of outside space in which to play. Randolph Park was nearby too. Our church was St. Ambrose Catholic Church on Tucson Blvd, just south of Broadway and our local elementary school was Robison Elementary. There were a lot of families with kids in the neighborhood. Most were either Mexican American or Anglo. It was a mixed neighborhood, and wasn’t considered a “barrio” necessarily, until later in the 1970s and 80s.
In 1959, most of my brothers and sisters were all in school, and their ages ranged from 2 to 15, with some in grade school at Robison, others at Mansfeld Jr. High and the oldest at Tucson High. The boys in the family all played sports, and were usually busy doing things outside the house. The girls were both very attractive and popular, and always had lots of friends. Boys became their focus as they moved into their teens.
My dad worked as a miner in San Manuel and mom stayed home and took care of all of us, cooking and cleaning and making sure that everything at home was in working order. Dad and mom had been together since 1943, and, after 15 years of marriage, had developed a volatile relationship and some ‘unhealthy’ habits, unfortunately, so our home life was not always peaceful, especially in the Sixties.
I was the last of the kids, and my mom kept me at her side all the time. I was a chubby child, was considered a momma’s boy and a crybaby, and everyone called me Bobby Joe, or BJ, nicknames that I have always disliked, but have learned to accept over time. While I wasn’t athletic at all, I was a smart kid. In fact, when my mom went to see my first grade teacher, Mrs. Goldbaum for her parent-teacher meeting, Mrs. Goldbaum said to her, “where did you get this one? He’s so bright!”, or something to that effect. She had also been Charles’s, Becky’s and Rudy’s first grade teachers when they attended Robison in the 50s.
Early on, I developed a love for popular music. My parents even bought me my own record player when I was 3 years old. I impressed everyone with my ability to correctly pick out a record from a stack of 45’s after being told just once what the title was. Again, I was just 3 at the time.
As the Sixties progressed, my sisters and brothers started to leave home either to get married or on to other things such as the Navy, and our family began to grow. My three nieces Belisa, Michelle and Anadine were all born in the Sixties, and I spent a lot of time with them. They were more like my sisters than my nieces because we were so close in age.
I had several close friends as a child, including Billy “Bubba” Fass, and his brother Ricky, Ernie Carrillo, and three sisters who lived next door to our family whose names were Becky, “Tiny” and Debbie Romo. There were other kids too who we played with, of course, but these were my closest friends. We spent a lot of time playing in the alley or on 21st St, where we would play flag football a lot of the time. We also spent a lot of time at St. Ambrose’s swimming pool, and at Randolph Park where we played sports. One time I planted a little rose garden with roses that my mom bought me at the local grocery store. I also had an aquarium and parakeets at one point, but over time my interest in these hobbies dwindled.
These photos and documents provide a pictorial glimpse of my life as a child in Tucson up through the middle of 1965, or the beginning of the first grade. Most of the photos are pictures taken before I was a student at Robison Elementary School. Others were taken in such places as the local park or at family gatherings. I feel fortunate that I still have them after all these years, and humbly share these treasures here with my friends and family. These photos and documents bring back many wonderful memories, as one can imagine, and I share some of them in the captions that follow.
I was born on January 15, 1959 to Alfred and Josephine Diaz. I was their sixth and last child, and the only one born at Tucson Medical Center. Most of my other siblings were born at St. Mary’s Hospital. My oldest sister was born at my grandmother’s house in South Tucson.
A clipping from the January 16, 1959 edition of the Tucson Citizen . I was one of six babies born the day before at TMC.
I don’t remember Dr. Lacock, but I do remember Dr. Thompson. He was a very tall man and a well-respected local pediatrician. My mom would take me to see him when he was at the Tucson Clinic on Tucson Blvd., just north of Broadway, back in the early 60s.
I was a big, healthy newborn, but the doctor also told my mother that I had a larger than average sized head, which caused him some concern. According to my mother, it meant that I would either be very intelligent or “differently abled”, as they say nowadays. Thank heavens I turned out fine.
I was born into a Catholic family. Our family parish was St. Ambrose, which was on Tucson Blvd. Prints of the Last Supper, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the VIrgen de Guadalupe hung on the walls of our home, and were some of the very first works of art that I ever saw. We also had a copy of the Catholic Family Bible, which included more religious art.
I was baptized when I was four months old. Wilbur and Eva Morales were my godparents. They would send me a brand new dollar bill every year for Christmas when I was small.
Irene, my oldest sibling, was 15 when I was born.
One of my very first memories was of my sister Irene’s sweet sixteen party in November, 1959. I remember being taken to the back bedroom for a nap that afternoon, just as the party got started. I didn’t fall asleep right away. I was busy listening to the music, oldies but goodies like What’s Your Name by Don and Juan and We Belong Together by Robert and Johnny. The following song was also played.
Having five older brothers and sisters exposed me to many different genres of popular music, from oldies to the Beatles to the Temptations. I’ve always loved this song. It takes me right back, believe it or not, to that party in late 1959 when I was just 10 months old.
I grew up listening to popular music on the radio. It was a constant in our home and I was attracted to it from the very beginning.
Here’s another song I’ve been listening to my whole life. The Chubby Checker version was released in 1960.
The Twist, by Chubby Checker, was released in June 1960.
Both the City of Tucson and the University of Arizona provided the community with active and vibrant cultural programming.
Joan Baez’s first recording for Vanguard Records was released in October, 1960. It was on the charts for a long time. The following song, All My Trials, is an old favorite.
Clark Gable died on November 16, 1960.
My dad, seated on the far left, with all of his brothers and sisters, Superior, Az, 1961.
At my cousin Olivia’s wedding in Superior, 1961. My cousin Sylvia is third from the left, my sister Irene is to her right, and my cousin Carmelita is second from the right.
It would be many years before I really began to appreciate Sarah Vaughan’s artistry. This gem was released in 1961. Our family acquired this album in the late 60s when my dad bought us a new console television at Flash TV. It had a record player and radio, and came with 50 free albums, including this one. I think the only person that ever played the album at the time was my sister Becky. I didn’t start listening to is until around 1979 at the age of 20. It’s one of Sarah’s best albums and it features the great Count Basie and his orchestra. The following song is gorgeous. Her voice is unmistakably unique.
I just had to include this. We had a vacuum cleaner just like it. When my mom wasn’t cooking, she was cleaning–doing laundry, making beds, dusting or vacuuming. She worked night and day.
This album was released in 1961 and was very popular in the Mexican American community. My parents owned a copy, as did my aunts and uncles. I grew up listening to it. My favorite song was “El Caballo Blanco”, which included at the very beginning of the song, the sound of a horse neighing. I got the biggest kick out of that! There was also a holiday-themed song on it called “Se Va Diciembre” that I clearly remember hearing at Christmas time every year it seemed.
Jose Alfredo Jimenez’s “El Caballo Blanco” was first recorded on the Columbia label in the 1950s.
Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris on the cover of Life Magazine. They both had an amazing year.
Roger Maris of the New York Yankees made history on October 1, 1961, when he hit his 61st home run, breaking the record held for decades by the great Babe Ruth.
Leonel Bravo was my sister Irene’s boyfriend for several years. He graduated from Tucson High School in 1961 and joined the marines. He and my sister planned to get married, but things didn’t work out that way. He was like an older brother to me.
My mom would sing this song to me all the time at bedtime. When she sang the words, “I couldn’t find my baby,” I would stick my head out from under the covers and say, “Here I am, mommy!” I remember it like it was yesterday. My mom sang me lots of songs when I was little.
These photos were taken some time in 1962. My sister’s boyfriend Sonny Bravo had just taken me to get a haircut, one of my very first. I’m shown here wanting to get on the car, and then sitting on his car with the monkey he had just bought for my sister. I had the photos digitally enhanced and the color of the vehicle and my clothes came out different in each photo. Dang.
There was a Kinney Shoes store on East 22nd street. My mom and dad took me there to buy me shoes when I was about three. I remember it well.
This great song was released in January, 1953, but it was very popular through the next decade.
This song was another one of the earliest I remember hearing. It was recorded way back in 1953, and unlike this version, the original features Patti singing in harmony with herself. My friend Billy Fass had the record. I just adore Patti Page. She has one of the loveliest voices I’ve ever heard. People who remember her for just this one little tune and equate her music with 50s slick pop hit parade garbage are missing the mark completely. She could swing as well as anyone, and her tone was clear as a bell.
This song was a number one hit on the R & B charts in April and May, 1962. I just loved it.
My mom loved Ray Charles. This was one of her very favorite songs.
Here’s another song my mom would sing to me at bedtime. She had a beautiful voice.
This is a close-up of a photo that was also taken in 1962, but later in the year in Nogales, Sonora . I’m sitting on my mom’s lap.
Irene, Fred, my mom, me, Mary Ruiz and her daughter in Nogales in 1962.
This was Little Eva’s only top hit. It was number one on the charts for a few weeks, beginning in late August, 1962. I used to love this song.
Marilyn Monroe died of a pill overdose on August 5, 1962
I just had to include this song. Girls used to sing this to me. I don’t even remember who they were, but it made me embarrassed and happy at the same time. The song was released in late August, 1962.
This was Marcie Blane’s only big hit. It was released on September 28, 1962.
Bobby’s Girl was released on September 28, 1962. My sister and her friends used to tease me and sing this to me when I was a kid. I was embarrassed, but loved the attention at the same time.
1962-9-29: Air Force sergeant Gonzalo “Chalo” Palacio died of a heart attack in Paris, France. He was only 37. He was my dad’s cousin. His father was Emilio Palacio, who immigrated to the Americas with my grandfather Antonio Palacio Diaz. Chalo lived with our family for a brief period of time in the late fifties/early sixties, I believe. I barely remember him. I still have a foot locker he left at my parents. He also left a big, long Japanese sword, but I don’t know what happened to it. He left behind several brothers and sisters, as well as a wife and several children. His son Randy was my Spanish teacher at Salpointe.
Belisa, my sister Irene’s first child, was born on October 18, 1962. This photo is from early 1963.
Released January 16, 1963. My brother Charles probably took Fred and me to see this. He did that a lot.
I just loved this song, much to my brother Fred’s consternation. He realized that I was “different” when I told him I liked this song. Released in January, 1963.
The following song was also released in January, 1963. I loved it as a kid.
March 5, 1963. Patsy Cline was killed in a plance crash. What a loss. She was a great singer.
My brother Freddie in 1963.
April 7, 1963, Arizona Daily Star. My brother Charles was a star athlete at Tucson High School.
My brother Charles is 2nd from the right in the top row. He was known as “Fingertips Charlie”. This was his junior year, 1963.
For as long as I can remember, this movie would come out on t.v. every Easter Sunday. The witch and her gargoyles really scared the heck out of me.
What a beautiful song.
The recorded single came out in 1939, although the song was recorded for the movie in 1938.
My sister Becky in 1963.
I started watching cartoons at a very young age. These are a few of the ones I used to like.
Bob Dylan’s second album was released on May 27, 1963. His song Blowin’ In The Wind became one of the anthems of the civil rights era.
Nuff said…
My record player looked exactly like this. My parents took me to a second hand store one day and bought it for me. They used to trip out because I was be able to “read” the titles of the records when I was just 3. I think what really happened was that I had a photographic memory and only needed to have someone tell me the name of the record once, and I would remember it.
I didn’t discover this until I was in high school. It was recorded at the height of the civil rights movement, just a couple of months before the March on Washington. Listen to Seeger sing Tom Paxton’s Ramblin’ Boy.
Meanwhile, across the country, the civil rights movement witnessed another casualty.
Civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
Photo of my grandmother, Josefa Rascon, on our front lawn on 22nd St, Summer, 1963. I’m on the left.
June, 1963. My brother Rudy had just graduated from Mansfeld Jr. High School and we had a little family gathering on this day. This is a close up of me from the photo above. I’m standing in the front doorway of our house, holding a bunch of 45 records. My parents had bought me my very own record player the year before.
Belisa, my sister Irene’s daughter, around 6 months old.
Rudy’s 8th grade graduation. That’s my mom, with Rudy and Fred. In the background you can see my dad’s jaguar in the driveway. It was usually parked in the back yard, along with several other cars that didn’t work.
My mom, my grandmother, and my Aunt Mary.
The civil rights movement was in full swing in 1963. The following song, Blowin’ In the Wind, was written and recorded by Bob Dylan. It was released as a single by Peter, Paul and Mary in June 1963. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Another senseless tragedy in the South…
Posed pitching shot of Sandy Koufax as Los Angeles Dodger c1963. My brother Rudy had this photo of Koufax in his bedroom. He was a huge fan.
Rudy, Becky and Charles in 1963.
The great Dinah Washington was found dead on December 14, 1963. She overdosed on a combination of pills and alcohol. Another tragic loss.
Three civil rights workers were reported missing on 6/21/64. Their bodies were recovered seven weeks later in a swamp outside of Philadelphia, Mississippi. The local KKK, Sheriff, and members of the local police department were involved in the murder.
When I was a small child, we would go to Ben Lee’s Market on the southwest corner of 22nd and Tucson Blvd all the time to buy saladitos and other stuff like comic books and candy. On July 7, 1964, a fire broke out inside the store and did a lot of damage. The store ended up closing. I can still remember going in there. It was our neighborhood Chinese market.
From the Arizona Daily Star, July 8, 1964.
This was another film we saw as kids at the drive-in. Released on August 14, 1963. There was a tv series by the same name that followed later that I would watch all the time.
Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. An estimated 250,000 people showed up to support the fight for civil rights.
Here’s an excerpt of the speech Martin Luther King, Jr. gave at the March on Washington.
Sherry, by the 4 Seasons, was one of my very first 45’s. It was my favorite too. My brother’s friend Bob Stelburg gave it to me. It had been a number one hit in October, 1962.
Released on October 1, 1963, this film was shot in Tucson. I didn’t see it until later, when it came out on tv, but I loved it. I try to catch it every time it was on tv, just as I would the Singing Nun a few years later.
1963 World Series
Nobody could hit anything off Sandy Koufax. He is known to have humiliated the Yankees hitting team, led by Mickey Mantle, in this series.
Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale celebrating victory, Oct. 6, 1963.
I was almost 5 years old when this happened. I was in one of the bedrooms at home listening to the radio when the announcer broke in and informed the world that Kennedy had been shot. I ran into the kitchen to tell my mom and others. Nobody believed me…
This premiered on 12/11/63. My brother Charles took me and Freddie to see it at the 22nd St. Drive In.
My sister Irene gave birth to her second daughter, Michelle, on December 13, 1963.
My dad broke his leg in a mining accident sometime around Christmas in 1963. He stayed in the hospital for nearly a year.
One day, I went shopping with my mom to Southgate, and she bought a 45 by Lucha Villa that had the following song on one side, and on the other was a song called “Asi Perdi Tu Amor”. Both tunes were written by the great Mexican composer Cuco Sanchez. I still have the 45.
Who doesn’t remember this? These guys changed the pop world. Released in the U.S. on 12-26-63
Released on January 20, 1964.
I remember this like it was yesterday. A memorable occasion for sure!
My friend Bubba’s mom would drop us off at the Fox on Saturday mornings, and we’d cross the street and wait in front of the Plaza Theater to take the 22nd street bus home. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Summer, 1964. My brother Fred, my mom and me, standing in front of the orange tree in our front yard. This was the day of my brother Fred’s first holy communion.
That’s me standing in back of my cousin David. Summer, 1964. His sister Gloria also had her first holy communion that day.
My cousins John and David and me, Summer 1964. The 22nd Street overpass is under construction in the background. We were all born the same year, but I was the oldest. Our siblings, Fred, Turi and Gloria were also the same age, and had all just had their first holy communions on this day.
Sometime in early 1964, my two front teeth got knocked out when I ran in back of my friend Bubba in the back yard, just as he was about to take a swing at a golf ball with a big wooden golf club. The golf club hit me right in the mouth and my teeth fell out. My mother thought I looked very cute without my two front teeth, so she had my sister Irene take me to have my portrait taken at the Olan Mills studio on Broadway. My sister bought me the jacket just for the occasion.
We always had a tv at home, and I started watching it from the time I was a toddler. This is but a sampling of the shows I watched. I spent hours in front of the television after school every day and on the weekends. Saturday mornings were my favorite time of the week, because that’s when cartoons were shown. I continued to watch tv up until my junior year of high school. Once I started working at Fry’s, I stopped.
We had this 45 record at home in the mid-60s. It was recorded by Shirlely Bassey on August 20, 1964 for the movie Goldfinger. It was a top 10 hit in the U.S. I’ve never really liked anything else by Shirley Bassey. She has a big, brassy voice, not something I care for too much, but I really liked this song for some reason.
My mom and dad in the mid-60s.
This was one of my mom’s very favorite songs. She had the 45 and would play it all the time.
As long as I can remember, my parents shopped at this grocery store, and I tagged along. At one point or another, we went to every one of them, except the one on N. Grande, every other Friday on payday. Mom would get a cart, and Dad would get a cart, and they each went their separate ways in the store, but converged about an hour later, each with a basket full of food and other household stuff.
Wow.
Bewitched premiered on September 17, 1964. I clearly remember watching the very first episode.
My mom did her daytime shopping either at Food Giant on 22nd and Country Club or at Lucky’s which was on the corner of 22nd and Cherry in the Pueblo Plaza shopping center. It’s former name was Goodman’s. Next door to it was a drugstore called Jones Drug. There was also a liquor store and a laundromat, as well as a few other businesses in the shopping center. We were fortunate to have so many places to shop near our house.
Mr. Lonely was released in October, 1964. I loved this song.
This was originally released in 1962, but was big hit in Fall, 1964.
I started Kindergarten at St. Ambrose School in September, 1964 and this photo was taken while I was there.
My kindergarten class photo. Fall, 1964. Included in this photo are my cousin David and my friends Linda Gray and Hugo Ruthling, among others. I didn’t complete kindergarten, unfortunately, because I got sick in early 1965. I stayed home with my mom from January 1965 until September, when I started the first grade at Robison Elementary School.
Man oh man. I used to love to listen to this song. The lead singer, Bill Medley, had such a unique, manly voice! You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling was releaed in November, 1964.
Here’s another very sad ranchera, again, one of my mom’s favorites. I still have the 45. This song is titled, “Cancion de un Preso”, or “Song of a Prisoner”, and it’s by the great Irma Serrano, one of Mexico’s most flamboyant and expressive singers.
I used to love this song. It was released in late 1964, and by early ’65 it was a top Billboard hit. I still have the 45.
This premiered on television on 12/6/64. I was there…
This is an amazing movie. Lucha Villa and Ignacio Lopez Tarso are both fantastic. The song, La Culebra Pollera, from the movie, follows.
It was a great year for music! The following year would be just as good, if not better!
My Girl, by the Temptations, was released on December 21, 1964. By March of the following year, it was at the top of the charts. This was my brother Charles’s favorite song.
This was another big Motown hit and was released on February 8, 1965, less than two months from the release of My Girl. Everybody loved the Supremes.
Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965. He was a radical Muslim activist who told the truth about race relations in this country. I had no idea who he was or what he stood for, as I was just a child. It wasn’t until college that I read his autobiography.
This was another tv movie that captured everyone’s attention. It premiered on February 22, 1965.
April 12, 1965: Baseball season arrives. Here are three random cards of players who were known to hit well. Killebrew’s team, the Minnesota Twins would make it all the way to the World Series this year.
My brother Charles left home in early 1965. He joined the Navy and was gone for four years.
While in the Navy from 65-69, the ship my brother Charles was assigned to initially was the USS Ashtabula. He also served on the USS Romulus and the USS Mattaponi. While he didn’t see battle, his ship was docked off the coast of Vietnam more than once and he and his shipmates were all exposed to Agent Orange.
Here are some photos our brother sent to us from boot camp. He was promoted to chief petty officer.
This concert by Joan Baez was recorded on June 5, 1965 in London, England at the BBC studios in front of a live studio audience. Ms. Baez is at her vocal peak here, in my opinion. Wish I had been there! I didn’t even know about her at this point in my life. I started listening to her in earnest my freshman year at Salpointe in 1974. I love her music. She’s one of my heroes. What a brave, passionate woman.
One of my favorite Beatles albums. Released on June 14, 1965, right before I was to start the first grade.
This tune was on Beatles VI.
Bad Boy was first released on the album “Beatles VI”. It rocks!
Family trip to northern Arizona, July 1965
The Flagstaff All-Indian Pow Wow, July 4, 1965
Bob Dylan released “Like a Rollings Stone on July 20, 1965. Suddenly, things got more serious.
My brother Rudy had this album. So did a lot of other people. Dylan rocked the whole world with Highway 61 Revisited.
One of the longest singles ever to get radio airplay.
My brother Charles’ US Naval Training Center Yearbook.
This film, starring Lucha Villa and Cuco Sanchez, was released in Mexico on August 5, 1965. It includes performances by Ms. Villa that never made it on to an album. I love these rare instances where one can here her sing with such passion and emotion. The following tune, Arrieros Somos, is a case in point.
My mom loved Lucha Villa. This song is a heartbreaker.
I have been a member of the Arizona Library Association for over 30 years, and in that time, have held numerous offices in the association. Most recently, in 2020, I was elected to the Executive Board as the southern region representative, (and was just re-elected this October to another 2 year term).
These past few years have been very challenging for AZLA. The pandemic has been largely responsible for us not having an in-person conference in over two years. That, combined with a few other major challenges, held us back significantly, causing us to lose membership and go into debt. Things began to change however, in early 2022, when a new slate of officers was elected to manage the association. The new president, Lisa Lewis, brought all the current officers and members of the State Library together at a planning retreat held in May in Chandler. We renewed our commitment to keep the association alive and growing. We also let go of our office manager and took control of the association’s website and other management functions. Our top priority was to plan our upcoming conference and to get our finances in order. The board and the conference planning committee were very eager to see to it that this conference was successful.
In the end, the 2022 conference, was in my opinion, one of the best we’ve ever put together. While we didn’t get huge attendance numbers, we had some excellent programs and all of our keynote speakers were top-notch. I cannot take any credit at all for the conference’s success. That needs to go to our conference planning committee and our president, president-elect, and treasurer, who met frequently to sort out all the issues, select the programs and keynote speakers, and pay all the bills that come with putting on a big three day event like this. It turned out to be one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended.
The conference was held in Prescott, Az, on October 27 and 28, 2022. I left Tucson at 9am on the 27th, and made a pit stop in Phoenix where I bought a few things at Bookmans on Northern Ave, including a couple of Benny Goodman albums and a book on jazz before heading up to Prescott.
More Benny Goodman albums for my growing collection.
I found this too. It’s a heavy mutha.
I arrived at the hotel in Prescott some time in the afternoon. I’d never been to Prescott before, and was pleasantly surprised at what I found. The elevation of the town is over 5,000 feet, and there are hills and mountains all around. It was gorgeous. The weather was cool and the skies were nice and clear the whole time. I spent most of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the conference, but did manage to go shopping at a few thrift stores and visit the downtown area on Friday morning. I regret not being able to spend more time exploring, and would like to go back one day to do that. Jerome and Camp Verde are in the vicinity and it would have been great to visit these places and to visit friends who live in the area.
I bought this postcard in the downtown area. It’s one of many that I found while there.
The drive to Prescott from Tucson took more than 4 hours. I stopped in Phoenix and visited Bookmans on the way up and also encountered some slow traffic along the way.
“It’s a New Day” was our conference theme. Lisa Lewis, our new president came up with it. It was perfect.
AZLA President Lisa Lewis and President-elect, Casey Van Haren at our registration table. Lisa is a very no-nonsense, but inspiring leader, and Casey is a hoot. What a great team!
Our conference was held at the Prescott Resort and Casino. My room was spacious, but the bed wasn’t very firm, and the carpeting was lumpy. Oh well. At least there was a great view.
The first photo was taken from my room window, and the one on the right was taken during our opening reception.
I ran into my friend and colleague, Jean McClelland. She photobombed my shot of the sunset.
Jamie LaRue is a longtime librarian who has spoken several times at our conferences. He was just great. He spoke about the idea of “intentional transformation” and how libraries can change lives. It was a very profound talk and I enjoyed it immensely.
My good friend Jose’ Aguinaga is now a library science professor at San Jose’ State University. He made it to the conference on the first day, and we had coffee and lunch together. I always enjoy meeting up with him. He’s a great friend and colleague.
This was a very informative program.
Some of the women featured in this book were present and spoke during the luncheon on Thursday. They were amazing. I introduced the speaker for this program. The young woman who did the presentation shared a lot of interesting information and ideas.
I also introduced my colleague Robin Huff-Eibl, who spoke about the University of Arizona Library’s technology lending program and its impact on our student population, particularly students of color. It was a very informative presentation.
I don’t know why I’m including this place, but I had dinner here. It was not great and way too expensive, but convenient, as it was just down the street from my hotel.
I sat at the same table with these volunteers from the Scottsdale Public Library. The lady pictured on the far left won this year’s volunteer of the year award. Adiba Nelson closed the conference with a wonderful talk about her life and its challenges. She made us all laugh so many times it was just wild. Loved her. On Friday morning, I hit the thrift and antique stores, as well as the Sharlot Hall Museum. The Governor’s mansion houses the little gift shop there, and these photos were taken inside it.
I found these while in the antique stores. The Dee Dee Sharp picture sleeve didn’t come with the actual record, but I already had it at home.
Treasures from the St. Vincent DePaul thrift store.
I found all of these cds for 50 cents to a dollar at the St. Vincent De Paul and Disabled American Veterans thrift stores. CDs are not as popular as they once were, and one can easily find lots of great recordings at these places, but it sometimes takes patience and time to wade through a lot of “junk” before you find the good ones. I found a lot of great ones! It was my lucky day.
More postcards that I found along the way. I was able to make a quick stop into one of the stores along Whiskey Row. The photo on the left is of the kiosk on the grounds of the old State Capitol, I think.
My last activity while in Prescott was having dinner with Lisa Lewis and other folks involved with the conference. We had a lovely time. I got up bright and early the following day and headed back home to Tucson to prepare for my Boston vacation with Ruben.
In this post, I will share some of the memories I have of visiting Las Cruces and La Mesilla, New Mexico in 2005, when I attended the Border Book Festival in Mesilla for the first and only time. Before I begin, here are some brief overviews of each community:
Click anywhere on the text above to see a larger shot of the above entry.
A map of Las Cruces and La Mesila. There are approximately 100,000 people who live here. It kind of reminds me of Tucson back in the 60s.
An aerial view of La Mesilla’s historic district.
From a mid 20th century brochure about the Mesilla Valley region of southern New Mexico. Click on the text above to see a larger version of it.
A more recent description of the small community.
I had never knew much about Mesilla before, and attending a literary festival like this was quite out of the ordinary for me at the time, as my focus at work was primarily on music and the performing arts. Even so, I’ve always enjoyed Chicano literature and have been reading material in this genre since high school. I’m so glad I did attend, as I met Denise Chavez, whose novel, “Loving Pedro Infante” remains one of my very favorites, and I also got to visit La Mesilla and Las Cruces, two very interesting, historic communities just a mere four hours away from Tucson.
This is the hotel where I stayed.
An ad from the Albuquerque Journal and my registration receipt for the festival.
The festival program was filled with information about all the activities that were slated to take place. Organizing a festival like this must’ve taken many, many months and a great deal of patience!
From the program above.
Border Book Festival History
March 24 2005
History and Scope of the Border Book Festival by Denise Chavez. (From a now-defunct website on the Border Book Festival that I found on the Wayback Machine).
The Border Book Foundation (BBF) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization founded in 1995 by a group of writers, artists and community people committed to celebrating literature and the art of story in the southern United States–Northern México border region.
Based in Las Cruces and Mesilla, New Mexico, the Border Book Foundation believes that literature and the arts can bridge the many boundaries–racial, ethnic, generational, cultural, socio-economic, and gender-based–that divide our community. Ours is a grass roots organization that impacts its community by offering programs that are blueprints of positive communication, interaction and connection between people in our borderland region.
The Border Book Festival is a catalyst between many different groups and organizations including city, state and governmental agencies, schools, businesses and community centers. We are a bridge builder and model for positive exchange between diverse people in the borderland region.
Our annual book festival takes in April each year and features many activities for audiences of all ages including: Libros Y Más/Books And More, a Trade Show featuring national, regional and local presses and writers, a series of readings, workshops and panels, a school outreach program, as well as family storytelling events throughout the festival weekend.
The Premio Fronterizo honors a major American writer for their life long contribution to literature that transcends borders, real and imagined, and whose body of work has done much to add to the southwestern literary canon. Past winners of the Premio Fronterizo have included: Rudolfo Anaya, Sabine Ulibarrí, Tony Hillerman, Byrd Baylor, Leslie Marmon Silko, Barbara Kingsolver, Gary Soto, Sandra Cisneros, Luis Rodríguez, N. Scott Momaday, Luis Urrea and Ofelia Zepeda.
In addition, we present the Sunshine Community Service Award to a local business, organization or person who works to promote literature and the art of story at a grass roots level as well as the Cauthon Volunteer Service award to hardworking festival volunteers.
The cornerstone program of the Border Book Festival is the Emerging Voices Program, a series of hands-on writing workshops held throughout the year at various venues throughout the area.
The Border Book Foundation is committed to bringing audiences to writers and writers and book artists to audiences. Our programming is innovative, challenging, and transformative.
The BBF has had considerable impact in the Southern New Mexico border corridor as well as throughout the region. We have been touted in the New York Times as a “place where books matter,” and featured in Publisher’s Weekly as one of the top regional book festivals in the U.S.
The 11th annual Festival, Re-Inventing the Americas, will take place April 15-17, 2005 in Mesilla, New Mexico.
Our Commitment to the Community November 8 2005 (from a website on the Border Book Festival that no longer exists, found using the Wayback Machine)
The Border Book Foundation, with its annual Border Book Festival and expanding Cultural Center, will continue to bring the best of literature, literacy and storytelling to our multi-cultural, multi-generational audiences.
The Cultural Center of Mesilla/El Centro Cultural de Mesilla “C.C.M.” has filled a powerful need in our regional community. Not only do we offer a place for people to buy new, used and out-of-print multi-cultural books, bilingual books for children and adults and books in Spanish and English, we offer a haven and home to those who want to connect with border culture in a deep and meaningful way.
Located one block from the Mesilla Plaza, the Cultural Center was once home to a Mexican garrison building and later, the well-known and loved D.C. Frietze grocery store, run by Mesilla’s former mayor and our present landlord, Roberto Frietze.
The historic building is one of Mesilla’s oldest adobes and is permeated with sense of history and story that is the heart of our southwestern landscape. We offer a hot cup of coffee or tea and the opportunity to view the Lannan series of writer’s videos as well as previous festival documentaries including work by Lourdes Portillo on the disappeared women in Juárez or films by border filmmakers Paul Espinosa, Ray Santiestaban and Lisa Garibay.
Our book signings have reached hundreds of people who have never come out before to support literature. We have reached rural communities in Mesilla, Vado, Chamberino, La Union, Anthony, Derry and elsewhere. The Rudolfo Anaya book signing on December 10, 2004 brought over 400+ people to our Center who waited for hours to have Mr. Anaya sign their books. We had scheduled a reading but it was not possible because the line went down the street and past the acequia!
Book signings and readings for Benjamin Alire Sáenz and Denise and Susan Gonzales Abraham had over 100+ people each and many books were sold and new contacts made. The Gonzales Abraham book, Cecilia’s Year, written about the small farming community of Derry, New Mexico inculcated a new-found pride in “lo nuestro,” stories from our own backyard in southern New Mexico.
The Cultural Center’s workshop series has introduced the Art of Nopales (cactus) to many who only thought nopales was only the name of a Las Cruces restaurant. (“Nopalitos? You mean it means something?” someone said with wonder.) It is this lack of understanding about the basics of cultural life that have prompted us to address and educate and empower our audiences through our work at the Cultural Center of Mesilla and our on-going workshops and literary and arts events programming.
Our workshops have been myriad, challenging, informative and fun. They have included: Paper making with Martha Durán, The Care and Evaluation of Out-of-Print Books, with out-of-print book dealer, John Randall, Sacred Beads and Knots: The Significance of World Prayer Traditions Across the World, A Poetry Intensive with Miriam Sagan, ¡Familia! A family story writing workshop series with Denise Chávez, A writing workshop with Camino de Vida, an AIDS outreach organization, A Kid’s Art Day for 7-12 year-old with breakout sessions that included creative writing, dance, photography, drama and painting.
Upcoming workshops include: A Women’s Healing, Renewal and Transformation Retreat for women in the Gila Mountains, Vatos, a writing workshop for men, Senior to Senior, a poetry workshop for senior writers and writers in high school, mentoring and learning from each other, as well as a Feng Shui workshop.
At the root of all our work is the core belief that literature and the arts can empower and change lives.
The Cultural Center has hosted visits and receptions for many organizations and non-profits including the National PEN Women, the Executive committee of the American Library Association, The Association of University Women, The National Hispanic Cultural Center, Fr. Roy Bourgeois, human rights activist, among others.
You can expect the Border Book Foundation to initiate events for all ages that will reflect the best of our cultural history, legacy and strength of spirit. We see ourselves as a resource center and clearing house for the arts, as well as a place where community can find a way to understand itself through culture.
Future events will include workshops, panels, readings and book signings in English and Spanish, oral history gatherings, storytelling for children and families and any number of creative offerings that fit in with our mission to offer programs that are blueprints for positive communication, interaction, connection and healing between people in the borderland corridor.
We believe that literature and the arts can transcend the many perceived borders-racial, ethnic, generational, cultural, socio-economic, and gender-based-that divide our community.
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The following video was produced in 2014, several years after I attended the Border Book Festival. The Festival closed down for good just a year later, in 2015. I feel very lucky to have been to at least one of these momentous events.
Below are some of the monuments, shops and restaurants I visited in La Mesilla and Las Cruces in 2005. I was bummed that there were few, if any antique stores open at the time in Mesilla, but I did enjoy the two bookstores that were there, and the restaurants were really good too. I found another bookstore in downtown Las Cruces that was well-stocked with books and cds. If I recall correctly, I even found a Joy Harjo recording there. I also found a couple of antique stores out on Picacho Rd. and bought some records. I didn’t partake much of the night life, except once when I went to a nightclub in one of the local hotels. It was okay. Overall, I enjoyed the trip, even though it lasted just a few days. I knew I would go back again, but it would be over a decade before I made it back
The Basilica of San Albino and the kiosk in the main plaza are the most recognizable landmarks in Mesilla, smack dab in the center of town.
The altar of the Basilica.
I vaguely remember going inside this store, which was once the courthouse where Billy the Kid was sentenced to be hanged. I bought apple butter and chili powder. What a strange combination! From “Fodor’s New Mexico”, 5th edition, pp.194-195. Click on the text to see a larger version of the story. This restaurant has since moved from La Mesilla to Las Cruces.
I bought a bag of these for my dad. He got a big kick out of it.
During this trip, I also explored Las Cruces, and found a couple of antique stores and a bookstore. I kept the following receipts and found business cards in an antiques directory for each store that I visited. These places are likely no longer in business.
Another little historical marker noting the significance of La Mesilla’s role in the history of the Southwest.
A few books about Mesilla, New Mexico
Mesilla Comes Alive: A History of Mesilla and its Valley, by C.W. Ritter and Craig Holden. Las Cruces: Ritter Publications, 2014.
The Mesilla Valley, An Oasis in the Desert, by Jon Hunner and Peter Dean. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2008.
Pioneers of the Mesilla Valley, 1823-1912. By P. Paxton.
A Place As Wild As The West Ever Was: Mesilla, New Mexico, 1848-1872, by Mary D. Taylor Las Cruces: New Mexico State University Museum, 2004.
La Posta: From the Founding of Mesilla to Corn Exchange Hotel to Billy the Kid Museum to Famous Landmark, by David Thomas. Las Cruces: Doc45 Publishing, 2013.
Turmoil on The Rio Grande: History of the Mesilla Valley, 1846-1865, by William S. Kiser. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2011.
A few books about Las Cruces, New Mexico
Celebrating 150 Years of Las Cruces History. Las Cruces: Las Cruces Sun-News, 1999.
Las Cruces, by John Hunner. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.
Las Cruces: A Photographic Journey (New Mexico Centennial), 1912-2012, by New Mexico State University. Las Cruces: FIG Publications, 2011.
Las Cruces: An Illustrated History, by Linda G. Harris. Las Cruces: Arroyo Press, 1993.
Las Cruces New Mexico 1849-1999: A Multicultural Crossroads, by Gordon Owen. Las Cruces: Red Sky Pub, 1999.
Legendary Locals of Las Cruces, New Mexico, by Charlotte Tallman. Charlotte, SC: Legendary Locals, 2014.
My first eight years of schooling took place in the public schools. I started learning the cello in the 4th grade at Robison Elementary School, using an instrument provided by the school. I continued playing while at Mansfeld Junior High, and really came to love it. I even went to music summer camp one year at the University of Arizona, and was beginning to get better and better at playing, even though I never had private lessons.
All of my brothers and sisters attended Tucson High School, and I was expecting to do the same. Instead, however, I begged my parents to let me go to Salpointe, a private Catholic school with a great academic reputation, but no orchestra. Sadly, the move to Salpointe meant that I had to give up playing the cello, because my parents could not afford to buy me one of my own, and there was nowhere else to play the instrument. I hadn’t heard of Tucson Junior Strings, a local youth orchestra that I could have joined, but even if I had, I likely would not have been able to participate because of the costs involved. Going to Salpointe was going to stretch my parents’ budget beyond what they could afford as it was.
During orientation at Salpointe, the band director recruited me and encouraged me to try the saxophone. I really didn’t know much about the instrument, but I really liked the saxophone solos I had heard on the pop tunes of the late fifties and early sixties. Songs like Tequila, the Twist and the Mashed Potato featured saxophone solos that really helped make the tunes come alive. So I gave it a try.
At first, I played the tenor saxophone, and later the alto, using instruments provided by the school. The band director at one point bought a brand new alto and let me be the first to play it. I liked it a lot and took to it quickly. Before long, I had learned how to play the song “In the Mood”, made famous years ago by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. As I think back, this was really my first exposure to the music of the swing era. I didn’t really know any other songs from that time period, except for maybe Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters. Everyone knew those tunes. Sometimes there would be commercials on tv advertising the music of the big band era, and while it sounded intriguing, I didn’t go crazy over it. This was the music of my parents, so it was considered old-fashioned.
I learned how to play this song in while in the high school band.
Once I started earning money my junior year of high school, I began to collect record albums, and expanded my musical interests in many directions. Around the time I started college, I began listening to jazz. I have been collecting jazz recordings and books for many years now. My love of the music of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, and my reading about their lives led me to the swing era, and I learned a little bit about all the great musicians of the time, and a few of the orchestras. I knew that the Chick Webb Orchestra, for example, was one of the best swing bands of the era, and that Ella Fitzgerald worked with him when she first started singing. I also knew that Billie Holiday worked with both the Count Basie band and the Artie Shaw orchestras, and had recorded with Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson at the start of her career. And, of course, I knew about Glenn Miller and “In the Mood”. However, I was never a fanatic about swing era music to the point where I collected everything I could find and knew the repertoire of all the great bands. It wasn’t until recently that I realized what an impact this music had on American culture. Swing was a real phenomenon. It was huge. The youth of America went crazy over it.
Benny Goodman was always one of those musicians in whom I was interested, and when I was collecting 78’s, I found a lot of his recordings. I didn’t know a whole lot about him or the details of his life and work, however, except that Peggy Lee worked with him in the early 1940s and that he was known as the “King of Swing”. On a whim, I recently decided to read a biography about him by James Lincoln Collier. The book was titled, “Benny Goodman and the Swing Era”. I found the book fascinating and especially liked reading about Chicago and New York in the 1920s and 1930s, how the Great Depression affected popular culture, and how popular music made a comeback in the mid-30s, in large part due to the popularity among American youth of Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. The musical analysis provided in the book was a bit beyond me, but I made it a point to listen to Goodman’s music along the way, and I watched a lot of videos of Goodman and his band. The most fascinating were the ones that included Gene Krupa, the famous drummer and bandleader. That guy was a bundle of energy. His playing on the tune “Sing, Sing, Sing” is just outrageous!
Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa. They were quite a pair!
Sing, Sing Sing is one of Goodman’s signature tunes, and this clip features Gene Krupa going crazy on the drums.
I’ve been intently listening to Goodman’s work for the past few months, and I must admit I like his early work (mid to late 30s) better than what he recorded in the latter part of the 40s. The trio and quartet material is great too, as are the tunes he recorded when Peggy Lee was his vocalist in the early 40s. As bebop became more popular in the 40s, Goodman tried to incorporate it, but it just doesn’t sound right to me. The high pitch of the clarinet and the band playing at full throttle on tunes that are more dissonant and experimental in nature, sounds awful to my ears. I know everyone has their own tastes and preferences, however. By the mid-40s, interest in swing had faded, and more attention was paid to individual performers, particularly singers. Goodman never stopped recording or performing, but he reached his peak as early as 1940, and was never able to get “back on top” again, so to speak.
I’ve put together some materials in my collection. I purchased most of the cds on Ebay while I was reading the biography, but I’ve had the albums for many years, and I have more 78s in storage that I need to find. I even have an extended play (these feature two songs on each side, rather than one) 45rpm record that I just dug out from my 45’s collection. I didn’t realize until I started looking, how many books about Benny Goodman and the swing era were already in my collection. I now have 5 Goodman biographies, after having purchased two on Ebay recently. I even have a glossy, 8 x 10, autographed portrait. I’m not sure the signature is real or if the portrait was published with the signature on it, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve put everything together and wow, I’ve got a very nice collection!
I was saddened to learn that many of his fellow musicians thought Goodman was such a jerk in real life. Collier alludes to this several times in his biography, but never really goes into any depth. However, toward the end of the book,he makes reference to a publication called “Jazzletter” and a very revealing four-part series about the Benny Goodman tour of the USSR in 1962, written by a member of the band. The story, which I found available online in Jazzletter, (see below), was quite revealing. Goodman’s band members thought he was a tightwad, aloof and bad-mannered, and that he always needed to be top dog, in the spotlight at all times.
I’ve since read other material about Goodman, and have learned that John Lincoln Collier’s biography leaves out a lot of interesting information, such as the fact that Goodman performed in concerts for various progressive causes, and that his role as a band leader with an integrated ensemble was groundbreaking and had an impact that was felt far and wide. It helped to bring down at least some of the racial barriers in place at the time in American entertainment. His defense of fellow musician Gene Krupa, who was busted and jailed for possession of marijuana also stands out as a noble act. He publicly stated after Krupa was released that he could play in his band any time. Goodman’s brother-in-law, John Hammond was immersed in the American left, and he undoubtedly influenced Goodman to take risks he may not have otherwise taken.
In the end, Goodman’s music has stood the test of time, and is absolutely wonderful.
I found some of my 78s. I think I have more…
Record albums in my collection, including a 10″ lp recording of Peggy Lee singing with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. “The Best of Benny Goodman: 30 years of his greatest Hits” is a four record anthology produced by Columbia House and issued in 1972. The rest are all standard 12″ single lps. Goodman recorded for Columbia, Decca, RCA and Capitol over the years. I’m sure there were others as well.
A mish mash of stuff in my collection, including a 7″ 45rpm e.p, a cassette, the soundtrack to the Benny Goodman Story, and an anthology of Goodman’s best music on red vinyl that is part of the legendary “Greatest Jazz Recordings of All Time” series produced by the Institute of Jazz Studies and the Franklin Mint back in the mid-1980s.
New acquisitions. I purchased these lps at Zia Records on October 12, 2022.
I picked these lps up on a recent trip to Phoenix and Prescott, Az. The first one is a two-record set.
Here are two more recent additions. The one on the left is a vintage lp, and the other is a cd. The lp is a bit beat up, but I’m glad I bought it anyway. It’s an original copy, released in September, 1954.
My latest acquisitions as of 12/18/22. All lps. Here is one more lp. Purchased on 1-16-2023 at the Goodwill for $1.49. It sounds pretty good!
CDs in my collection.
2 new cd acquisitions. Purchased October 12, 2022.
I purchased this 3 cd set in New Orleans in January, 2023. It was released in 2012.
Four recent acquisitions, all 10″ lps. Purchased on August 7, 2024.
Books in my collection. The one called “The Kingdom of Swing” is a small paperback called “An Armed Services Edition”, produced specifically for American soldiers during World War II. There are other books about Goodman, but this is what I have…so far.
Another recent acquisiton. Benny has his own postage stamp!
The Benny Goodman Quartet, including Lionel Hampton on vibes, Teddy Wilson on piano, Gene Krupa on drums and Benny Goodman on clarinet, performing “I Got a Heartful of Music” from the movie, Hollywood Hotel.
Original 1935 program advertising the Benny Goodman Orchestra at the Palomar Ballroom.
Goodman made national headlines back in late 1937. This article is from the Arizona Daily Star, Monday, December 20, 1937.
Two years later, Goodman appeared in Tucson. April 23, 1940. Az Daily Star.
Ad from the Arizona Daily Star, May 2, 1940. In addition to the show on May 3rd, Goodman and his band made a special appearance at the University of Arizona the following afternoon.
Why Don’t you Do Right? featuring Peggy Lee, early 1940s.
This compilation of tunes that Peggy Lee sang with the Benny Goodman orchestra in the early 1940s was originally released on lp in 1957. I have the cd version.
Goodman appeared in the 1944 movie, Sweet and Lowdown, with Linda Darnell.
Charlie Shavers was the featured trumpeter in this film clip from the Sid Caesar show in the mid-50s.
Released on February 2, 1956, this film loosely follows Benny Goodman’s real life up until his 1939 Carnegie Hall concert. The soundtrack is excellent.
Goodman visited Tucson again in 1960, appearing wiht the Tucson Synphony Orchestra.
China Boy and Sheik of Araby, Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa, 1961.
I’ve had the following article in my research files since 1986, when the article first appeared. It’s an obituary/tribute written for the Village Voice by writer Gary Giddens. It was published on July 8, 1986, shortly after Goodman died.
Benny Goodman materials in my collection
September 5, 2022, updated October 8, 2022
Cassettes
Let’s Dance 1999 compilation
Compact discs
The Hits of Benny Goodman Capitol 1989 cd
The Essence of Benny Goodman Columbia/Sony 1991 cd
The Original Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Sessions Vol. 1 After You’ve Gone RCA / Bluebird 1987 cd
Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1938 Complete Columbia 1999 cd
Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie Hall 40th Anniversary Concert 2 cd set. London 1978, 1986.
The Blue Room, cd. TIM no date.
Benny Goodman: The King of Swing 1998 Sugo Music cd
The Best of the Big Bands: Benny Goodman Madacy1994
Benny Goodman Yale Archives Vol. 6 Amerco/Musical Heritage Society 1991 cd
Benny Goodman Rarities 1940-1942
The Benny Goodman Sextet, featuring Charlie Christian (1939-1941)
Benny Goodman, Vol. III / All the Cats Join In 1986 cd
Benny Goodman Sextet 1988 cd
Benny Goodman, Vol 1 (Yale University Music Library Series)
Benny Goodman (Ken Burns Jazz) Sony 2000 cd
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra: Sing, Sing, Sing 1987 cd RCA/BMG
LPs
Benny Goodman, His Orchestra and Sextet, Vocals by Peggy Lee Columbia 10” lp CL 6033
Columbia Presents The Great Benny Goodman Columbia lp CL 820
Benny Goodman: Swing Into Spring Columbia XTV28995 Prepared expressly for Texaco
The New Benny Goodman Sextet Columbia lp CL 552
Together Again: The Benny Goodman Quartet RCA Victor LPM-2698 1964
The Benny Goodman Story Decca Records DXB 188 2 lp set. I only have one of the lps, however.
The Best of Benny Goodman: 30 Years of His greatest hits 4 record set Columbia House P4M 5678
Benny Goodman–Lionel Hampton/Jazz Milestones (The Greatest Jazz Recordings of All time, vols. 37-40)
Benny Goodman: Mostly Sextets Capitol T668
The King of Swing, Vol. 1 1937-38 Jazz Concert No 2 Columbia lp CL 817
Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Live 1937-38 Columbia Special Products/Aimez Vous le Jazz No. 7
Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Vol. II (1937-38) Columbia Special Products/Aimez Vous le Jazz No. 15
B.G from 1927-1934 Brunswick Records BL 54010
The Benny Goodman Trio Plays for the Fletcher Henderson Fund Columbia lp, GL 516
Benny Goodman 2 lp set (Time-Life Music: The Big Bands series STBB003)
The Complete Benny Goodman, Vol. III 1936 2 record set Bluebird AXM2-5532
BG: The Small Groups RCA Victor LPV-521 (RCA Victor Vintage Series)
Benny In Brussels, featuring Jimmy Rushing, Vol. 1 Columbia lp CL1247
The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert, Vol. 1 Columbia lp CL 814
7 inch 45 rpm EP’s
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
78’s
My Blue Heaven / Put That Kiss Back Where You Found It
On the Alamo / Rattle and Roll
Don’t Be A Baby, Baby / All The Cats Join In
My Guy’s Come Back / Symphony
Six Flats Unfurnished / Why Don’t You Do Right?
Idaho / Take Me
The Way You Look Tonight / The Wang Wang Blues
Heaven In My Arms / That Lucky Fellow
Boy Meets Horn / Let’s Dance
Where or When / I Cried For You
A String of Pearls / Jersey Bounce
He Ain’t Got Rhythm / This Year’s Kisses
When It’s Sleepy Time Down South / Changes
Let’s Give Love A Chance / Somebody Nobody Loves
That Did It, Marie / Somebody Else Is Taking My Place
Books:
Benny Goodman and the Swing Era, by James Lincoln Collier. NY: Oxford, 1989.
Benny: King of Swing, a pictorial biography based on Benny Goodman’s own archives, with an introduction by Stanley Baron. NY: Morrow, 1979.
Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman, by Ross Firestone. NY: Norton, 1993.
Memorabilia and other stuff:
Signed autograph black and white 8 x 10 portrait of Benny Goodman
Ad: Benny Goodman Sextet Gammage Center, Sunday, February 20, 8pm. (Tempe, Az.)
“The Mirror of Swing, by Gary Giddens. Village Voice July 8, 1986.
“To Russia, Without Love: The Benny Goodman Tour of the USSR”, by Bill Crow. This is a 4 part story featured in Jazzletter (August, September, October November, 1962). Crow writes a critical review of the trip, and describes Goodman as a difficult bandleader and all around asshole. A very unflattering portrayal, to say the least.
Newspaper ad, Arizona Daily Star May 2, 1940. Benny Goodman in person at the Santa Rita Ballroom, Friday, May 3, 1940
Newspaper artcle, “Goodman Swings in City Tonight” Arizona Daily Star, May 3, 1940.
This is a 78 rpm anthology of Benny Goodman tunes that I have in my collection. These “albums” usually included 4 10″ discs with a song on each side.
Gene Lees’ Jazzletter includes four issues devoted to Benny Goodman’s 1962 trip to Moscow. It’s not a very flattering portrayal, but from what I understand, this is how Goodman behaved with his band mates throughout his career as a band leader. His music was great, but he was not a nice guy. You can read about the tour by looking up the August, September, October and November 1986 issues of the newsletter.
“Ellington, Goodman, Shaw” by John S. Wilson, in Liberty Magazine, Spring, 1973. (I’ve had this magazine in my personal collection for many years, and only recently realized that there was a very good article on these three jazzmen included in it.
I recently found this in my music research files. I had no idea I had this! Not sure if the signature is “original” or if it’s a print, but that’s okay.
The Plaza Theater, on the southwest corner of Congress and Court.
As a child, I grew up listening to my mom’s many stories about her youth in Tucson. Her widowed mother moved the family here from Superior when she was 12 years old. They settled in a small house in South Tucson, near the corner of 31st Street and 9th Avenue, in close proximity to many of my grandmother’s immediate family, including her mother and brothers .
Mom attended Safford Jr. High, but left school after the eighth grade to start working full time, as being the oldest child, she felt obliged to help support her four younger siblings. She would often talk about her different jobs, but the one she would reminisce about most often was the one at the Cine Plaza (or the Plaza TheAter, as she used to say), where she worked as an usherette in the early 40’s.
In her youth, my mother was a very pretty girl, and quite popular. She was also very nice to the poorer kids that hung out in front of the Cine Plaza, and would often let them sneak into the theater while the manager wasn’t looking, saying “ándale, méntense, méntense” (go in, go in) to them in a hushed voice. This eventually cost her the job, and it made her very sad, but boy how she would love to tell us all about it! I think it was her favorite place to work.
That’s how I first learned about the Cine Plaza.
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Julie Gallego has, for the past several years, organized a number of community cultural events, including the ever popular Viva Arizona, a celebration in dance and music of the local Mexicano community’s rich cultural heritage. She also owns and manages a dance studio called Viva Performing Arts, and recently spearheaded the formation of a new, and Tucson’s only all female mariachi group, Mariachi Viva La Mujer. She also manages the CHISPA Foundation.
I have had the privilege of participating in a couple of projects with Julie, the latest of which is Cine Plaza at the Fox, a Mexican film series that celebrates the Plaza Theater, a mainstay of the Mexicano/Chicano community in downtown Tucson for many, many years. The purpose of the event is to raise money for the Fox Theater Foundation and the Fox Theater.
The organizing committee includes Julie Gallego, Ralph Gonzales, Elva Flores, Liz Rodriguez-Miller, Betty Villegas, Terry Gastelum, Bob Gastelum, Elsa Aguirre, Dan Buckley and me. Supporters of the event include County Supervisor Richard Elias, Old Pueblo Printers, and Bob Fineman.
A few members of the coordinating committee: Betty Villegas, Liz Rodriguez-Miller, Elva Flores and Bob Diaz
My contribution to the event has mainly been to provide ideas for movies to show during the festival and to provide my own insights on producing such a festival, as I managed a similar project (Cine Mariachi at the Fox), back in 2006 when I was a member of the Tucson International Mariachi Conference Board of Directors. I’ve also been assisting with logistics at each of the events.
The first event featured the film, La Cucaracha, with Maria Felix and Dolores Del Rio.
View the complete film below.
It also featured part one of Dan Buckley’s documentary on the Fox Theater, and Mariachi Viva La Mujer, pictured below.
Mariachi Viva La Mujer, Tucson’s only all female mariachi group.
Guests of honor at the first event included Joe Garcia, a well-known usher at the Plaza, County Supervisor Richard Elias, and Congressman Raul Grijalva.
Raul Grijalva, Julie Gallego, and Richard Elias
The second film was “Alla en el Rancho Grande” and featured Jorge Negrete.
View the complete film below.
Entertainment was provided by a number of very talented local youth mariachi and ballet folklorico groups, including Mariachi Corazon, Mariachi Tesoro, Mariachi Rayos, Mariachi Aztlan, and Ballet Folklorico San Juan. Part two of Dan Buckley’s documentary on the Cine Plaza was also shown and proved to be very popular with the audience.
The final film, Cantando Nace El Amor (Love Is Born Singing) starring Elsa Aguirre, Raul Martinez, and Andres Soler, and featuring both Agustin Lara and Lalo Alcaraz and their orchestras, as well as El Trio Los Panchos, aired on Sunday March 28.
Unfortunately, the film is not available on Youtube.
Prior to the film, Sergio Mendoza and Salvador Duran led a live band that performed some of the best songs composed by Agustin Lara.
Following that, the third part of Dan Buckley’s documentary on the Plaza Theater featured comments from members of the community about the changes urban renewal brought to our pueblito viejo.
Turnout for the last event was even better than the first two showings. Overall, it was a wonderful day of music and cinema. Below are a few photos of the final day’s events.
Terry Gastelum at the raffle table
Elva Flores and Bob Diaz at the pastry table
Betty Villegas, Richard Elias, Ramona and Raul Grijalva.
KXCI is a non-profit, non-commercial, community radio station in Tucson, Arizona, that first hit the local airwaves in late November, 1983. It was the brainchild of several local music lovers, including Paul Bear, John Cannon, Frank Milan and Roger Greer. Together these individuals, with the help of countless others, laid the groundwork for the establishment of KXCI, forming the Foundation for Creative Broadcasting, applying for an FCC license, as well as raising funds and awareness for the idea of “community” radio in Tucson. Getting such a project off the ground was a lot of work that took several years, and I for one am very grateful to these guys for having the vision and drive needed to establish KXCI! The station was located in the old Dave Bloom and Sons building, a decent sized storefront at 145 E. Congress, on the northwest corner of Sixth Ave. and Congress. In 1987, operations were moved to the station’s present location at 220 S. 4th Ave.
KXCI had been a project in the works for many years. 1983 would be the year it finally hit the airwaves.
1983 was a year that would change my life. At the time, I was a recent college graduate and was working part time at Fry’s Food Stores while taking classes at the University of Arizona as an undeclared graduate student. I didn’t know which direction I wanted to move in career-wise, but I felt I needed to explore my creativity, so I joined a radical theater collective called Teatro Libertad. It was with the Teatro that I developed a sense of self confidence. I learned the basics of acting and was also able to utilize my musical skills singing and playing my guitar and flute. I’ve always loved music, and with the money I was earning as a grocery clerk, was also able to begin building what I thought was a pretty good, eclectic record collection of music from all over the world, including Mexico and the US.
Playing my guitar at Oak Creek Canyon, 1983 (Click image to enlarge it).
One day in late Spring, 1983, I read an ad in the local weekly alternative newspaper about a class being offered in radio programming at a new radio station called KXCI. I was intrigued and decided to sign up. I thought it would be cool to be a disc jockey and to be on the radio. My brother Rudy had gone through similar training at Tucson High School back in the mid-1960s. The photo below appeared in the Tucson Daily Citizen on October 12, 1966.
My brother Rudy in high school.
I felt that becoming a radio dj would be a great opportunity to turn people on to the music that I loved. It cost a few hundred dollars, but in the end, was well worth it and one of the best decisions I ever made. Richard Towne, one of the station’s staff members, taught the class. There was a lot of technical information to learn, but it wasn’t too difficult to understand and I caught on very quickly.
The really fun part started when we were given time to practice producing our own shows, which included writing out scripts and announcements, and selecting music to play on the air. I fondly remember putting my very first mock show together. Every song I featured was either about drugs or alcohol. My very first “commercial” was for what I called “Tata Jerry’s Bong Juice Cookbook”. Go figure. I was very young and wild at the time… By the end of the class, I had my very own programmer’s license. I was now legitimately qualified to work as a radio announcer and could hardly wait to go on the air!
My FCC radio license
In addition to Rich Towne, the core staff at KXCI included Sheila Key, Paul Bear, Frank Milan, Martha Van Winkle, John Cannon and Roger Greer. There was such excitement in those early days! Everyone’s goal was to get the station up and running. In November, after much anticipation, the station aired its first broadcast, a marathon program that featured the history of recorded sound and music from its beginnings to the present. I think it was called “the big broadcast of 1983.”
The Tucson Citizen, October 7, 1983.
The station officially went on the air on December 5, 1983. My very first show aired three days later.
By December, some of the most challenging bugs had been worked out, and KXCI was officially on the air. I was invited to host two of my very own radio shows, one of which I dubbed “The Chicano Connection”.
The show featured a variety of genres of Latin music, in addition to oldies but goodies, r&b and soul. While the above flyer indicates the show was from 11pm to 1am on Thursday nights, originally it aired from 7pm to 9pm on Thursdays.
Yours truly standing in front of the KXCI station on Congress St.
I had two shows initially and I was a”techie” for both Victor Blue, who hosted the Bluegrass show, and for Ted Warmbrand, who hosted a folk show called “Music From the Living Loom”. By Techie, I mean I ran the control board, cue-ing up music, and turning the mics on and off for the announcer. It was my way of giving back to the station. I felt so grateful for being on the air!
The other show I hosted was called the Friday morning music mix, and it aired weekly from 9am to noon. The morning music mix shows aired Monday through Friday and were intended to appeal to a broad audience . Programmers were encouraged to feature lots of contemporary jazz like Spyro Gyra and Weather Report, but I played just about anything I wanted, even though it got me into trouble a few times. More on that in a minute…
My very first playlist for my very first show. Aretha Franklin’s hit, “Respect,” was the first song I ever played on the air.
Mom hated my beard…
I didn’t own a lot of Latin music at first, but over time, I have acquired quite a collection, especially of Mexican rancheras.
My knowledge of music and my shows were also starting to get noticed out in the community, and I quickly became known for playing stuff that nobody else was playing or was long forgotten. Senator Dennis DeConcini even wrote to the station early on and noted how impressed he was with me and Kidd Squidd. I was in heaven.
My first morning music mix playlist. I would play the same artists a lot over time, but would try to vary the individual songs that I featured.
Here are more of my playlists from December, 1983. (click the title to see the list).
The music I featured included folk music, classic pop, soul, R&B, Latin music, rock and roll, oldies and classic jazz. I developed a loyal following of listeners, and was featured in a newspaper produced by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union , of which I was a member at the time.
ABOUT TOWN WITH THE MEMBERS
(Just a quick correction… The above article notes that the class I attended was free. Not so. I paid a lot of money, $300 if I recall correctly, to attend the class. Kathy got it wrong.)
Unfortunately, a couple of members of the station management at the time didn’t appreciate my playing protest music or leftist songs like “The Internacionale”, nor was I allowed to bring in more than a few albums of my own at a time. There was a little rule that stipulated that we were supposed to use the station’s music when on the air, and I had a difficult time with that, because I felt that my own record collection was far superior to the material the station supplied. Things got so tense that I quit at one point after I was reprimanded for playing my own material, including an anti-gun song called “Shoot First” by Judy Collins. Quitting wasn’t a very smart move on my part, but I wasn’t thrilled about being censored or coerced into playing music I thought was boring and irrelevant, when there was so much good music out there that I felt people needed to hear!
Lo and behold, within less than a year, Paul Bear invited me to return to KXCI to host a Latin show from 11pm to 1am on Thursday nights. I named program “The Chicano Connected Revisited”! I guess the station management figured it was okay if I played radical protest music late at night when most of the uptight crowd was already asleep! I happily agreed to return to the air, as I missed being on the radio. I also missed my friends at the station.
An ad in the local paper advertising Latin night. Pepe Galvez is still on the air there.
I have lots of fond memories of these years at KXCI. The highlight of the entire experience was getting to meet and interview the great singer-songwriter, and one of my heroes, Buffy Sainte Marie, after a benefit concert she gave at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. Other highlights included co-hosting a gay and lesbian-themed Father’s Day show with Jamie Anderson, a local folksinger, and hosting a two hour Aretha Franklin tribute show.
I also remember having a great time dancing in broad daylight on Congress Street during KXCI’s fun-filled street parties. The station also sponsored a number of great concerts, including shows featuring Queen Ida and Her Zydeco Band, Albert Collins, Ray Charles, Etta James, The Persuasions and countless others. Oh, what fun we had back then! They were wild times, indeed! KXCI put Tucson on the cultural map, and the Old Pueblo has been a musical paradise ever since, thanks in large part to the dedicated staff and volunteers of this little community radio station.
1985 KXCI program guide
I stayed with the station until December 1986, the same month I graduated from Library School at the University of Arizona. By the following month, with master’s degree in hand, I was working as a librarian in Nogales, Arizona. From there, I moved to Ann Arbor Michigan for several years and worked at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library. I finally made my way back home in 1992, after being offered a job at the University of Arizona Library.
2003-2020
After spending nearly three years with the station, I left KXCI in December, 1986 . I had just graduated from Library School with a master’s degree in Library Science. Early the following month, I started my new career as a librarian in Nogales, Arizona. After sticking it out for 7 months, I decided to try my hand at academic librarianship, so from there, I moved to Ann Arbor Michigan for several years and worked at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library. I finally made my way back home in 1992, after being offered a job at the University of Arizona Library.
After I returned to Tucson, I never thought I’d go back to radio. It had been over five years since I had been on the air, and I had heard and read that KXCI was having its share of ups and downs, with managerial and board shake-ups happening on a regular basis. I still maintained a passion for music, however, and continued to collect records and cds and learn as much as possible about all kinds of music, particularly Latin popular music. At my job at the UA Library, after eight years of working in an administrative position, I applied for and was offered the music librarian position. While classical music wasn’t my forte, I quickly learned all I needed to know to serve the students and faculty of the School of Music. It helped that I knew how to read music and that I played several instruments.
I also started conducting local and regional workshops focused on building Latin music collections for librarians interested in serving Latinos and the Spanish speaking. These workshops were fun to do, well attended and quite popular, and were a way for me to continue focusing on the music I loved.
After reading about my work in the local paper, in May, 2003, Ernesto Portillo Jr., a KXCI dj, newspaper columnist and old friend, called to invite me to be a guest host on his program, Onda Suave. I put a show on Mexican rancheras together for the occasion, and I was happy to hear that Ernesto’s listeners, (especially his father, a former Spanish language radio personality and Tucson legend), enjoyed the show. Before long, I was filling in for Ernesto on a regular basis, and within a year, I was back in the saddle as a regular programmer. From 2004 to 2006, I co-hosted a show with longtime KXCI programmer Pepe Galvez, called Barrio Sounds. I featured music from Mexico and the U.S., but played other genres as well. The show aired every Wednesday from 10pm to midnight.
My friend Alex Rivera and I in the KXCI Library
In 2006, one of the Latin night programmers decided to take a break from radio, and I successfully lobbied the station management to let me have my own show, which I decided to once again dub “the Chicano Connection”. I particularly enjoyed putting together thematic shows featuring specific genres and styles of both Latin and American music such as corridos and rancheras, protest music, and music written by specific composers. I also enjoyed playing civil rights-themed music on Martin Luther King Day and Cesar Chavez’s birthday. I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to interview singers like Tish Hinojosa and work with local musicians John Contreras, Olga Flores and Justin Enriquez, arranging recording sessions for them and intervewing them in our station studio.
Unfortunately, there came a point when juggling a full time job, family obligations and a late night radio show every week turned out to be more of a challenge than I could handle, so in October 2008, I decided I needed a little break. Justin Enriquez, a fine young mariachi musician, took the reins, changing the name of the program to “La Serenata,” which featured mostly mariachi and ranchera music.
My time away from the station didn’t last too long this time around. After subbing here and there for Justin and other programmers, in late 2010, I approached Justin and asked him if he would consider letting me co-host La Serenata. He graciously agreed. We took turns hosting for the first nine months of 2011, but in September, he handed the program over to me full time. A short while later, Onda Suave host Ernesto Portillo, Jr. decided he needed a long term break, and I requested to have my show moved from the 10pm to midnight slot to the 8pm to 10pm slot. The request was granted and I’m very happy with my new time slot. I’m now on the air every Wednesday from 8pm to 10pm.
Being a programmer on KXCI presents itself with many wonderful opportunities. Last Fall (2012), I had the pleasure of producing four specialty shows, which I called “Songbirds of the Sixties”. Each week for a month I featured a different singer–Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Buffy Sainte Marie and Joni Mitchell. I went through all of my recordings of each of these women and found material that I thought was worth including, some of it was quite rare and included songs that folks probably had never heard before on KXCI. For example, I played Scarlet Ribbons by Joan Baez, a song that appeared on her very first, unofficial recording session back in 1958. I also played a song or two from her “Folksingers Round Harvard Square” album, a very rare recording that has long been out of print.
At this point, I don’t ever plan to leave radio again! I have found that it keeps me focused and energized when I have a weekly commitment such as a radio show. I also love the music and I love being on the air. The station management allowed me to change the name of the program back to “The Chicano Connection.” I now once again have a very loyal foilowing and have a venue for promoting Latin music as well as the work I do at the University of Arizona Library, where I now, among other things, coordinate exhibits and events for Special Collections. Some things are just too worthwhile to let go of for good!
KXCI is member supported, so if you like what you hear, become one of the many, many people who support the station. Use this link to learn more about how you can become a member!
November 2015 Update: I’m still here! I never seem to tire of doing this work and am so, so grateful to the members of KXCI and to all the folks that listen to my radio show. Thank you!
Bridgette Thum and me during a recent KXCI fund drive.
January 2020 Update: Wow, how time flies! I’m still on the air and hope to continue for a while longer. My record collection continues to grow, and I am always listening to new material, even though I don’t always play it! There’s nothing like hearing the classics. I am so grateful to all the listeners in Tucson and beyond who come forward during our fund drives and support my show and the station. Thanks so much, my friends. Here’s to hoping that the new year will be a better one than the last one, as it was sure a challenge living through all the turmoil our current administration has caused. Anyone with a heart knows that children shouldn’t be kept in cages and packed in like sardines in jail cells meant for a mere fraction of the number that are put there. Music helps soothe the soul in troubled times. I hope that the music I play achieves at least a little of that. Peace, my friends. — Bob Diaz
March, 2020 Update:
Putting shows together these past few weeks has been more difficult than usual. I seem to have lost the creative spark that usually helps push me forward with yet another show. I promised myself that if this volunteer gig became too much of a burden, that I’d let it go, and unfortunately, the time has arrived to hang up my headphones for good. It’s been a wild, fun ride all these years. I’ve enjoyed this work immensely, and I’m happy that many people in the community enjoyed it too. It’s time to move on to other endeavors. I don’t foresee myself going back at this point, but one never knows. Lord knows I’ve done this before! My replacement will be Gwen Hernandez, who I believe will be an outstanding radio host. She knows Mexico and Mexican music, and that to me is what is most important, to have someone on the air who knows what a ranchera is and what son jarocho is, and who knows the history of Mexico’s music. I’m sure Gwen will be just wonderful. Please join me in supporting her and give her shows a listen. Thanks, my friends. So long. Love you!
Note: this page is still under construction. Please check back again later to see the complete post. Thanks.
During her tenure as President of the University of Arizona (2012-2017), Ann Weaver Hart decided it was time to renovate Old Main, the University’s oldest and best-known campus building. It was previously renovated in the 1940s and in 1972 was selected for listing on the National Register of Historic places. The latest project, begun in early 2013, was expensive, totaling over 13 million dollars, and not a very popular undertaking (with some donors and administrators), but in the end, the transformation of the second floor of Old Main was a sight to behold. The newly renovated building, replete with new air conditioning units on both floors, now houses, among other things, student services, spacious meeting rooms, and the president’s office, and showcases some of the University’s finest artwork and cultural artifacts. The architectural firm, Poster, Frost, Mirto took the lead in designing the recent project. Sundt Construction completed the work.
In 2013, the director of Special Collections assigned me and another colleague the task of assisting the coordinator of the Old Main interior design project in identifying historic photographs and other materials for display in Old Main. My colleague took the lead in identifying and providing photographs and I worked on identifying materials for a small exhibit case and wrote annotations for many of the photos.
Historic photographs of the campus and photographs of covers of UA Yearbooks now fill the hallways and meeting rooms of the 2nd floor the Old Main building.
I chose materials for the exhibit case below. An inventory follows.
This is the exhibit case that I filled with memorabilia and documents from Special Collections. Below is the inventory of material included.
Most of the following photographs are from Special Collections. My colleague and the interior designer assigned to the renovation project worked with a professional photographer to restore and frame the historic photos included here.
Old Main at the beginning…
The original floor plan, courtesy of Special Collections.
Old Main now.
Corky Poster, one of the architects involved in the renovation project.
Photos from Special Collections above the exhibit case that I contributed material to.
Rodney Mackey, a staff member of the UA’s Planning Design and Construction department, gave a tour to the UA staff who contributed artwork and artifacts to the project.
The Arizona State Museum contributed some beautiful American Indian pottery to the project.
Minerals from the UA minerals collection.
From Special Collections, a photo of an early 20th century celebration at the Old Main fountain.
This sign, belonging to the original contractor, was found in the attic during the renovation.
The walls are also filled with photos from the Center for Creative Photography.
Meeting rooms on the 2nd floor.
Another shot of Old Main, courtesy of Special Collections.
One of the larger meeting rooms on the 2nd floor.
Another large meeting room.
The reception area leading to the President’s office.
Students at work in a science classroom, early 1900’s.
UA co-eds outside one of the women’s dorms.
Yearbook covers lined the walls of the various meeting rooms on the renovated second floor.
The architects held an open house for contributors to the project in advance of the grand opening. Below are some of the photos of the renovation.
From a presentation given by the architect, Corky Poster.
Note: this page is still under construction. Please check back again later to see the complete post. Thanks.
2015 UA Alumni Association 50 Year reunion
In early 2015, I was asked to work with representatives of the UA Alumni Association to create a small exhibit of materials from the UA Class of 1965. The exhibit cubes shown below are housed on the 1st floor of Old Main. The exhibit remained in place for several years.
I did a lot of research for this particular exhibit, and could not possibly fit everthing I wanted to into three cases. I still have all the material I gathered and will be adding more to this blog post, as there is no limit here. I can add as much stuff as I want, so I will! What I have gathered together so far does not provide much context for what happened in 1965, so I’ll be working to add more factual information and additional photos etc. Stay tuned. It may take me a while, but I’ll get there soon enough!
Mike Carroll died today. He was Denise Shavers longtime partner. They have lived in New York for many years, but I first knew them when they lived here in Tucson downtown in an apartment on 9th street near my friend Richard back in the early 1980s. Mike was Irish, born in Massachusetts, but raised here. He loved beer.
Mike and Denise
My birthday party in 1983. Mike and Denise were there.
He was also an amazing artist. He gave me a painting he did once of Bob Dylan. It was a dual portrait. One was of Dylan before Highway 61 Revisited and the other was post Highway 61, kind of like what he looked like during Blonde on Blonde. I also have a hand-painted Christmas card he and Denise sent me, and a couple of photos of the two of them together. I treasure these things.
Dylan, then and then…
One day we had a big party at Richard’s house. This was in the early 80s. Everyone was drinking and smoking. We may have even been doing hallucinogenics at the time too. He he he. Someone put on The Basement Tapes by Dylan and the Band, and wow, there were moments when everyone was singing along. Only a few of us die hard Dylan fans knew all the lyrics, but it didn’t stop the rest of the gang from joining in. With Dylan’s songs, one can just mumble their way through the tune and nobody notices… Mike was in the middle of it all, singing his heart out along with Bob and the Band, his buddy Jimmy, and all our friends. We sure had fun right then. It was a magical moment, one I’ll never forget.
We sure had some great times back then. In mid-June, 1982, we all piled up in my brand new 1964 Galaxy 500, given to me by my mom as a college graduation gift a couple of months earlier, and drove up to Mesa to see the Clash perform. Denise had made some really cool silk screened t-shirts to sell at the concert. (I used to have one, but wore it out). On the way up to Phoenix on this particular trip, we were all partying in the car, and as luck would have it, a cop stopped us. It turns out I had expired plates. The cop could tell we were partying. Who wouldn’t have smelled the smoke? But he was kind that day and let us off the hook, and we ended up getting to the concert in plenty of time. It turned out to be a blast after all. The Clash were on the same bill as the English Beat, but they sucked.
One of the greatest rock bands ever.
A 1964 Galaxy 500, just like the one I used to own. Having six to eight people pile up in a car like this will turn it into a “low rider” for sure. No wonder the cop stopped us.
Another time, we all drove down, in my Galaxy 500 again, to Nogales to eat,drink and shop. It was also a fun trip. We sang songs along the way and had such fun. I was into listening to music of the civil rights era at the time, and had everyone singing along to tunes like “If you miss me at the back of the bus”.
We also sang “South Street”. Seems like Denise was the only other person in the world who knew the song!
My favorite girl singer of the early 60s!
In the summer of 1987, I traveled to San Francisco to meet my future boss from the University of Michigan Library. She wanted to check me out before deciding whether or not she wanted me to come to Ann Arbor for a job interview. The American Library Association conference was in progress, but I was there just to meet her. Once that was all over, I hooked up with Mike, who lived there with Denise in the Fillmore district at the time on Hayes Street. Denise was out of town so I got to hang out just with Mike. He took me out drinking all over the city to a number of Irish bars, and then we ended up at a party with a lot of his “artist” friends. It was the strangest scene, with artsy-fartsy gabachos everywhere, and I of course felt totally out of place. Mikey fit right in. He was an artist too, after all, and a gabacho, but a cool one! Wow.
Later that same night, I came up with new words to the song, “On Top of Spaghetti”, which I had been singing to the kids in Nogales at the time. They went something like this…On top of your chi chis, all covered with cheese, I lost my virginity, when you said please. We rolled on the table, then on to the floor, and when it was over, you wanted some more…” Wow. That’s Pulitzer prize material, for sure! Or at least National Poetry award stuff…Actually I was drunk as a skunk. The words just flowed out of me as easily as the alcohol had been flowing in the entire day…
On Top of Spaghetti. When I was a children’s librarian back in 1987, I would sing this to the kids during story hour. They loved it.
What I look like when I’m shit-faced…
Mike’s gifts were art and music. I don’t know if he ever had a “straight,” regular job. He leaned on Denise a lot.
A photo of Mike, Denise, RIchard, Emily and Luz, circa 1995.
I got a text message earlier today from Richard’s wife Emily that Mike had died this morning. Now Mikey and Richard are both up in heaven, probably partying and singing the same Dylan songs they sang together that day at Richard’s party almost 40 years ago. At least I like to think that.
I called Denise and we talked for a while. Mike died of melanoma. It had spread throughout his body and ended up in his brain. He wasn’t in any pain and he got to be at home when he passed. That’s probably all he wanted at the end, was to be at home with Denise. Denise has covid, but she sounded okay. After all she’s been through, the poor thing needs a rest. I hope she gets it. Mike will be cremated next week. And life will go on.
Here’s something interesting from 1964. This ad appeared in the Arizona Wildcat, p10, Nov. 20, 1964.
Linda Ronstadt’s music has been a part of my life since I was a teenager and first heard the song “You’re No Good” on the radio in the mid-70s. She had a couple of other hits before that, including “Different Drum” and “Long, Long Time”, but I never connected the fact that these songs were from a woman born and raised in Tucson. When her breakthrough album “Heart Like A Wheel” came out in late 1974, it was huge news, and everyone in Tucson talked about Linda being a hometown girl. That album was the first one I ever really got to know and love. I bought every album she released after that, one by one. I was never really interested in her work with the Stone Poneys, or her first two solo albums, “Hand Sown, Home Grown” and “Silk Purse”, however. Her songs selections on those albums weren’t as appealing to me and her voice sounded twangier then, and in my opinion, not as well developed as it was when she released “Heart Like A Wheel”.
I saw Linda perform at the Tucson Community Center twice in the late 70s, and then again much later at the Tucson International Mariachi Conference. I even got to meet her once back in 2004. She remains one of my very favorite singers, and I have nearly all of her recordings either on lp, cassette or cd. I played her music all the time on my radio show, the Chicano Connection too. I’ll always love her.
A poster from the Sixties
Linda at Palo Verde High School where she performed with the Stone Poneys.
Her birthday is coming up soon, so I thought I’d create my own playlist of tunes she recorded that I especially enjoy listening to. Most of these are either folk songs or country songs. I think Linda does an exceptional job interpreting these kinds of tunes. I also love her rock material and her music in Spanish, but this time around, for the most part, I’m focusing on Linda Ronstadt, the barefoot folkie.
At home playing the guitar…
Ramblin’ Round
Keep Me From Blowin’ Away
I Never Will Marry
My Blue Tears
Love Has No Pride
Love is a Rose
I Can’t Help it If I’m Still In Love With You
Crazy Arms
Rambler Gambler
I Ride An Old Paint
Desperado
Willin’
Carmelita
I will Always Love you
I Fall To Pieces
Duet with James Taylor
If I Should Fall Behind
I bought this poster when I was in college. I ended up giving it away. Stupid me.
Back in 2004, Linda Ronstadt showed up to an event at Raul Grijalva’s campaign headquarters in Tucson one day. I was there too, and asked for her autograph. She signed it on one of my buddy Richard’s campaign flyers. He was also running for office that particular year. This is one treasure that I’ll never give away.
My four eldest brothers and sisters attended Robison Elementary School from 1952 to 1960. They then went on to attend Mansfeld Jr. High and Tucson High. I also attended kindergarten at St. Ambrose for one semester. Here are some of our class photos, most of them from Robison. I’ve also included some sports team and other group photos in which my siblings and I appear. My two older brothers were heavily involved in high school sports, and later became little league coaches, and my brother Fred and I played on different teams in the late 60s. These are mostly photos of kids who grew up between Plumer and Country Club from Broadway south to the railroad tracks. If you click on the picture, you’ll see a larger version of it. Click the back arrow to return to the post.
1952-1953 school year. My sister Irene’s 3rd grade class, Robison Elementary School.
1953-1954 school year. My sister Becky’s first grade class. The teacher was Mrs. Goldbaum.
1955-1956 school year. My brother Rudy’s first grade class. He had Mrs. Goldbaum too.
1955-1956 school year. Robison Elementary. I am not sure who was in this class.
1955-1956 school year at Robison Elementary. My sister Irene’s sixth grade class.
1957-1958 Mansfeld Jr. High Student Council photo. My sister Irene was Student Council secretary.
My brother Rudy’s 4th grade class. Mrs. Miller was later Mrs. Mow.
My sister Becky’s fifth grade class.
My brother Rudy’s fifth grade class.
1960-1961 Freshman Basketball team. Tucson High School. My brother Charles is in this photo.
1960-61 Tucson High School Freshman Baseball Team. My brother Charles Diaz, is in the top row second from left.
1961-62 Junior Varsity Basketball team, Tucson High School. My brother Charles is in this photo.
1962-1963 Tucson High School Varsity Baseball team. Eddie Leon is included here as are my brother Charles and his good friend Jesus “Chuy” Pesqueira.
1963. My brother Charles is right in the middle of the top row.
1963-1964 Tucson High School Freshman Baseball Team. My brother Rudy is in the middle row, second from last.
1963-1964. Members of the Tucson High Choraleers. My brother Rudy is the second from the left in the bottom row. 1963-1964 Tucson High School Varsity Baseball Team. My brother Charles is in the top row, third from the left.
1964-1965 Junior Varsity Football team. Tucson High School. My brother Rudy is in this photo.
1964-1965 Choraleers, Tucson High School. My brother Rudy is in this photo. It was his sophomore year.
My kindergarten class. I was there for just one semester, Fall ’64.
1965-1966 Varsity Baseball team, Tucson High School. Rudy in in the top row third from the last.
1965-1966 Choraleers, Tucson High School. Rudy is in the top row, third from the left. Summer, 1966.My brother Fred’s little league team. 1966-67 Varsity Baseball Team. Tucson High School. My brother Rudy is in this photo. 1968-1969. My 4th grade class.
1968, Summer. My brothers Rudy and Freddie are in this photo from the late 60s. I think the team was “Tucson Merchants Association”. Not sure.
1969, Summer. Rudy’s little league team. Freddie my other brother is also in this photo as are my buddies Ernie Carrillo, Roman Jaurigue and Rick Fass.
1969-1970. My fifth grade class. My teacher was Mrs. Wagner, but she isn’t in the photo. A substitute teacher is. 1970-1971. My sixth grade class. 1970-1971 Freshman Baseball team, Tucson High School. My brother Freddie is in this photo. 1970 El Rancho Center little league team. I was on this team, but not in the photo. 1971 El Rancho Center little league team. My brother Charles and I are in this photo.
Mansfeld Jr. High Orchestra, Spring 1972. I’m just above the harp at the far end of the row.
Mansfeld Jr. High Orchestra, Spring 1973. I’m in the front row, fourth from the left.
1975 Salpointe Marching Band. I’m in the third row playing with Colleen Flahie’s hair.
Salpointe High School, 1975. National Honor Society
I’ve never really said much about giving up the Chicano Connection, my radio show on KXCI. I’ll just say that it was time to let it go. Altogether, I worked there as a volunteer for about 20 years, from 1983 to 1986 and then again from around 2004 to 2020. My last show was on February 26, 2020, two years ago this week. Every now and then I get nostalgic and long to hear all those old Mexican rancheras that I used to feature, so tonight I decided to put together a blog post with some of the great songs I miss playing. Many of these songs remind my of my mom, and others I think are just beautiful tunes. If you have time, listen to a few of these. Some are sad, some aren’t. Just don’t start drinking, or you won’t be able to stop…
I’m so grateful and humbled by these comments. They were posted on Facebook.
Loved your show—Chuck Leon
Your show was a great bouquet of music and culture—Steve Leal
Bob, I know so many are missing your show. Thanks for sharing your love of this music. It is truly beautiful! –Alexandra Rivera
I miss your show, too. It was always on as I as driving home from work.—Lisa Bunker
Your show was such a staple in our household. I miss it.—Andy Schmitt
I miss your show! It was the reason I donated to your public radio station, and I told them that. You taught me so much about Mexican music, and I loved your themed shows. And of course, I loved the Motown and Aretha you would sprinkle in! Love you! –Karen Downing
You gave us a beautiful show! Thank you!—Andrea Marie
Your show was life altering for me Bob. I break out my cassette recordings once and a while.—David Gouge
Bob, I remember being in the old studio watching you and Richard dj for one show, in the early yrs.–Ramon Federico
I loved your show and the playlist always taught me something!–Felicia Frontain
I miss your show, Bobby. I look forward to listening!!–Betty Villegas
Mil gracias for your special gift…we’re about to enjoy!–Margo Cowan
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click the back arrow key to return to the post.
Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
I was still in Tucson enjoying my holiday vacation, visiting with family and friends when the new year began. Before I left to go back to Michigan, I contacted Carla Stoffle to say hello. She was the former Assistant Dean at the University of Michigan Libraries and she played an instrumental role in hiring me there in 1987. She was very committed to promoting diversity and did all she could to hire librarians of color and to combat racism in the workplace. In 1991, she became the Dean of Libraries at the University of Arizona. When I contacted her to say hello, she invited me to one of her holiday gatherings at her home, where I met some of the Library’s department heads and library administrators. I brought my friend Richard Elias with me and we both had a blast drinking beer and other assorted alcoholic beverages, eating a bunch of food and meeting new people.
Carla encouraged me to apply for a position as a reference librarian that had just opened up. The area of specialization was psychology, and this just happened to be a subject I knew well because of my background (I have a bachelor of arts degree in psychology) and experience at Michigan conducting countless instruction sessions for students taking courses on this topic. I was very excited about the prospect of being able to finally come back home after being away for over five years, and was filled with hope and anticipation.
I returned to Ann Arbor the first week of January, and jumped right back in to doing my job, providing reference service, teaching basic library skills to students in Psychology, English and other areas, and supervising and training reference assistants. I also continued serving on the Library Diversity Council. MLK Day was right around the corner, and this particular year we were bringing the author Alex Haley to campus. It was an exciting time.
It was also around this time that I hit a high note with my teaching, and received a resounding round of applause after an instruction session I conducted for students in an upper division political science class. I was ecstatic, as something like that had never happened before. All those hours I spent in the classroom teaching while at Michigan had finally paid off, and this was proof that I was getting pretty good at it.
Toward the end of January, I attended the ALA Midwinter conference in San Antonio. I had never been there before, and there was a lot to see and explore. I had fun shopping, and even bought a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. I had immersed myself in country music around this time, and enjoyed dressing up in Western wear. I also found some great record stores and antiques stores, as well as some interesting historic landmarks, such as the Old Spanish Governor’s mansion and a neighborhood called La Villita, which was home to many historic houses. I also got a taste of the gay scene and visited a few bars in the downtown area. The food in San Antonio was pretty good too. At one restaurant, called Mi Tierra, I purchased a t-shirt with Emiliano Zapata’s portrait on it, and underneath it, painted in bright red, were the words “Mi Tierra”. I thought it was the coolest thing, and I kept that t-shirt until it finally fell apart.
At some point, the Arizona job was advertised, and I put my resume and a cover letter together and sent them in. Once this was done and out of the way, it was just a matter of time. I waited and waited and waited.
I was not involved romantically with anyone at this time, and spent a lot of nights watching movies that I had rented from local video stores. These included a number of old Bette Davis and Joan Crawford movies, such as Jezebel, Mr. Skeffington, The Women, and Mildred Pierce. It was a lot of fun, inexpensive, and it kept me home at night! My car wasn’t very reliable at the time, so staying at home was really the best thing for me to do. Besides, I needed to start saving money for the move back home.
By March, I had been notified that I was a leading candidate for the reference position at Arizona. I was interviewed over the phone, and later invited out to Tucson for an interview. I didn’t know it at the time, but Carla had another position open, that of Staff Development librarian, and while I was in the middle of the interview for the reference position, she asked me to consider applying for that job also. I didn’t really feel ready to take on a job like this, as I felt I didn’t have the appropriate experience, but Carla was persistent and asked me to interview, so I did. She argued that I had done library programming and instruction, and that I had what she called “transferable skills”, and could easily pick up along the way whatever else I needed to learn. There would be more pay, and I would be part of the Library administration. I thought about it for a few days, and finally decided that I would give it a try and apply for the job, and lo and behold, the job of Staff development librarian was soon offered to me. I would report directly to the Dean of the Library, Carla Stoffle.
When I got back to Ann Arbor, I needed to wrap things up at work and also needed to figure out how to get back home. My record collection and book collection presented the biggest challenges. There was no way I was going to get rid of anything this time around, so I decided to ask my oldest brother Charles if he would be willing to fly to Michigan and help me drive a U-Haul back to Tucson. He agreed, thank goodness.
I stayed in my job in Ann Arbor until early May. The head of the Undergraduate Library, Barbara MacAdam, threw me a going away party the day before I left, and my good friend Barbara Hoppe, (now Kolekamp) took photos of the occasion. I felt bad about leaving my good friends LeAnne, Mike, Karen, Barb, Linda, Judy and Rhett behind, but nothing would get in the way of going back home.
In hindsight, I’m glad I took the risk of moving away from Tucson back in 1987, but my mom’s death the following year has always made me feel guilty about it at the same time. I realize that she still would have passed on if I were in Tucson, however. I have to remind myself all the time that her death wasn’t my fault. It was her time to go, and that was that. She was ill and had reached the end of her road.
If I set aside the guilt trip that won’t go away, I must admit that living in Nogales and then in Ann Arbor were indeed worthwhile experiences. Living right on the U.S. Mexican border was eye opening in many ways, and I enjoyed crossing the line whenever possible. There’s nothing like the birria they sell on Elias St in Nogales, Sonora! I also got to see a lot of the state of Michigan while I lived there, and I really enjoyed it. I also liked living in Ann Arbor. There was always something going on, and I took advantage of that and saw concerts, attended lectures and plays and art fairs, and bought scores of record albums and books. I also had fun going out dancing, listening to live music, and partying with my friends. My relationship with Brent fizzled out at the end of 1990, unfortunately, but we did a lot of fun stuff together while we were a couple.
By the end of the first week of May, Charles and I were on the road heading back to Tucson. Unfortunately, he had to drive the whole way, because my eyesight is bad, and I just couldn’t handle driving such a big truck. It would have been a dangerous proposition! We had a good trip, nevertheless, and made it back home within a few days. I was so happy to finally be back home!
Finding a place to live was at the top of my to-do list when I arrived. At first I thought I would find an apartment on the south side of town, close to my brother Carlos and sister Irene. However, I quickly began to have second thoughts about it. I wanted to feel safe, and as a gay man, I knew I would not be so safe on the south side of town. That’s just the way I felt about it, and while some folks may not understand, I just knew there would be problems. I searched elsewhere, and quickly found an apartment near Ft. Lowell and Country Club. It was a two-bedroom townhouse and the rent was just a little more than what I was paying in Ann Arbor. My family helped me move in, and I was pretty well settled by the time I started my new job on June 1.
I was hired as an assistant librarian, even though I had been promoted to associate librarian while at Michigan. This meant that I would have about five years to “prove myself” in three areas: my primary job, scholarship and service, and either be awarded continuing status (similar to tenure) or released from my job for not “cutting it”. I was told that even though I had been promoted at Michigan, I hadn’t published enough, although I had submitted a book chapter manuscript that was slated for publication in 1993 and had co-written another book chapter with my colleague Karen Downing that was also published in 1993.
During the first few weeks of my new job, I learned that in addition to having responsibilities in the area of staff development, I would also be responsible for professional recruitment and the promotion of diversity within the organization, and that my job title would be “Assistant to the Dean for Staff Development, Recruitment and Diversity”. I would also be a member of the Library administration and would attend meetings of the Administrative Group, Library Cabinet, Planning Council and Library Council, all leadership groups within the organization. I would also work with the Library Diversity Council and the Diversity Training Committee and would allocate staff development funds in consultation with the Staff Development Committee.
I also learned that Carla was very, very busy, and had little time to devote to helping me learn the ins and outs of the job. I spent more time learning from Shelley Phipps, one of the assistant deans. She and Carla were spearheading an “organizational review” of the Library, something I had no knowledge of until I got there. This was a huge deal, and it meant that I would have to hit the ground running in my new job.
I spent the next six months on the fast track, attending countless meetings and learning about how the UA Library operated from the top down. I also started organizing workshops and events for the staff. There was a whirlwind of activity around the library restructuring project, as it was soon called. Plans were in the works to completely change how everything in the Library was organized and managed. The restructuring had to take place, we were told, because the University had been cutting the Library budget for several years in a row, and something had to give. Increased costs for magazines and journals and the implementation of a new integrated library system also contributed to the idea that the Library needed to make some deep structural changes. The goal of the restructuring was to save money while continuing to provide critical user services and access to information. It called for the number of departments to be reduced from 15 to 9, in addition to calling for a change in how work was done and decisions were made. The library would become a “team-based” organization, with shared decision-making as one of its central tenets and improved work processes. This was a multi-year endeavor. My role was to help people get on the bandwagon to learn to work in teams and to make shared decisions, among many other things.
Unfortunately, nothing I did seemed adequate or good enough. From the beginning, in all honesty, I didn’t feel much support from Carla or others in the administration, and was soon blamed for many things that went wrong that were simply beyond my control. I was very surprised that there was so much “politics” at play, particularly around the issues of diversity and recruitment. The Library had two diversity committees, and the leaders of these both competed with one another for resources and attention. I got stuck in the middle of all of this and had to figure out where I fit in. It was difficult. Carla also had me doing things that should have been taken on by others. For example, she asked me to coordinate the development of a proposal for the creation of Mexican American Borderlands archive in Special Collections. I spent countless hours meeting with various Latino leaders in the community, gathering information and gauging their interest in such an idea. Meanwhile, the staff in Special Collections were livid that they were not asked to do this work. Eventually, they did get involved, but they were not happy that I got the ball rolling. As far as recruitment of minorities went, some of the department heads pretended they supported minority recruitment and affirmative action, but in reality, they did not. I worked hard to recruit minority candidates to apply for our jobs, but they wouldn’t in many cases even be granted an interview.
In hindsight I realize that the Library needed a seasoned professional to coordinate the training and development necessary for the move from a top down organization to a team-based organization. It needed someone who had experience in administration and leadership, with expertise in human resources issues, organizational design and change. Actually, nobody on the staff had this kind of experience. We were all winging it. I could be wrong, but as far as I know, our ARL consultant had never led this type of process anywhere else. She, the Dean and the Assistant Dean were all learning as they went along, as were the members of the Operational Adjustment Team (OAT), who came up with the idea that we should have teams run the organization. The problem was that nobody on the staff had experience with team-based organizations. The members of OAT read some books and figured they could take a cookbook approach to the whole thing and tweak things as they went along. They ignored some basic tenets about teams that the professional literature espoused, and decided that instead of having small project teams, as the literature promoted, we were going to have large functional teams, with everyone having a “voice” in decisions and workflow processes. Boy, what a mistake that was, on so many levels. Unfortunately, we dove right in and went for it, and within a year upended the whole structure of the organization. It would take just a short while to realize that we had made some major mistakes. Within a year, at least four of the members of operational adjustment team had left the Library. I have to wonder why. Perhaps they didn’t want to be around to take the heat for what was to come. Who knows?
I traveled three more times between June and December, attending conferences and training events. I went to ALA Annual in San Francisco, to the first conference of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association in Columbus, and to a training skills workshop in Raleigh, North Carolina.
I’ve always enjoyed traveling, and I took the time to explore each city as much as I could. I got to see my Michigan friends in San Francisco, and even ran as a member of their team in the ALA Fun Run, rather than with the UA team. I was already missing Michigan. In Columbus, Ohio, where the BCALA conference was held, I spent time with my friend Karen Downing. We had a bit of a falling out before I left Ann Arbor in May, but by August, things were better between us and we spent a lot of time together at this conference. It was an historic event, and I’m very glad I was able to be there. The training event I went to in Raleigh was a good session, but I quickly learned that the format of the workshop relied heavily on the participants teaching each other, by sharing their own knowledge and experiences with one another. The workshop facilitators merely provided the structural framework for the workshop and filled in a few gaps. We were also given lots of reading material. This was an approach to training that I saw used again and again by certain consultants and trainers.
The first six months back home had other surprises in store for me as well. Things weren’t the same with the family. My dad had met a much younger woman from Mexico and they lived together at my dad’s house. I never felt comfortable going over to visit. It was different. My sister Becky lived there with my dad and Lupe too. Things sure had changed. I missed my mom.
Christmas was non-eventful. I don’t remember much about it. I looked forward to the new year and hoped that things would improve. So far, I wasn’t all that happy with the way things were turning out. I wasn’t an HR person. Prior to moving back to Arizona, I had been a public services librarian and had done reference and teaching, as well as some collection development work. I was not accomplished as a public speaker, nor had I the confidence to stand up to others and stand my ground. I felt beat up by the end of the year. And I was not taking care of myself. I was doing stupid things like partying a lot and going out at night. I was lonely. It wasn’t a good time for me. Another big change in my life had just occurred—moving back home to Tucson after having been away for over five years– and I had difficulty adjusting to it all. I felt really stuck. My dreams of serving my community, of turning people on to reading and learning and of social change seemed further and further from my grasp. It would take another year or more before I felt more grounded in my personal life and found things to do on the job that were more worthwhile. But at least I was back home.
A NOTE ABOUT THE GRAPHICS: IF YOU CLICK ON THE IMAGE, IT WILL ENLARGE IN A NEW WINDOW. THERE’S A LOT OF TEXT, AND DOING THIS WILL MAKE IT EASIER TO READ THE WRITING. CLICKING THE BACK ARROW KEY WILL TAKE YOU BACK TO THE POST.
My last Michigan calendar. I would not be able to find this type of calendar at Arizona, unfortunately. I loved the format.
What a wonderful live recording! Released 1-10-92.
Here’s one of my favorite songs from the album:
A birthday card from my dear friend Richard…
I rented these two films on 1/14/92. Law of Desire was directed by Pedro Almodovar and the Bette Davis movie was an early one from the 1903s. Both were excellent.
Jane and Ron Cruz’s annual letter arrived a few days after my birthday.
The Library DIversity Council sponsored Alex Haley’s visit to the University of Michigan campus for MLK Day. He died less than a month later. I was very lucky to have met him.
My ALA Midwinter, 1992 badge.
My first trip to San Antonio was in many ways the most memorable one. I loved it. There was so much to see! I took a boat tour my first time there. It was fun.I was in heaven when I found Alamo Records in the downtown area. It had a huge selection of Mexican music. I visited several times over the years.This building reminded me of Barrio Viejo in Tucson.
I went back to this area a few times over the years. There”s a lot to see!
St. Joseph’s Church, in downtown San Antonio.
I bought a pair of cowboy boots and a hat when I visited here.
This Mexican restaurant is open 24 hours a day. I bought the t-shirt on the right and wore it until it fell apart.
This is from “This Week in Texas”, a gay pubilcation I picked up in San Antonio. Urvashi Vaid is a brilliant leader and organizer.
I rented these on 1/30/92. Joan Crawford was something else!
Released some time in January, this is my favorite Buffy Sainte Marie album. I had seen her just a few months earlier at the Ark in Ann Arbor and she performed several songs from this album. They were all very well-received. Unfortunately, the album was all but banned in the U.S. and received no promotion, as it included some very hard-hitting songs, like “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”.
I rented these on 2/1/92. Loved them both. Pedro Almodovar is a one-of-a-kiind director and Bette Davis is amazing.
The movie and this soundtrack were released on February 28. This is a great album. Antonio Banderas sings! A review of the movie follows the scene in the movie where he sings “Bella Maria de mi Amor”
From USA Today, 2-28-92.
I wrote the following article about unity among Latinos on campus. It was my farewell message to Michigan.
I got a phone call from the UA Library on March 9 and was invited for an interview for the reference job at the University of Arizona Libraries as well as the staff development position.
There’s no place like home! I arrived for my job interview on March 18 and stayed until March 25.
Looking south at the University of Arizona Library
In addition to talking about my experiences with collection development and bibliographic instruction, I gave a presentation on the diversity work I participated in doing while at the University of Michigan Library. This was for the staff development position, which was later offered to me and that I accepted. My start date would be June 1. Here is a link to the presentation that I gave.
The above two albums by Bruce Springsteen were released on the same day, March 31, 1992.
My buddy David Gouge played this song at my other buddy Richard’s funeral service. It was a beautiful tribute to Richard.
I tried to attend this annual event each year while I was living in Ann Arbor, but I can’t say for sure if I was at this particular one or not. This event was held every year on April Fool’s Day.
Couldn’t resist adding this:
I wasn’t all that impressed with this play, but it was highly regarded as a groundbreaking work. I saw it with my friend Vivian Sykes and her sidekick Cynthia Miranda. It was the last performance I’d ever see in Ann Arbor.
My niece Michelle’s youngest child, Jordan was born on December 11, 1991. Here he is at 4 months of age.
My job offer from Carla Stoffle…
This appeared in USA Today on 4/24/92. I just love Robert Redford.
My acceptance letter
Released on 4/28/92. It would take me a while to warm up to Annie Lennox, but man, I love her now!
One of several great tunes from the album, Diva.
Meanwhile, in L.A, rioting broke out on April 29, and lasted two whole days. Rodney King’s attackers get off easy.
Kaitlyn Birdy, director of Hispanic Student Services, gave me this award. She was a real sweetheart.
Released on 5/5/92. I try to buy all of Santana’s stuff.
Barbara MacAdam, the head of the Undergraduate Library, threw me a going away party at her home on Thursday, May 7, one day before my very last at Michigan. Most of my UGL friends were there, except LeAnne Martin and Mike Robbins, unfortunately. We had a great time. Everyone loved my brother Charles, especially the women. They thought he was quite handsome.
An invitation to my going-away party.
Me, Barb Hoppe, Karen Downing, Brian Skib and his son, me and Linda, me and Ann.
Barbara MacAdam, Darlene Nichols, Harold Tuckett, Janet Tuckett.
Stuart Downing, Miriam Willard, Karen Sayer, Brian and his son.
Charles, me, Linda, me, Miriam, Linda, Charles, Rhett, me, me Doreen and Mary Lynn.
Barbara MacAdam and me, Sandy , Mary Lynn, Linda
Kevin, Rhett, me, Darlene and Brian’s son
My very last day at work…
Me and Mary Lynn, Me and Kim Crowley
Mary Lynn, Doreen and Mary Lynn, The UGL reference dept. staff, me in my office.
My brother Charles drove us all the way home in a big Ryder truck filled with all of my stuff. It took 3 days to get from Ann Arbor to Tucson.
This litte do not disturb sign was a parting gift from my dear friend Mary Lynn Morris. It hung on my bedroom door for years until it wore out, but I still have it!
This is the route Charles and I took getting home. We spent the night in Saint Clair Missouri and Amarillo Texas. I missplaced my keys at the motel in Amarillo and had to call for a locksmith. I found my keys thrown on the ground as soon as the guy left. Just my luck. Other than that, we had no other mishaps.
I’m baacckkkk!
A card from my friend Linda. Below is a letter she included.
Linda and others started writing to me almost immediately. It was very touching. I missed them already too!
My nephew Gabe graduated from Desert View High School on May 22. He was a star baseball player.
This was a fun concert. I think my friend Richard got me the ticket. It sure felt good to be back home!
Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez are two of my heroes.Seeing them perform live was a thrill of a lifetime.
What a great album. Released on May 26, 1992.
My favorite tune from Kiko.
June 26, 1992, Arizona Daily Star
This movie premiered on 05-29-92. Lots of fun, this one.
My ALA membership card, which I received in the mail in late May, shows my new home address in Tucson. The street I lived on was named after my friend Delma Rivera, who grew up just a few blocks away. The backside shows that I had joined the Library Administration and Management Association and the Social Responsibilities Roundtable.
This is my job description for my new job at the University of Arizona Library. Boy, was I in for a big surprise!
Carla Stoffle, Dean of Libraries at the University of Arizona, would be my supervisor for the next 8 years. She was a very busy lady.
A vintage postcard of Phoenix.
By the end of my first week of work in early June, I attended a meeting of the Arizona University Libraries Consortium, and was introduced there as Carla’s new assistant. The consortium membership included administrators and staff from all three Arizona universities. The purpose of these gatherings was to share information and explore areas where the three libraries could collaborate, such as working together to reduce costs by engaging in consortial arrangements with publishers and vendors.
AULC member institutions
A card from my dear friend Doreen. We’re still friends, after all these years. She lives up in Oregon.
Here’s another postcard. This one’s from my buddy Rhett. He and I and Mary Lynn, another good friend, would love to go to the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor on Friday’s to play pool and listen to country music. I have such fond memories of the fun we had together drinking and dancing. The house band would play the song “Apartment #9” every time we saw them. It would become one of my very favorite songs ever.
In the Spring I threw my hat into the ring and ran for national secretary of REFORMA. I won the election and by ALA Annual was busy taking notes at all of the formal REFORMA meetings. Fun, fun, fun!
ALA, here I come!
The ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco was packed with informative sessions.
Barb and Linda were my colleagues at the Undergraduate Library. I roomed with them at the conference. I just adore these two ladies.I ran with the Michigan team at the ALA Fun Run. I should’ve run with the Arizona team, but my heart was still back at Michigan. I missed these folks. The woman standing on the far left in the second photo, Margo Crist was one of the Assistant Deans at Michigan. She passed away in December, 2020. She was the nicest person one could ever meet.
This was my second gay pride experience in San Francisco. I saw the parade this time around from my hotel window.
The Mission Dolores Basilica, built in 1776 by Fray Junipero Serra, was amazing. It is located very close to the Castro district.
This record store in the Mission District had more Lucha Villa albums and cassettes than I had ever seen in one place before. I was in heaven! I went back again a couple of years later and it was still there. It was an amazing place.
This is a sampling of the Lucha Villa cassettes that I bought at the Mission Music Center over the years. I think after the first visit, I went back at least two more times on subsequent visits.
Here’s one of the songs from the album “El Quelite”.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any movies, but wow, what a smorgasbord!
I loved this bookstore. I bought abunch of bumperstickers and other “cositas”. Ruben would call it “cochinero”. It didn’t cost too much.
Little treasures from my trip.
This is a list of gay bars in San Francisco. Wow!
I saw this movie with my good friend Teresa Jones. It premiered on 7/1/92. We saw it on the 11th of July. Teresa bought me the ticket. What a sweetheart!
I attended this concert with my buddy Richard. We both enjoyed it immensely. These three sisters were a riot!
“The Married Men”. Oh my.
I rented these two films on July 25. I loved them both. Maurice was such a sad film, but so was All About Eve. This is the film where Bette Davis says, “fasten your seatbelts, It’s going to be a bumpy night”. And indeed it was!
Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida on August 24, 1992. It was a devastating Category 5 monster that destroyed thousands of homes and caused billions of dollars in damage in the Bahamas, Florida, Alabama,Louisiana and elsewhere. The only other stronger hurricane to ever make landfall in the U.S. was Katrina, which occurred in 2005.
I can’t imagine losing everything like this. Wow. What a horrifying experience this must’ve been for people.
The presidential campaign was in full swing in late summer, early Fall. Clinton and Gore represented hope and change to the gay community. On August 29, my calendar notes that I had gone to IBT’S, a local gay bar, to hear Clinton speak on tv. Wow. I don’t remember this, but I was a Clinton supporter. He made a lot of promises to the gay community, but didn’t deliver all that much in the end. He even signed the Defense of Marriage (DOMA) Act, which was very disappointing.
I was looking forward to attending La Fiesta de San Agustin on August 30. Here’s a preview of the day’s events.
Earlier the same day, I had a big family gathering at my townhouse. We had a blast. Almost everyone in my immediate family showed up, with the exception of a few nieces and nephews. My dad, his wife Lupe, my cousin Yolanda and my niece’s boyfriend, Martin Green, have all since passed on. Time sure flies. I remember this like it was yesterday.
A few days later, I was traveling again, this time to Columbus, Ohio, for the first ever national conference of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. The conference lasted from September 3 through September 6. It was a historic occasion. I spent a lot of time with Karen Downing, my friend from Michigan. The purpose of my attendance was to recruit African American librarians to Arizona. I had just successfully helped recruit one such librarian, and the Dean of the Library wanted me to let people know that Arizona welcomed librarians of color.
Downtown Columbus
The conference got several write-ups in the national library press. Here are links to a couple such articles.
This workshop was part of the pre-conference programming offered at the conference. Anne Lipow was an excellent workshop facilitator and a well-respected librarian. I was lucky to attend a workshop with her as the instructor.
My niece Anadine’s first child, Dominique Delgado, was born on September 3, 1992. This was taken just a couple of months later.
I attended another AULC meeting in September, this time in Flagstaff. My dad and his family lived here for a short while in the mid-30s, during the Great Depression and I attended Boys’ State here back in 1976. It was good to be back. I love Flagstaff.
My brother Fred’s son Frankie was baptized on September 27, 1992 by Father Gilbert Padilla at St. Ambrose Church. I was one of his padrinos. Fred and Lorena split up a long time ago, but I’m still good friends with her. She’s standing next to Father Padilla and Fred’s on the far left. The other two people in the photo were co-padrinos and friends of Lorena’s. Frankie will be 30 this year.
Sinead O’Connor rips the pope’s photo on live tv on October 3 in an effort to raise awareness of the Church’s role in hiding the truth about the child abuse committed by the clergy in Ireland and elsewhere. I was at the Hotel Congress bar when it happened and saw it live on tv.
Play Me Backwards was released on October 6, 1992. Joan started featuring songs by newer songwriters, including people like Mary Chapin Carpenter. The album was nominated for a Grammy for best contemporary folk album.
This song was written by Mary Chapin Carpenter, who recently sang, along with Emmylou Harris, a tribute to Joan at the Kennedy Center Awards program in 2021. In October, I was up in Phoenix again, this time to attend the Arizona State Library Association’s annual conference. The conference meetings were held in the Phoenix Civic Plaza and the Hyatt Regency Hotel, right across the street. I stayed at the San Carlos Hotel, which was a few blocks away.
Harvest Moon was released on October 26 and Good As I been to You was released about a week later, on November 3. Both albums were critically acclaimed. This was Dylan’s first all acoustic album since 1964’s Another Side of Bob Dylan.
From Hank to Hendrix brings back a flood of memories of my friend Richard. He was a real die hard Neil Young fan.
Clinton captures the presidency, November 3, 1992.
Whitney Houston’s smash hit version of I Will Always Love You was released on November 3rd. The soundtrack to the movie, “The Bodyguard”, was released five days later. Whitney was at the top of her form at the time.
Here’s my favorite version of the song, “I Have Nothing”, which first appeared on the soundtrack to the movie “The Bodyguard”.
I traveled to Raleigh N.C. in early November to attend a workshop titled “The Training skills Institute”, sponsored by the Association of Research Library’s Office of Management Services. Maureen Sullivan and John Kupersmith conducted the 3 day session.
There were a lot of readings and small group sessions. Overall, it was a good experience and I learned a great deal. I did explore downtown Raleigh some, but not much else. There was a lot to do in the region, but most of my time was spent in the workshop and in doing assignments related to it. I didn’t get out a lot on this trip. The State Capitol. I was able to go inside and take a look. It was magnificent.
Gay resources in Raleigh–a page from the Gay Yellowpages, and a copy of a local gay newspaper. Unless food was served there, the bars were all “members only clubs” and you had to pay a special fee to get in. It was strange, but that was the law. It’s still in effect today.
Antonio Aguilar’s son Pepe was on his way to ranchera stardom with this album, released on Novmeber 12, 1992.
Here’s one of the many great tunes that can be found on the above album.
Malcolm X was released on November 18, 1992 and the Crying Game was released on November 27.
The planning groups involved in the Library’s restructuring process decided that the Library should organize into teams. I soon discovered there was a wealth of literature available on the topic of teams in organizations. These are but two examples. The consultants we hired to assist with the transition to teams provided training on team basics and development.
As we continued planning the Library re-structuring, the consultants we worked with developed workshops for the Library leadership on team management and other topics. One of the things they did was to have all members of the administration fill out the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality assessment questionnaire in late November. This was the first time I took it, and my “type” was INTJ. I took it again a year or so later and my type changed to INFJ. Before the questionnaire was purchased (it was expensive), one of my colleagues suggested that I check with local experts on campus to investigate the validity and reliability of the MBTI assessment tool, and I learned that it was, among psychologists anyway, not found to be a valid instrument, but my report was dismissed, and we moved forward as planned. This really bothered me, but there wasn’t anything I could do. The consultant who wanted us to take the questionnaire was convinced that it was a worthwhile endeavor and we went along with her recommendation. For a basic overview of the instrument see Wikipedia’s article titled, “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator”. For more about the concerns about the validity of the instrument see: “Myer’s Briggs Concerns”. The paper mentioned in the linked article came out less than a year after we all filled out the questionnaire, but the findings were ignored, and we took it again about a year later.
I had tickets for the next day’s show as well. Went to these with my best friend Richard and a bunch of other people. Fun times.
I was there!
Alejandro Fernandez’s debut album, released on December 15, 1992. He would go on, like Pepe Aguilar, to become one of the best-loved ranchera singers of his generation. His father was Vicente Fernandez.
A sampling from his first cd.
A Christmas card from Brent’s mom. She was very sad that we had split up, but there was no going back.
I missed my friend LeAnne. She was so much fun!
More Christmas cards from friends and colleagues both in Tucson and Ann Arbor.
I ended up the year still single, but in the next few months, things in my personal life would change dramatically, and for the better.
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click the back arrow key to return to the post.
Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
1991 was an interesting year. I started out the year alone as Brent and I had just split up the previous month. Getting through the holidays was difficult. On the bright side, however, I was promoted to Associate Librarian, effective January 1, 1991, and I got to create another Martin Luther King, Jr. exhibit. I also got to travel to Chicago again for yet another ALA conference. This time I took the train. It sure was an interesting ride, with lots of scenery along the way, some of it not so pretty, in all honesty. The last leg of the trip was through Gary, Indiana and south Chicago, and it all looked like one big industrial wasteland. I believe I went with Karen, Linda and Barb this time around.
While there, I turned 32. I also met a guy named Tom at a GLBT social gathering, and we hit it off. I really liked him. He was quite liberal and a very good conversationalist. However, he lived in Connecticut, several hundred miles away. Once the conference ended, we agreed to stay in touch and to see each other whenever possible, and we got along great for a while, visiting each other whenever we could, but then I got restless, and he turned out to not be the kind of guy I wanted to be with after all. We spent time together in February and April, and in May we split up. I think I was on the rebound, and Tom was the first guy after my breakup with Brent to show any interest in me. I was lonely and thought we could make things work, but they didn’t after all.
In late January I was traveling again, and this time I flew with my friend Karen to Long Beach, CA to give a presentation on diversity at the Freshman Year Experience Conference. We did alright, but I didn’t save any of my notes or other written material. All I have are some photos we took and an abstract from the program. We had a lot of fun, and got to go to Hollywood and walk around a bit. Later in the month, I took a train to Springfield, Massachusetts to visit Tom. It was a fun trip. The train went through upstate New York, and I got to see a lot of beautiful country side. Tom picked me up in Springfield and we drove to Storrs, Connecticut where he lived. He was a librarian and had a job as a cataloger at the University of Connecticut. It was fun exploring the area. We went to Hartford and Mystic Seaport, visited antique stores and flea markets, and even drove up to Rhode Island.
I got an AIDS test in February and tested negative. Thank goodness. I had been very careful the last several years (Brent and I had an open relationship), but I still was sexually active, and there was a time or two when I took some risks that I should not have taken. I was so nervous when I took the test. I worried that I would hurt myself if I had tested positive. I didn’t want to have to die the way so many people around me had died, from a disease that was unstoppable and merciless. I swore after I had tested negative that I would never do anything risky again, and while I can’t say I’ve always been faithful to that promise, I never did get HIV, even while sexually active. I’ve been very fortunate.
In March, I had another book review published. The book was titled, “Latino Librariaship: A Handbook for Professionals” and was edited by Sal Guerena, an archivist from Santa Barbara, California and former REFORMA president. The review appeared in Preview Magazine.
In the Spring I applied for a new job, that of “diversity librarian” at the University of Michigan. I had to give a presentation and meet with lots of different groups, and I was a nervous wreck. My presentation was well received, however, but in the end the job went to someone else. I was really disappointed, but decided to continue job hunting. I wanted so badly to come back West. Nothing materialized, however, so I stayed at Michigan the entire year, and continued to work at the Undergraduate Library. Things got better by the Fall, as my supervisor, “the southern belle from hell,” had moved on to the Library School, where she was pursuing a PhD. I was given more responsibility as manager of the student reference assistant program, and I was pretty happy with the work. I continued doing instruction and reference, and also continued on the Diversity Council, helping to coordinate the annual diversity film festival series and doing more exhibits. This all kept me pretty busy.
In May, I went to see Tom again. This time, we met up in Boston. I flew there from Detroit, and Tom and I rented a hotel room in Cambridge, very close to the Harvard campus. I had a blast visiting the record stores and used bookstores, but Tom wanted to do other things, like check out the various monuments and other historical sites. This is where we broke up. I decided it was time to move on, and I told him I no longer wanted to pursue a relationship with him. He got very angry, and things got a little ugly, but we got through it and decided to go our separate ways. I was relieved. I’ve had to learn that long distance relationships, at least for me, do not work.
In late June, I got to go to Atlanta Georgia for the first time to attend the ALA Annual Conference. While there, I went to the Martin Luther King Jr memorial and ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the very first time. I also found some gay bars and had a good time dancing and meeting new people. I did have one committee assignment as a member of ACRL’s University Library Sections Organization and Bylaws committee, but not much work came from it. I was free to go to whichever programs I chose, and eventually settled on getting more involved with REFORMA, that National Association for Library Services to the Spanish Speaking.
A major change occurred in the Library administration at Michigan during the summer. Carla Stoffle, who was a big supporter of diversity and who had worked hard to retain me (it was she who had me placed in the Residency program), took a job as director of the University of Arizona Libraries. When I went home at Christmastime later in the year, I took my friend Richard Elias with me to one of her holiday gatherings. Little did I know that I’d soon be working for her as her assistant, but I’m jumping ahead in my story, so that’s all I’ll say about it at this point.
My friend Roberto was also back in the picture by the time summer arrived. He and I went to see Madonna’s movie, Truth or Dare, at least seven times. We had a blast and were inseparable for a while there. We went out a lot and saw live bands together. It was a fun summer. I was in love again, but it was all a lost cause, as Roberto started dating other girls around this time. Ruth Patino was one such individual. She was very nice, and loved ranchera music like I did, but I was quite jealous of her. I was glad when she went back home to Oakland after her graduation. She turned me on to Alejandro Fernandez and later sent me a couple of tapes by Lucha Villa, which I still have.
Another student I met while spending time with Roberto was a young woman from Texas named Lucy. She had studied graphic design, and had just graduated. We enjoyed dancing to reggae music together and we dated for a while. (Roberto was busy with Ruth). She also left Ann Arbor at some point in the summer, and we tried to stay in touch, but I drifted away. She was the last woman that I tried to make a go of things with. I think I gave up completely after that.
There were other people who I would hang out with this particular year, including Mike Robbins, LeAnne Martin, Rhett Stuart, Judy Sorensen, Mary Lynn Morris, and Vivian Sykes. I had some great times with them and we all enjoyed going out to dinner, partying at the bars and going to the movies together. Some of the movies I saw included “The Five Heartbeats”, “The Commitments”, “What About Bob?”, “My Own Private Idaho”, “Paris Is Burning”, “Thelma and Louise” and others. I also watched a lot of television. My favorite shows included “In Living Color”, “The Nat King Cole Show”, “Are You Being Served?” and “Married with Children”. This was the year I immersed myself in the movies of Bette Davis. God, I loved seeing her in all those different roles, from Jezebel to Mr. Skeffington, to Now, Voyager, to the Virgin Queen and many others. She is my all-time favorite actress.
Roberto moved in with me in the Fall, but things didn’t work out. We had some conflicts over the rent, which he didn’t want to pay, so I asked him to leave. He accused me of spreading lies about our friendship, saying that there was talk in the Medical school about a student who was in a relationship with a librarian at the Undergraduate Library (thanks a lot, LeAnne…)…We stopped being friends after that. I also stopped hanging out with my other Latino student friends as a result, since he was very popular, and they all sided with him when they found out we had a falling out.
There were some very good albums that were released this particular year. One of my favorites was Joni Mitchell’s “Night Ride Home”. It included some great tunes, including the title cut, “Coming in from the Cold”, and “Cherokee Louise”, among others. The first Dylan Bootleg series was released this year too as was Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable, With Love”. In the realm of country music, Vince Gill, Colin Raye, and Sammy Kershaw all released some of their best work, and I bought their recordings, watched their videos on television, and even went out to the bars out on Michigan Avenue outside Ypsilanti to listen to country music and gawk at all the fine looking men in their tight levis and cowboy shirts. I was a total mess. I also got to see a few local groups live. Jeanne and the Dreams were great, as was the jazz group, “Oasis”. I also saw the Chenille Sisters and the great Buffy Sainte Marie again. I think Brent came with me. He didn’t care for the show, but I loved it. Buffy played some of her newest material from her masterpiece, “Coincidence and Likely Stories”. What a powerful album!
In late September, tragedy hit my family back home. My niece Belisa’s little girl, Brisette, was struck and killed by a car. She was only three years old. I wish I could’ve come home for the funeral, but I couldn’t afford another trip, and I had already purchased tickets to come home for Christmas. I felt very sad about that. My dad was especially heartbroken, because he loved that little girl. She was born just a month or so before my mom died in 1988.
I spent the last few months of the year writing a chapter on buidlng diverse library collections for a book titled “Cultural Diversity in Libraries”. I also continued to manage the reference assistants program, and continued to participate in the work of the Diversity Council. We had more training in the Fall, and planned more film festivals and MLK Day events and exhibits. I also got to hear Angela Davis, Gloria Anzaldua and Rodolfo Acuna speak. There was always something interesting happening on campus. I was very fortunate, in hindsight to be able to experience seeing all these wonderful people. The PC (political correctness) wars were also raging all over the country’s college campuses at this time, and in November, a big conference on political correctness was held on the Michigan campus. I still have the immense set of readings that were distributed right before it took place.
I got to go see my very first University of Michigan football game in the Fall. Barb Hoppe, my colleague from the Undergraduate Library, took me with her and wow, it was fun. The stadium is huge and holds over 100, 000 people. Michigan played Indiana that day, and won, of course. I’m not much of a sports fan, but I did have an enjoyable time.
Periodically, I’d drive my little beat up Toyota into Detroit, and either go barhopping, or go shopping at the record stores and thrift shops scattered throughout the suburbs. One day, I was driving along an unfamiliar road, just after having purchased a couple of religious relics at a thrift store in one of the suburbs, when lo and behold I hit a railroad crossing barrier. I hadn’t seen any lights flashing or heard anything, and just slammed right into it. The thing flew up and stayed there and my car stalled right on the tracks. Luckily, I got it started just in time to move it away from the tracks before the train came roaring through. I could’ve easily been killed. It literally missed me by seconds and was a very close call indeed. I still have those relics, and I’ve told people that they saved my life that day. One was a little bust of the Virgin Mary and another was a last rites kit, used by priests when conducting the last rites ceremony for the dying.
At Christmastime, I flew back home to Tucson. As I noted earlier, Carla Stoffle had become director of the UA Libraries over the summer, and when I was there for Christmas, I contacted her to say hello. She invited me to a holiday gathering at her home, and I took my friend Richard with me. A reference position had opened up in the Library, and she encouraged me to apply for it, which I did. I was filled with excitement and anticipation in the following months, as the possibility of finally getting back home was about to become a reality. Unlike the previous year, when I spent Christmas by myself, I had a great Christmas this time around. I was at home with my family, bought presents for everyone, and was very hopeful about the future!
I got promoted!
The library purchased a new exhibit case and this was the first one that it housed. Most of the books on Martin Luther King, Jr in the case were from my own personal collection.
The Ann Arbor train station.
I can’t believe how inexpensive trips were back then.
This was my third trip to Chicago. I never get tired of visiting.
Union Station, Chicago.
I stayed at the Bismark Hotel again.
The train in downtown Chicago is called the “L”. It’s noisy as heck when you’re anywhere near it.
This famous record store no longer exists. I spent hundreds of dollars in this place on my various trips. It eventually became Tower Records and then closed.
The Wrigley Building. I love this part of the city.
Brent’s mom was a very nice lady. She and her daughter Theresa were very sad that we had split up, and they continued to send me cards and letters over the next couple of years.
Mrs Gloria Bates, Brent’s mom, treated my like her own son.
A birthday card from my friend Emily, Richard’s wife.
I had been to Long Beach way back in 1966, when our family visited my brother Charles when he was in the Navy. This time around, the purpose of the trip was to attend the Freshman Year Experience Conference.
Long Beach, CA.
My good friend Karen and I talked about the Library’s diversity efforts. This was my first professional presentation. I was very nervous.
I needed a haircut. Oh well.
Karen and I had a lot of fun on this trip.
We didn’t get to tour the Queen Mary, but I saw it on a later trip several years later, however.
One of Karen’s friends moved to LA and when we were there, she came by and took us to Hollywood. It was not what I thought it would be, but interesting nevertheless.
Seeing all the footprints and handprints of various movie stars here at Grauman’s Chinese theater was one of the highlights of our visit.
Movie star wannabes.
One of my favorite Joni Mitchell albums. Released on February 19, 1991. See song and review below.
From Rolling Stone magazine.
My next trip was to Storrs, Connecticut to see my friend Tom. He picked me up at the train station in Springfield and we drove to Storrs from there. I started on on February 21, 1991 and took about a week off to be with Tom.
The woods outside of Storrs.
Tom took me all over the place, including to Hartford. We also made it up to Providence, Rhode Island at some point. It was a fun trip.
Providence, Rhode Island
This album was great. It was released on 03-05-91. Vince Gill had been a session musician and sang harmonies on Emmylou Harris’s album. Angel Band. His voice just makes me melt. What a talented man.
Released on 3-26.91.
This is one of Dylan’s earliest compositions. It hadn’t appeared on any of his albums until this first Bootleg Series was released. Willie Nelson later recorded the song for the soundtrack to “Brokeback Mountain”.
The Chenille Sisters were a local trio who modeled their singing after the Boswell Sisters, who were famous in the 1930s. I saw these women in concert a couple of times. The one on the far left worked at the Graduate Library.
This movie premiered on March 29, 1991. I loved it.
Tom visited me in early April. This was taken at the Renaissance Center in Detroit.
The Detroit River is in the background.
Tom took lots of pictures. Here’s one of me in my apartment.
The Residency group. Gene Alloway, Karen Downing, Bob Diaz, Elizabeth Robinson, David Flaxbart, Jay Nagarashi, Roger Brisson and one other person whose name escapes me, unfortunately. This was a great group of colleagues. They all went on to have amazing careers.
A card from my colleague, Darlene Nichols, congratulating me on the presentation I gave as part of a job interview that I had for the diversity librarian job at Michigan.
Diversity in Libraries / Presentation, 1991. In April, I applied for a job as the University of Michigan’s diversity librarian, and gave a presentation on April 21 about my thoughts on diversity at the time. The presentation and the question and answer session that followed were very well received, but in the end, the job went to someone else.
In early May, I flew to Boston to see Tom again. This time around, things didn’t turn out so well and we ended up going our separate ways.
Boston has an amazing skyline.
Cambridge, home of Harvard University.
The Widener Undergraduate Library. The general public was not allowed in.
North Hall, where the hotel I stayed in used to stand, at 1651 Massachusetts Ave.
It wasn’t too expensive. A hotel in Cambridge probably costs three times this amount now.
This movie premiered on May 10, 1991. I went with my friend Roberto to see it seven times during the month of June. I became a big Madonna fan at this point, and even though her music was played all the time at the Nectarine Ballroom, I started to buy all of her albums at this point. I was a sick puppy, for sure.
This scene presented one of the most somber moments in the film.
I thought the movie was very, very campy and funny as could be. So did this critic.
Roberto disappeared for a year, but by late Spring was back in my life for another few months. We were inseparable for a while, but by October, we had a major falling out and I never saw him again.
A letter from my buddy Richard. He had a difficult job, but pulled through in the end.
What a whacky movie! It premiered on May 17, 1991.
This was a local band. Jeanne, the lead singer, had a great voice. The group liked to do a lot of soul classics, including “Take Me To the River”, which I just loved.
This is Jeanne and the Dreams, many years later.
Premiered on 5-30-91. I saw this with my friend LeAnne. She loved the ending. Later that night, I went to see Truth or Dare again with Roberto. Two different movies in one day…
This was released on June 11, 1991. It’s a beautiful record.
What a lovely voice!
Another great album by Bonnie Raitt, released on June 25, 1991.
Dang, what a song!
This was also released on June 25, 1991. In my opinion, this was one of the last great albums Aretha recorded. I didn’t care much for anything that came later.
Love this.
Doing time at the reference desk, Summer, 1991.
The Crowne Plaza Atlanta, shown on the map with the red location symbol, used to be called Hotel Penta, which is where I stayed on this particular trip. I did a lot of walking at this conference…
Over time, the skyline and the downtown area have all changed a lot. There are now a lot more buildings and attractions.
Georgia World Congress Center main entrance and sign at Twilight with traffic streaks.
My friend Karen Beavers and I made our way through some of the poorer neighborhoods to visit this center. It was quite an experience.
This eternal flame is located near the entrance to the Martin Luther King Center.
I walked for what seemed like two miles back and forth to have my very first Krispy Kreme doughnut experience.
This gay bar, located a few blocks north of where I was staying, no longer exists. Little did I know when I went there that it was home to the local gay hustler scene. It is said to have been the oldest gay bar in Atlanta, but was eventually demolished sometime in the 1990’s.
This was a big shopping mall that I went to with some friends.
I had dinner here with my fellow Michigan residents. It was a big crowd of people, and a fun place to eat.
Jesse Jackson spoke at this conference and there were other wonderful speakers too. The article below gives an idea of how amazing the conference was this time around.
I found this on the Internet. It’s a great synopsis of the Atlanta conference.
The annual street fair was a lot of fun. It usually rained, however, at this time of year.
Released on 8-14-91
This is Lucy. We dated for a short while. Another long distance effort that didn’t last…
Released on 8/23/91. Almodovar was on a roll.
Cynthia Miranda and Vivian Sykes.
Released on 08-27-91, this was Colin Raye’s debut album. What a fine looking man…
This epitomizes the sound of country music of the time. There were lots of swinging dance tunes being recorded.
Dr. Frances Kendall worked with the University of Michigan Library Diversity Committee and staff several times while I was at Michigan. I first met her in 1988. She returned again in 1991 to conduct more workshops on diversity and racism for members of the Diversity Council and the Library staff. She is still active as a consultant.
Lucy Cohen, Dorothy Shields, Elaine Jordan, and Ann Ridout, all members of the Library Diversity Council.
Hattie Summerhill and I at a Diversity Council meeting.
Buffy Sainte Marie appearaed at the Ark on September 6, 1991. This time around she played songs from her upcoming cd, Coincidence and Likely Stories. She was absolutely amazing.
Meanwhile, back in Tucson….My dad and a few of his grandchildren. Brissette is the one standing on his lap. Also included are Jose, Edessa, Estrella, Raymond, Jacky, and Chito. Brissette, my niece Belisa’s little girl, and Jose’, my brother Fred’s son. Jose’ was born in May, 1988 and Brissette in September, 1988. This tragedy impacted our family severely. I never got to meet Brissette, but I understand she was a beautiful little girl. My dad was very fond of her. She was my niece Belisa’s fourth child.
Premiered on 9/29/91. Some people hated this movie. I loved it.
Gloria Anzaldua spoke on campus on 10/3/91. She was not a great speaker, but her work has had a huge impact on feminist Chicana studies.
Sammy Kershaw’s debut recording was his best. I love this album. It was released on 10-08-9
His voice sounds just like George Jones’s.
Angela Davis also spoke on campus, on October 17, 1991. This was the third time I’d heard her speak. She is incredilbly eloquent and a wonderful speaker. I could hear her again and again.
Being silly with my good friend Karen.
I found these religious relics in suburban Detroit one day. I’d almost been struck by a train that day, after having just purchased these.
Last rites kit.
Katalin Berdy was a very nice woman. She led the Hispanic Student Services office for the University, and I worked on a couple of committees with her.
My good friend Barb Hoppe took me to my first and only Michigan football game in October. It was a chilly morning, but what fun!
This is my friend Ruth, who turned me on to Alejandro Fernandez and sent me tapes of Lucha Villa’s music. She had been Roberto’s girlfriend for a while over the summer, but we stayed in touch even after she had left Michigan that Fall.
A postcard from Ruth.
Linda’s follow-up to Canciones de Mi Padre is filled with classic huapangos and rancheras. It’s my favorite of the two. Released in November 1991.
Premiered November 15, 1991.
My niece Michelle had a baby. He’s about to turn 30 this year (2021). Time sure flies!
I turned in the manuscript for my chapter in December 1991. The book did not get published until 1994. It took a while.
My friend Tim was better at letter writing than I was. We eventually lost touch. We’d been friends since our college days in the early 80s.
I made it back home for vacation and spent a couple of weeks there, hanging out with friends and family. I had a great time.
Carla Stoffle became dean of the UA Library sometime during the summer of 1991. When I went home for Christmas, I looked her up to say hello, and she invited me to a Christmas gathering at her home. She also encouraged me to apply for an position in the Library that was opening soon. I did, and lo and behold, was offered the job in the Spring of 1992.
CHristmas, 1991, with my brothers Carlos, Rudy, Freddie, and my dad.
My buddy Richard and I spent a good amount of time together while I was home. This is a photo of him and his wife Emily. They lived in Benson at the time. Benson is southeast of Tucson, about a 40 minute ride on the freeway. Richard was overseeing some major housing projects in the region.
It’s not the most progressive place in Arizona. Richard and Emily hated it there, but that’s where Richard’s work took him at the time.
I rented a car one day and went to see Richard in Benson. We drove all over the place, and visited Gleeson, a ghost town in the Dragoon Mountains area. This was Apache country at one point.
I bought a little pipe made out of rattlesnake hide at this tiny shop. I kept it for years.
I was a member of the planning committee for this event. My main role was to organize the opening night reception. I worked with colleagues from the Library and student members of the local chapter of REFORMA, of which I was president, to plan the logistics and serve as hosts. It was a very successful and fun evening, with live music and plenty of food and drink.
The following photos were taken during the opening reception of the Institute. I worked with members of the Library staff to host this event in Special Collections.
2019 was a tough year. I had a series of health problems, which impacted my output of work for the entire year. One thing I did manage to do on a regular basis, however, was to take lots of photos of flowers, roses for the most part, whenever I had the chance. Below is sampling of the beautiful roses and flowers I photographed both on the University of Arizona and campus and at Reid Park’s Rose Garden, one for every month of the year.
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click the back arrow key to return to the post.
Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
1990 was not my best year, nor was it the worst. I felt like I was in limbo, however, biding my time in Ann Arbor until I could find my way back home to the Southwest. I continued to work at the Undergraduate Library, honing my reference and instruction skills, which I had started to develop when I was hired at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library in the Fall of 1987. By this point, I had taught scores of classes and had spent hundreds of hours on the reference desk. I had also begun to train reference assistants and to take on classes outside the usual Psychology and English courses we taught every semester. I also continued my involvement in diversity work, participating as a member of the Library Diversity Council, planning film festivals, exhibits and other programs, and engaging in continuous dialogue with my colleagues about issues like racism, sexism and homophobia. I helped co-found the Gay and Lesbian Library Association, was a member of a campus Latino support group called La Alianza, and had worked diligently to enhance the Undergraduate Library’s collections of Chicano literature and Gay studies materials. I felt good about this work in particular. I also continued in the Residency program, and enjoyed the seminars and other learning opportunities that were planned for us by the Library administration. I attended seminars with people like Sharon Hogan, Peter Hernon and the very colorful and radical Sanford Berman. My colleagues in the Residency program were very bright and interesting, and I enjoyed their company. I still intensely disliked my immediate supervisor however, as she continued to try to hold me back. There was no pleasing her. She didn’t encourage me to go up for a promotion, but the Library administration did. Lucy Cohen, the head of personnel encouraged me to apply, so I went for it, and was granted a promotion to associate librarian in early 1991, in spite of my supervisor’s opinions about my worth. I wasn’t the only one to have issues with her. My colleague Karen had several major run-ins with her as did others in the department. She was a control freak and didn’t think any of us could do as good a job as she could. By the following year, she was “encouraged” by the Library administration to move on, so she started taking courses in the library school to pursue a PhD and was gone shortly thereafter.
My personal life was a mess. Brent and I continued to have our ups and downs. We just couldn’t please each other any longer, and he was never happy. He insisted that I continue going to counseling, which I did, although I thought it was a big waste of time and money. By the end of the year, he moved out for good and our relationship was over. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to work out. We weren’t a good match for each other, and we finally gave up trying to make it work. While at one point, the year before, I was infatuated with someone else, when Brent and I broke up there weren’t any other guys in my life in whom I was interested. By the end of the year, I was free as a bird, but lonely. I longed to go home.
I had good friends, however, and I had good times with them. My two friends Rhett and Judy were great drinking buddies. We would go out to the Blind Pig on Friday nights with my friend Mary Lynn, who was dating Rhett at the time, and have a blast, listening to live music, playing pool and dancing. The country band that played live music always opened with song, Apartment #9, an old Tammy Wynette classic. I just fell in love with that tune and went out in search of all the Tammy Wynette recordings I could fine. My friends and I would also go out bowling on Sunday afternoons. We all liked to drink and smoke weed, and had a great time together. My friend LeAnne was also a lot of fun, and I confided lots of things to her. She was, as I’ve said before, a bit on the kooky side, and had lots of issues, but she was always fun to talk to, and we got along great.
In 1990, I had also met another person who was very interesting. His name was Rupert Whitaker. I can’t remember how we met but h was a graduate student, and very interested in gay men’s literature. Somehow he found out that I was knowledgeable about the topic, and when we met he asked for reading recommendations, which I was more than happy to provide. We soon became good friends and would remain so for the entire year. The whole time we were friends, I had no real idea who Rupert was, but much later I learned that he had contracted HIV in the early 80s and that his partner was one of the first people in England to have died of AIDS. Rupert came from a wealthy family, and when his partner died, he established an AIDS research foundation in his partner’s memory. Rupert was studying to get his PhD when I met him, and he went on to become a well known AIDS researcher and activist, with several advanced degrees, as well as a strong patient advocate. Today he is one of the leading authorities on the virus and has lived longer with it than practically anyone else alive. At some point during our friendship, Rupert turned me on to Buddhism, and I began to attend meetings with him. I wasn’t a very good student however, and dropped out after a few sessions. I did get to meet a Rinpoche however, and that was quite a thrill. I’ll never forget the experience.
I was 31 years old in 1990, still young and “full of life” so to speak. Some people would say I was immature, and in hindsight, I guess I was. It took a long time to slow down, to stop smoking grass and to stop going out to the bars and drinking. I wasn’t happy at Michigan. I knew I needed to get back home sooner or later. I was just biding my time for the opportunity to go back. It would take another two years before I finally made it home.
1990 was also the year I started traveling in earnest. The previous year, I had taken just one trip, and that was to Dallas to attend ALA. In 1990 I took three trips. I went to ALA in Chicago in January and in March, I headed to Tucson with my friend Judy to visit my family, and then in June, it was back again to Chicago for another ALA conference. I loved Chicago, and had a great time exploring it. As of today, I have visited the city 13 times altogether.
For my first visit there, I thought I would save some money, so I reserved a room at the YMCA on the corner of Clark and Chicago Ave. in the northern part of downtown, but it was a real dump. Everything was old and worn, and it was more like a “residence” than a “hotel”. I had a feeling the place wasn’t going to work out for me. After I checked in, I then went to a gay bar I had read about, The Gentry, on Rush St, and I met an older guy at the bar. We started chatting, and when I told him where I was staying, he was shocked, and he urged me to get the heck out of the Y, telling me that it was was a dump and that there were roaches and other critters everywhere in that place. I told him I didn’t know where else to go, so he helped me find a room at the Bismark Hotel on Randolph St. The Bismark was a much nicer, but more expensive place, and was once a very elegant hotel. While it cost more, I didn’t have to worry about any bugs whatsoever. Thank God I ran into that guy.
I was in heaven in Chicago. It was a big city with lots to see, and boy I was sure adventurous! I took the train to the Pilsen district and it was a trip riding the train for the first time and seeing areas outside the downtown part of the city. I went there because I knew it had a big Mexicano population, and I wanted to look for Lucha Villa albums and other Mexican music. I bought some cassettes and a cd, but I don’t remember what exactly. The place I went to was called “Discolandia” and it was on W. 18th St. I also visited the Lozano branch of the public library on 18th Steet. My friend Pat Tarin had worked there at one point in her career. I got there early in the day, so there wasn’t a lot happening on the streets. I later made my way north to Boystown and ate at El Jardin on Halsted St. and bought an Aretha Franklin 12” single (Get it Right!) at a record shop on Belmont. I must have also gone to the gay bars since I was up there in that area.
I did a lot of other stuff while in Chicago that particular time. I soaked it all in. I went to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Newberry Library. I tried to find the Peace Museum, and I did, but I think it was closed. I remember I walked a long way that day.
1990 was also the year I got to see Aretha Franklin perform live. It was the thrill of a lifetime to see her. I went with Brent and my friend Judy. I was initially going to go by myself and had bought a ticket, but then Brent and Judy wanted to go also, so I bought two more tickets, but they were up in the balcony, unlike the first ticket which was in the 11th row, much closer to the stage. I was bummed out because I decided to sit with Brent in the balcony and I gave Judy the good seat. She said the sound was perfect, unlike up in the balcony. I was bummed, but at least I got to see Aretha live. She still had her chops in 1990. In my opinion, by the end of the 1990s her voice had changed too much and didn’t sound as good.
I also saw Etta James and Sweet Honey in the Rock this particular year. Unfortunately, Sarah Vaughan died in 1990. I was very sad about that. I had just seen her perform the previous summer.
My interest in music continued. Not only did I go to concerts, I also collected albums, cassettes and cds. I’ve mentioned before that Ann Arbor was a great place for music buffs. Schoolkids Records, Wazoo Records, Tower Records and other stores stocked some great, hard to find recordings. I became very interested in country music at this time, and started to collect more contemporary country musicians recordings. Carlene Carter, Dwight Yoakam and others were producing some amazing stuff at the time. I also continued to search out Latin music. After my mom died in 1988, I became obsessed with Lucha Villa and other ranchera singers, and was always on the lookout for their recordings. I eventually found her music, spread out all over the country, and I collected it one recording at a time.
I spent Thanksgiving with Brent and his family, and clearly remember that we went with his mom to see Dances with Wolves on Thanksgiving Day in Muskegon. What an amazing movie. The scenery was just breathtaking. By late December, Brent had moved out, and I spent the Christmas break by myself. I don’t remember much about it, but I know Brent wasn’t around. He was gone. We were together for six years altogether. We had some great times, and some very sad times. In the end, we just couldn’t make it work.
The historical Victor Lawson YMCA building, 30 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL.
Back in the day…
The Gentry was known as a “gentlemen’s” bar, and was a bit more upscale than a lot of the other gay bars in town.
The Bismark Hotel on Randolph St.
A vintage map showing the Bismark in relation to some of the other downtown landmarks.
The McCormick Convention Center at the southern edge of downtown. Getting there took some time. It wasn’t walking distance, that’s for sure.
The Art Institute of Chicago. What a great museum.
The Newberry Library, a “private” institution, has some of the world’s great literary treasures and archives. You had to have advanced permission to use it. I barely made it to the gift shop before I was told this.
The gift shop at the Newberry Library
A guide to gay Chicago. There were bars all over the place.
I enjoyed hanging out at Little Jim’s. it was a dump. Places like this are called “dive bars”. No pretentiousness here, just regular guys.
I wrote up this list of record stores before my trip to Chicago. I didn’t make it to very many of these shops, unfortunately. They were spread out all over.
18th St. in the Pilsen district.
Another list of record stores, most of which I didn’t get to.
The Rudy Lozano branch of the Chicago Public Library.
The Rudy Lozano Branch.
Receipts I’ve kept all these years…
I didn’t get to hear live music this time around, but did on subsequent trips. I picked this up at a record store.
One of my first exhibits.
The back side.
From the Detroit Free Press, January 12, 1990. MLK Day events on the Michigan campus.
One of the guest authors this year was Haki Madhubuti.
I turned 31 on January 15.
A card from my colleagues.
My friend Richard never forgot my birthday. It’s the same day as his wife’s.
A card from my dear friend Denise. I guess she had heard I was going to get to see Aretha in concert or this was a coincidence.
A card from my dear uncle Donato and his wife Mary. I bought them both University of Michigan caps and sent them to them for Christmas. After my uncle died, my aunt gave me back her cap.
This was fun. Iremember Alison Krauss and Sweet Honey in the Rock the most.
Sweet Honey in the Rock. This was the second time I’d seen them perform live.
Alison Frauss has such a sweet voice, and boy can she play the fiddle!
Detroit Free Press, February 2, 1990. Brent and I went to this show. It was excellent.
This was one of my very first published book reviews. It appeared in the February 1990 issue of “Preview Magazine”.
My friend Judy came with me to visit Tucson in early March. We had a great time.
On our way to Mt. Lemmon.
The views are amazing. I drove up the mountain and Judy drove down the mountain. She had a blast hauling ass. She was an expert driver, unlike me.
I took Judy horseback riding. It was something I had never done before.
My concert ticket for the Aretha Franklin concert.
Aretha Franklin
Detroit Free Press, April 2, 1990.
Premiered on TV on April 8, 1990. I was hooked on this show, until it got way too creepy. I couldn’t watch it after a while.
I loved watching this. It premiered on April 15, 1990.
I bought another Toyota Corolla just like the one pictured above in May. This one lasted a bit longer than the previous two. I wrecked the one I had bought before this one in an accident within a week or so of having bought it. I brought this one home to Tucson with me and drove it until 1993.
Released on 5-11-90
I love Billy Bragg’s version of the Internationale. While I didn’t buy the album at the time it was released, I’m including it here because it is a classic. Below is the video of the title song.
The Residency Group. I’m pictured here with Liz Brown, Gene Alloway, Jay Nagarashi, Elizabeth Robinson, Cass Hartnett, Karen Downing, Candace Miller, and Ruth Gustafson.
Released on June 1, 1990.
My second trip to Chicago took place in June. It was great fun.
The great Sears Tower. Going up to the top was fun..
My very first professional presentation, co-authored with my good friend Karen Downing.
I marched in the gay pride parade with the librarians contingent. My friend Richard DiRusso was with me. We screamed at the onlookers, “Return your books, motherfuckers!”. We could hear people saying, “they don’t look like librarians, that’s for sure!”. Richard and I had started drinking beer earlier in the day. We were feeling no pain when the march started.
Barbara Gittings is pioneer in the world of gay rights, and was one of the first people to openly march in Washington for the cause. I got to meet her at this conference.
What a cool building! The Chicago Water Tower…
This was the second time I saw Etta James live. I went with my friend Gene Alloway. We had a great time.
Released July 13, 1990
This is called a “Choice card”. Part of my job at Michigan was to do collection development, and every month, we were given a stack of these to read so that we could decide whether or not these books were appropriate for the Undergraduate Library collection. I loved this work.
Released on 8-13-90. Carlene Carter’s masterpiece. She’s the daughter of two country music legends, June Carter Cash, and Carl Smith. This albums rocks! See the review below.
From Rolling Stone Magazine, November 1, 1990.
This was the first album released by the Texas Tornados. I would later see them live in Tucson in 1992. These guys, Flaco Jimenez, Freddy Fender, Augie Myers and Doug Sahm, are all legends of Texas music. A great debut album.
Released on September 4, 1990. A great album. It rocks out.
This photo of me appeared in Library Journal some time in the Fall. It accompanied the article, “A New Library for the New Undergraduate”, authored by Carla Stoffle.
Released on September 9, 1990. One of my very favorites. Includes the great tune, “Why do I Keep F*!%in’ up?” My theme song for a very long time…
Released on 9-12-90
The title song was written by one of my favorite singers, Janis Ian. This is a wonderful album. Released on September 21, 1990.
Rupert Whitaker. He and I became good friends for a while. He turned me on to Buddhist meditation.
I did this display for National Coming Out day, if I”m not mistaken. One night a couple of guys tried to knock over the whole case, but were stopped by the student staff members. They were trying to be “good Christians”.
I liked to keep track of the books I ordered.
Released on October 16, 1990.
Released on October 22, 1990.
Released on October 29, 1990.
He’s my favorite male country artist. This was released on October 30, 1990.
Released on October 30. She was going through a divorce at the time. This is not a very upbeat album, but it’s very good nevertheless.
This album reminds me of our break up. I bought it sometime in December, around the time Brent left the apartment for good. It was released on November 6, 1990.
The University administration got a lot of push back after this memo was released. The PC wars were about to begin in earnest the following year, and the fallout from this was precursor of what was to come.
A great compilation. I didn’t really start liking Madonna until the following year. This album was very popular. Released on 11-13-90
Released on 11-21-90. I saw this in Muskegon with Brent and his mom.
Brent and I broke up in December 1990, after having been together for six years, since December 1984. We tried hard to make it work, but this time it was over for good.
Reference services in academic libraries have evolved significantly since the mid-1980s. In 1985-86, when I attended Library School at the University of Arizona, I took several courses in reference service, including basic reference, information sources in the humanities, and administration of reference.
“Introduction to Reference Work, Volume I”, (1982) by William A. Katz, was my textbook for the class, “Basic Reference”, LIS 505, taught by Dr. Donald Dickinson in 1985.
I also completed a six month internship at the UA LIbrary reference desk.
The University of Arizona Library Reference desk. Pat Paylore, a reference librarian, is sitting at the desk. In the background is the reference collection. It filled the entire west end of the 2nd floor.
Librarians back then did not have computers or the Internet to rely upon for finding information or finding facts. Instead, they used, among other paper-based tools, dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, chronologies, directories, indexes, bibliographies and of course, the card catalog.
The card catalog at the University of Arizona LIbrary. It was divided into the subject catalog, and the author title catalog. Pictured is just one of five or six rows of catalog drawers. Technical services staff worked day and night to keep the catalog up-to-date. The Technical Services department in the Library in the late 80’s had over 70 staff to do this work.
In 1987, after spending seven months working as a children’s librarian at the Nogales-Santa Cruz County Public Library, (my first job after library school), I was hired at the University of Michigan and worked in the Undergraduate Library as a reference and instruction librarian for five and a half years. I worked the desk an average of 12 hours a week and spent many, many hours providing classroom-based library instruction. From 1990 to 1992, I managed the reference assistant program, hiring and training graduate students in the art of reference service.
I am pictured here sitting at the reference desk at the University of Michigan Undergraduate Library, chatting with a reference assistant. The computers in the background were called “cd-rom terminals” and they provided access to single tools like “PsychLit” a computerized version of Pscyhological Abstracts.
One of my projects at the reference desk was to review reference sources in this book and “annotate” them. This was considered the reference librarian’s bible.
In 1992, I was hired at the University of Arizona Library as the Assistant to the Dean for staff development, recruitment, and diversity. My reference skills proved to be invaluable in my new job, as I considered myself an expert user of the library, and I could easily use indexes, the library catalog and other reference tools to find information related to my new job. I served as the Assistant to the Dean for 8 years.
During that 8 year-period, computers were starting to transform the way libraries provided access to information. Online catalogs made keyword searching possible, and over time more and more reference tools were available in computerized formats. However, it took a long time for computers to completely make paper-based reference tools a thing of the past. Librarians who provided reference service in specific subject areas continued to rely on what are known as “research guides” to do their work. Here are a few examples:
In 2000, I decided to shift gears and I joined the Fine Arts and Humanities team at the UA LIbrary, and my new areas of focus (with some changes over time), were music, dance, media arts, theater arts and Africana Studies. My office was in the Fine Arts Library, and my duties included reference, faculty liaison work, library instruction and collection development. I created subject research guides and spent a great deal of time adding diverse materials to the music collection, which while strongly focused on Western Art Music, held very little material on world music, jazz, Latin American music or popular music. I also did library instruction for students in theater arts, music, dance, media arts and, later, Africana studies.
By the early 2000’s, the World Wide Web had gained a strong foothold across the globe, and more and more resources were becoming available electronically. Wikipedia became the all-in-one, go to reference source for many people, especially students, and many libraries began changing how they provided reference services. Some began hiring paraprofessionals to staff their reference and information desks or eliminated reference desks altogether, and librarians who specialized in reference, were encouraged to develop new skills in other areas such as assessment, grantsmanship, and knowledge management.
Below is a sampling of the kinds of training I did and the research guides I created while a public services librarian at the Fine Arts Library:
Basic Music Reference Sources / 2005. This is the outline to a training session I created for staff at the University of Arizona Fine Arts Library. It was designed to give a basic orientation to the topic.
Country Music Reference Resources / 2005. This is comprehensive resource guide to country music that I put together in 2005 when I worked at the Fine Arts Library. It has not been updated since then. It includes some websites (likely outdated by now), but consists mostly of books, the majority of which are available at the University of Arizona’s Fine Arts Library.
Resources for the Study of Early/Modern Music. / 2006. This is a research guide I prepared for a class in the Group for Early/Modern Studies program at the University of Arizona in 2006.
Congressional Universe Training session / Workshop, April 29, 2010. I conducted this research database workshop as a member of the Library’s Research Services Support Connection Development Team. The database covers a variety of governmental and congressional resources.
Latin Music Resources / Web page, March 27, 2011. A page I created when I was the music, dance and theater arts librarian in 2011. The links no longer work, as the page is inactive, but there are still useful resources included.
The Flute: A Resource Guide / Web page, June 10, 2011. I created this web page as a resource for flute students and members of the National Flute Association when I was working out of the Fine Arts Library. The web page is no longer available, and the links in many cases do not work, but much of the information is still relevant and useful.
I worked as a member of the Fine Arts Humanities Team (which later became Team Y, and then Research Support Services) until 2011. At that point, the Dean of the Library offered me a position in Special Collections to manage the department’s exhibits and events program and to focus on building collections in the performing arts, with an emphasis on the Southwest.
As a member of Special Collections, I curated exhibitions for the Main Library, the Science Engineering Library and Special Collections from 2012 to 2018. In addition to serving as curator for the performing arts, over time I also took on management of the department’s architectural collections. Since 2019, I have managed our virtual reference services. Learning new areas and new skills came easily to me, as I continued to rely on my research skills to come up to speed on subjects and issues that I had not previously worked on.
So here we are. I was asked to do a session for you on how we do reference in Special Collections. I thought I would add some background for you, so that you have an idea of the work I’ve done in the area of reference, and so that you get a sense of how computers and the internet have, over time changed the work that librarians do.
Special Collections librarians and archivists provide access to rare, unique, and one-of-a-kind materials and material housed in archival or manuscript collections. Reference service within the context of a special collections library or archives, is really no different from the traditional reference that librarians have provided over time. While more and more material is becoming available digitally, most of the resources found in special collections and archival repositories requires physical access, human intervention and the use of fact tools and finding tools.
Source: “Providing Reference Services for Archives and Manuscripts”, by Mary Jo Pugh, Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005.
Public services in our department have changed a great deal over the past 20 years. At one point, archivists and librarians staffed the front desk, and individuals seeking access to our materials worked with specialists in the department to gain access to our archival holdings. Finding aids/collection guides were not available electronically. The librarians and archivists on staff needed to build their expertise and knowledge of our collections over time. (Arizona Archives Online, which provides access to the finding aids for materials in Special Collections, was established over 20 years ago, and was one of the first such tools available for accessing archival materials. Our department was part of this effort from the beginning, but it took many years to get all of our finding aids loaded into the system).
Approximately 10 years ago, the Library administration decided to have members of the library’s access and information services team (some had library degrees but all were paraprofessionals) manage our front desk, which they did until the end of 2019. They relied upon the Special Collections archivists and librarians to provide in-depth consultations for patrons whose needs were not readily identifiable. The AIS staff also managed our electronic reference service, and also passed on to the specialists on the staff those questions that required more in-depth subject expertise.
In 2019, the administration made yet another change, and pulled AIS staff out of Special Collections, putting the front desk operations back in the hands of Special Collections staff. This required shifting some job duties and making room in everyone’s schedules for spending time at the desk. It also required that Special Collections staff take on management of the virtual reference tools that had been used primarily by AIS staff. We had to re-learn how to use the library’s circulation system, which was new to most of us, (we switched from a company called Innovative Interfaces, Inc. to ExLibris/Alma just a couple of years ago), and we had to learn how to use Libanswers, a module in a product called Libapps, produced by a company called Springshare.
LibApps
In March 2020, just three months after Special Collections staff took over management of the front desk, the pandemic hit, and we were closed down, but still did our best to provide reference services and access to our collections. We publicized on our website that we were closed, but encouraged users to use our Services page to request research assistance and digital copies of materials, which we later started providing when possible.
In July 2020, I worked with Patricia Ballesteros, a staff member in the department, to develop a set of guidelines for the provision of reference and reading room services for users of Special Collections. It was revised a couple of times since then. The document is titled, “Recommendations for Reference/Research Consultation and Reading Room Services.“
I currently manage our Libanswers system, and twice a day I check the “queue” to see which questions have come through. These questions are either requests for appointments to view our collections, requests for subject assistance, requests for digital copies of material or permissions requests. My job is to handle those questions that I feel I can adequately answer, to handle copyright and permissions requests, and to route to the staff those questions that require their expertise. Our duplications process is handled by Patricia Ballesteros. She also manages the appointments process and the reading room operation. Because we provide service by appointment only, we are better able to prepare for our patrons’ visits, and we have their materials ready for them to view when they arrive. We allow only three people in the reading room at a time at present and provide services Monday through Friday from 10 to noon and 2 to 4pm.
Staff also receive questions directly via email or telephone. Another job I have is to gather monthly statistics on our reference service. The LibApps product contains a module called Libinsight that we use to report our statistics. We gather information on our user population, what materials they use and how frequently we respond to questions.
I recently conducted a brief training session for Special Collections staff on statistics gathering. It was in the form of a powerpoint presentation To view it, click on the following title: “Keeping our statistics up to date”.
Each year, we answer approximately 1,000 questions. You can see what our areas of focus are by going to the Special Collections page and clicking on the words “explore our collections“.
The reference interview is a very important part of the process of helping people find what they’re looking for. Sometimes, they won’t be direct about what they need, so it’s important to probe a little by asking clarifying questions. Patron’s sometimes are nervous or afraid to reveal too much information. You should tread lightly if the patron shows any signs of hesitation. Our patrons have privacy rights, and its important to treat the consultation process professionally and to keep information confidential, especially if it is in any way sensitive or if the patron requests confidentiality. Sometimes the patron doesn’t really know what they are looking for, so the job of the specialist is to help guide them in determining what resources might be useful to them. Because at present we are not providing walk in service, we encourage our users to use our online tools to figure out what they want. We also refer users to our specialists for additional assistance.
We sometimes get customers who want us to do all their research for them. At times, we do accommodate such requests, particularly if the person making the request is a major donor. Most of the time, however, we let our customers know that we can usually spend only up to 30 minutes to an hour doing research for them. As was just noted, we encourage our users to learn how to find information on their own by pointing them to a variety of tools, such as our online catalog, our Special Collections page, our indexes page, Arizona Archives online or any number of other sources available to them.
Here is a list of specialists in Special Collections:
Roger Myers: rare books, photography, artists books and anything having to do with the history of Special Collections
Veronica Reyes-Escudero: Borderlands Studies, the Southwest.
Bob Diaz: performing arts (theater, vaudeville, dance, music, film), architecture.
Erika Castano: University of Arizona History, digital formats.
Steve Hussman: political affairs, history of science, medicine, mining.
Trent Purdy: audio/visual formats, curator for the USS Arizona collection.
Amanda Howard: audio/visual formats.
Randi Johnson: digital formats.
Lisa Duncan: general questions about our archives.
While local history falls under the category of “borderlands studies”, there are others on the staff with knowledge about Tucson and Arizona history, including Erika Castano, Bob Diaz, and Roger Myers.
We tend to get lots of questions about UA history, architecture, specifically the Joesler collection, Arizona history, mining, vaudeville, local history and genealogical questions.
There are a lot of tools that we use to help our patrons. Some are fact tools, such as directories and almanacs, others are finding tools such as indexes and catalogs. Below are links to various sections of the library website, to research guides and other resources that are important to know about when working in Special Collections.
Helpful Resources:
About Special Collections page: This information page tells the reader what the University of Arizona Library’s Special Collections department’s areas of strength are: (Arizona and the Southwest, U.S-Mexico Borderlands, Literature, Political Affairs, Performing Arts, History of Science and University of Arizona History. Links are also provided to other information, including FAQ’s, hours, location and parking, contact information etc.
Architectural Collections at the University of Arizona Libraries : This page provides an overview of the architecture-related collections held in Special Collections, and provides background information about the various architects represented in our collections
ArchiveGrid . From the home page: “ArchiveGrid includes over 7 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,400 archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies”.
Arizona, Southwestern and Borderlands Photograph Collection. Housed in Special Collections at the University of Arizona, this collection contains photographs, from various sources, of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico including places, people, events and activities, and dating from about 1875 to the present. Formats include postcards, stereographs, cabinet cards, cyanotypes, viewbooks and photoprints.
Arizona and Southwestern Biographical File. The University of Arizona Library, Special Collections. Contains biographical sketches, clippings, articles, and miscellaneous documentation of various people from the late 1800’s to the present. Files vary in size and content and do not include photographs.
Arizona Archives Online . Arizona Archives Online (AAO) provides free public access to descriptions of archival collections, preserved and made accessible by Arizona repositories, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums. Use this source for finding archival collections housed in the UA Library’s Special Collections department.
Arizona Historical Society Library. “The Arizona Historical Society Libraries & Archives collects published and unpublished material of enduring historical value that allows researchers to explore Arizona’s economic, political, social, and cultural heritage. Formats include manuscripts, photographs, diaries, letters, oral histories, sound recordings, moving images, microfilm, maps, books, and digital files”.
Arizona History (research guide) This guide, compiled by University of Arizona librarian Mary Feeney, provides a select list of basic reference sources on Arizona, as well as a list of indexes and primary research resources useful for conducting more in-depth research in Arizona history and other related topics. Includes information on access to Arizona newspaper.
Arizona Memory Project. The Arizona Memory Project provides access to the wealth of digitally available primary sources in Arizona archives, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. Visitors to the site will find some of the best examples of government documents, photographs, maps, and multimedia that chronicle Arizona’s past and present.
Arizona News(research guide): This list of resources is a subset of a guide to materials by type from the University of Arizona Library’s website, and provides links to five different collections of historical newspapers from Arizona. Included are links to Mexican American newspapers, local Tucson newspapers, as well as newspapers from other cities in Arizona.
Hidden collections: These are collections housed within Special Collections that do not have any access tools attached to them.
*University of Arizona Life and Times
*University of Arizona Annual Reports from Colleges and Schools, Depts. Etc. through the early 1980s.
*University of Arizona performing arts programs of musical performances, plays, and dance recitals given by students and faculty in the Schools of Music, Dance and Theater Arts.
*The backlog
A word about genealogical research: We have tended to shy away from answering genealogy-related questions, although we do have some collections that provide access to people’s names and family histories. These include the records of the Catholic Diocese of Tucson, and the Alianza Hispanoamericana Records collection, among others. Genealogy research is time consuming, and there are other places locally where people can get expert advice. The Arizona Historical Society Library offers genealogy reference and the Church of Latter Day Saints has a local Family History Center. There is also a local organization called the Southern Arizona Genealogical Society that offers low cost memberships to people interested in genealogy.
Learn where materials are located. There are several sections of materials. The manuscript collection includes collections in the AZ call number range and the MS call number range. Our book collection uses three different classification systems, the Dewey Decimal system, Library of Congress and the Arizona Collection classification system, which was developed in house many years ago. We also have oversized materials, elephant oversized materials, maps in flat files, pamphlet collections, oversized photo and oversized vertical file collections.
A word about copyright: It’s important to know some basics about copyright law and the permissions process. A great tool for learning about it is housed at Cornell University Library. It’s called the Cornell Copyright Center. Copyright law is always changing, so it’s important to keep up with such changes when possible.
The ability to answer reference questions and research queries is a skill that is developed over time. You won’t know or learn everything all at once, and it’s important to ask for help when you need it. The Special Collections staff often works collaboratively to help our customers with questions that are difficult or time consuming.
I encourage you to learn the basic tools: our catalogs, our indexes, our finding aids and collection guides. Explore, do your own research on topics of interest to you and ask lots of questions. Reference service can be very fulfilling. It helps to have a strong desire to continuously learn new things and to explore a variety of topics.
Sources consulted and other useful titles:
American Reference Books Annual, . Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited (Main Library stacks and reference , Z1035.1 .B5344)
Art Information Research Methods and Sources, by Lois Swan Jones. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing. 1990. (Science Library N85. J64 1990)
Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives, by Gregory S. Hunter. New York; Neal-Schuman, 2003. CD 950 .H86 2003. (New 2020 edition available electronically via Ebscohost)
Guide to Reference: Essential General Reference and Library Science Sources, Chicago: American Library Association, 2014.
Guide to Reference Books, compiled by Eugene P. Sheehy. Chicago: American Library Association, 1976. (Latest edition published in 1996 and authored by Balay and Carrington. Main Library, Z1035.1 .G89 1996)
The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources, by Ron Blazek and Elizabeth Aversa, Englewood, CO.: LIbraries Unlimited, 1994, 2000. Main Library Z6265 .B53 2000 AZ 221 .
Introduction to Reference Work Volume I: Basic Information Sources, by William A. Katz. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982. (2002 edition available at Main Library Z711 .K32 2002)
Introduction to Reference Work, Volume II: Reference Services and Reference Processes, by William A. Katz. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978.
Introduction to Reference Work in the Digital Age, by Joseph Janes. (Main Library Z711 .J36 2003)
Literary Research Guide: A Guide to Reference Sources for the Study of Literatures in English and Related Topics, by James L. Harner. New York: Modern Languages Association of America, 1989. ( 1993 edition available at Main Library, PR83 .H373 1993)
Managing Reference Today: New Models and Best Practices, by Kay Ann Cassell. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017. Main Library Z711 C354 2017
Music Reference and Research Materials: An Annotated Bibliography, by Vincent H. Duckles and Michael A. Keller. New York: Schirmer, 1988. (1997 edition available at Fine Arts Library, ML 113 .D83 1997)
Providing Reference Services for Archives and Manuscripts, by Mary Jo Pugh. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. (Main Library CD971 .P84 2005)
Reference and Information Services: An Introduction, by Richard E. Bopp and Linda C. Smith. Englewood, CO.: Libraries Unlimited, 2001. (2011 edition available at Main Library, Z711. R443 2001)
Tucson: A Drama in Time, by John Warnock. Tucson: Wheatmark, 2019. (Bob Diaz private collection).
Tucson: The Old Pueblo–A chronology, Tucson Pima County Historical Commission. Special Collections F 819 .T957 T83 1977
In 2002, Library Journal started a new tradition. It created a supplement called “Movers and Shakers”, which featured profiles of librarians from across the country who LJ recognized for their work in the field of librarianship. Some were leaders, others activists, and others innovators, among other distinctions. I was very fortunate to have been nominated by my colleague and friend Patricia Tarin, and subsequently chosen to be a member of the very first class of Movers and Shakers. The tradition LJ started in 2002 continues to this day. Each year at ALA, LJ hosts a reception for all of the awardees. I’ve attended a couple of these over the years, and they are a lot of fun. Below is the article that appeared in the first Movers and Shakers supplement in March, 2002.
University of Arizona librarian, president of the Tucson County-Pima Library Board
For Bob Diaz, being a librarian is more than a career. It is a calling. “Librarians in this country are at the forefront of social and cultural change,” says Diaz. “Our world is getting smaller and smaller, and we need to continue to provide people with the tools they will need to live and work in an increasingly multicultural world.”
Throughout his life and career, Diaz has been a tireless champion of diversity and democracy, earning him a national reputation as a leader and garnering accolades, from professional recognition to a personal thank you from one of Diaz’s heroes, labor leader César Chávez. As a librarian, Diaz knows that knowledge is power. And as a librarian, Diaz has worked tirelessly to bring the experiences of all people to light, not only through his work at the University of Arizona but also as a three-year member, and now president, of the Tucson-Pima Public Library board.
Vitals
Current position: Librarian, Fine Arts & Humanities team, University of Arizona Library, Tucson Degree: MLS, University of Arizona, 1986 Activities: Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi
Diaz says he didn’t actively seek out a role on the library board, but once the opportunity found him, it was a chance he couldn’t resist. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to do community service in an area that is near and dear to me,” Diaz says. “I was born and raised here in Tucson and have been a user of the public library virtually all my life.” As president, Diaz says he will work with Library Director Agnes Griffen, as well as other board members, to ensure that the information needs of the entire community are met.
“I make it a point to be an advocate for the socioeconomically disadvantaged population in our community,” Diaz says proudly. “Librarians need to continue our efforts to provide free and easily accessible materials to our public that reflect the life experiences of all people,” he says. “We need to be defenders of freedom of expression. And as a profession, we need to develop leaders who are culturally sensitive and who are willing to battle racism, sexism, and homophobia in the workplace.”
The following article appeared in the May 23, 2003 edition of the Arizona Daily Star. Anthony Broadman, a writer for the Star, attended a program on Latin music that I had recently put together for the Center for Creative Photography, and he followed up with me and interviewed me about the work I was doing as the music, dance and theater arts librarian at the University of Arizona Libraries.
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Click the back arrow key to return to the post.
Every chapter in My Life Story includes information about me, my work, my family and my friends.It also includes information about events that took place locally and nationally, etc. that I thought important enough to include. You’ll also find that I’ve included films, musicians and recordings/videos, in addition to books that were released in a given year.
While I have included many personal photos, most of the graphic content included below is borrowed from the Internet. I do not claim to own this material. I am just adding it for educational purposes. If the owners of any of the content in the “My Life Story” series want their stuff removed, I am happy to oblige. My email address is jrdiaz@arizona.edu. Thanks!
1989, the year I turned 30, was another difficult one for me. Looking back, I realize now that I was still in mourning over my mom’s passing, and that it took a long time to get over it. I wasn’t happy living in Ann Arbor or working at the Undergraduate Library, but I also realized that I couldn’t go back home. Everything there had changed. I felt stuck in a job I wasn’t crazy about, and I had piles of bills to pay. I couldn’t just quit. To top it off, my best friend Richard’s wedding took place in mid-January, and I had to miss it because I had spent so much money traveling back and forth to Tucson the previous year. I just couldn’t afford it. It was a real bummer.
My job duties continued to consist of providing reference service, building collections and doing instruction. I was also given more responsibility for managing the PIC program and conducting training sessions for our reference assistants, but before I knew it, I got into trouble, as I continued to have disagreements with my supervisor. I felt that the only reason she wanted me to manage the PIC program was because I was the only minority staff person around to handle it, and I felt used. One day the head of the Undergraduate Library also got on my case. She took me to lunch, and before I knew it, she was tearing me a new one. She told me that I’d better get with the program or else. It was a warning that if I wasn’t more cooperative towards my supervisor, I’d be let go, and it made me very angry. I wanted out. I hated Michigan at that point. I felt that I was surrounded by a bunch of racist phonies who were full of themselves and who didn’t really give a damn about people of color, much less students.
Thank goodness my friend Barb Hoppe was around. I’ll never forget her kindness and generosity. She took me out on a long walk one day when I was very depressed to look for “signs of Spring” and then we later drove to Muskegon together, making a pit stop in Lansing and Michigan State University, where she went to school. She showed me where she grew up in Muskegon and took me to Lake Michigan to see the lighthouse. She knew I was a mess, and she was very supportive at a time when I needed a friend. We’re still good friends to this day.
My mom’s death wasn’t the only thing that had me down. I really missed home. I missed the food, the culture, the mix of Spanish and English that was spoken around town, the desert and my friends. Ann Arbor, while having been known in the past as a progressive community, was turning into Yuppieville, and I just didn’t fit in. Bookstores and head shops were rapidly being replaced by frozen yogurt shops, high end boutiques and expensive restaurants. My Mexican working class roots and my own beliefs about who I was made me feel very different and out of place. After I had graduated from college, from around 1983 to 1986, I felt like I was sitting on top of the world. I had a popular radio show and was an actor in a radical street theater group, and I was interested in what was going on in the world around me. I felt like my radio show and involvement with the Teatro helped me make a real contribution to the betterment of my community. My children’s librarian job also made me feel like I was making a difference. At Michigan, I just couldn’t find my niche. I had no creative outlets, nor did I feel any sense of community with others who wanted to make positive change in the world. All I had was Brent, and he and I were drifting apart.
Around the beginning of the year, I found a group of Latino graduate students who liked to drink and party, and I started hanging out with them. They were from various places around the country, including Texas, California and New York. We all attended the after party when Michigan won the NCAA basketball championships, and were present when the students started going crazy on South University Blvd., turning over vehicles and lighting fires in the street. I was having a lot of fun, but was also paying a big price for it. My relationship with Brent deteriorated to the point that he ended up moving out of our apartment for a while.
I also developed a crush on a student who was part of the group of Latino students I had met. He wasn’t gay however, but I felt like he really liked me, so I just ended up spending lots of time with him, but frustrated most of the time, and feeling guilty because I was falling in love, and Brent and I were still attached. One day a friend of the guy I had the crush on showed up, and this guy was really bad news. He had gotten into trouble in Los Angeles, apparently, and was “in hiding” so to speak. He brought drugs with him and was soon having them delivered from California via Fedex on a regular basis. Before I knew it, I was having a really good time and spending a lot of money. There was snow everywhere, even in late May. One night while we were all at my friend’s apartment drinking and getting crazy, I made the mistake of throwing a basketball at him, saying “Catch!”, while he was taking a swig of beer. The basketball hit the bottom of the bottle of beer, and in turn the bottle broke my friends two front teeth. Boy, what a mess that all turned out to be. That was the low point of the year for me. I was in really bad shape. My friend ended up going back home to California to get his teeth repaired, and I ended up feeling like a royal idiot and wanting to die. I also had to help pay to get his teeth capped. The party was over, that’s for sure.
By the time the American Library Association Annual conference rolled around in late June, I was really ready to get the hell out of Dodge. The conference was held in Dallas, Texas, and it was spread out all over the place. It was hot and muggy too. I roomed with my friend Karen and her husband Stuart in a dumpy hotel off the beaten path. It was a nightmare. However, there were some very interesting things that happened. My friend from Library School, Richard DiRusso, was also there at the conference, and he had borrowed a big Cadillac convertible from one of his friends who lived there in Dallas. Richard took me with him to the gay pride festival and we drove around town for a while. That was a lot of fun. Another thing that happened was that I decided to check out the employment placement center at the conference to poke around for possible jobs. I looked like a bum, but didn’t care. I was just there to look around. As luck would have it, however, I ended up talking to the people from the Chicago Public Library and the Los Angeles Public Library. There were children’s librarian positions available at both library systems, and I was very excited about the possibility of finding another job and moving away from Ann Arbor, to Chicago especially.
There were another couple of memorable moments at the conference. While walking downtown, I stumbled on a place called the Shrine of St. Jude. I went in while mass was being said, and stayed a while. My mother was a strong believer in St. Jude, who is known as the patron saint of lost causes, and man, was I feeling like a lost cause. It made me feel much better just being there. I prayed real hard that day for guidance and help. Finally, on the night before I was to head back to Ann Arbor, I happened upon a street concert in an alley at the West End of downtown, and lo and behold the band that was playing was War, one of the funkiest R & B bands of the 70s. I had a great time. They played all their big hits like “Why Can’t We Be Friends’, “Low Rider” and “The World is A Ghetto”. All for free, too! I’ll never forget that night. Hearing that music made me feel right at home.
Shortly after I returned from ALA, I had lunch with the head of Library personnel, Lucy Cohen. She and I had been getting together periodically for lunch since I started in 1987. Our favorite place to go was Pizzeria Uno’s. That day at lunch, I told her about ALA and that I was excited about the possibility of getting a job in Chicago. She told me that she had grown up in Chicago and tried to discourage me. She stressed that Chicago was cold and crowded and expensive and that I would hate living there. She wanted me to stay at Michigan, and assured me that things would get better if I gave it more time. Bless her heart. I told her I’d think about it.
A few weeks later, I heard from Lucy again, and apparently she talked to Carla Stoffle, the assistant director, about having me join the Library Residency Program as a “staff resident”. Carla had been instrumental in recruiting me to Michigan in the first place, and was the driving force behind all of the Library’s efforts to diversify its staff and services. Carla and Lucy didn’t want to give up on me so quickly, and I was very touched by their determination to keep me. I officially joined the Residency Program in September, 1989. My friend Karen was a resident, and my new office mate Gene Alloway, was also in the program. The Residency Program was known for recruiting top notch, recently graduated library school students to Michigan. Students were hired in “cohorts” and worked in a variety of jobs while in the program, which normally lasted two years. The group had easy access to library administrators and met regularly with the Assistant Dean and others. Guest speakers were also brought in to give lectures and conduct seminars. By the end of their two year stay, most residents could get a job wherever they wanted, as the program had an outstanding reputation. I felt lucky to be a part of it, and enjoyed the collegiality that my cohort developed. I also enjoyed learning from some of the profession’s top leaders. Being a part of the program also got me out of the Undergraduate Library more often, and away from my immediate supervisor, who I was convinced was determined to get rid of me.
Things weren’t all bad this particular year. I enjoyed all the learning opportunities that came my way, from taking time management classes, to hearing amazing speakers like Michael Olivas and John Stockwell, to attending ALA and other conferences like the Michigan Hispanic Leadership conference. I also started doing presentations and getting published, as well as creating exhibits. I enjoyed these activities, and over time they would increase as I became more comfortable in my role as a contributor to the library profession.
I also got to see Bob Dylan in concert twice, once with Tom Petty and then with the great guitarist, G.E. Smith. I also saw Judy Collins, kd lang, Joe Jackson and Buffy Sainte Marie. Ann Arbor was a hopping place when it came to live music, and it also had plenty of bookstores, both new and used, and lots of record stores. A lot of great albums and movies were released this particular year, and I continued building my record and book collections. I also saw a lot of classic Bette Davis movies, and had begun watching television shows like Are You Being Served? and the Tracy Ullman show.
By the end of the year, Brent and I were back together, and we spent Christmas with his family in Twin Lake. It was a nice way to end the year. Brent’s sister had just had a baby girl and there was snow (real snow) all around. Brent’s family was very nice to me, and I felt at home with them whenever we visited. Of course, we were all sad because Mr. Bates was gone and so was my mom, but we still had each other, and a new baby in the family, which helped brighten things up.
As the year came to an end, I couldn’t help but feel that things would get better. They did, at least for a while.
A letter from my good friend Tim. It’s too bad we lost touch. It was most likely my doing. I was never good at following through on writing letters.
I begged Tim and Chrissy to name one of their children after Aretha Franklin. Oh well.
I turned 30 on January 15. Not quite a kid, not quite an adult.
LeAnne Martin, my best friend at the time. She was a bit whacko, but a lot of fun. This photo was taken during my little birthday party at work. LeAnne passed away on February 8, 2021.
Marjorie, our departmental administrative assistant, was the nicest person. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. This is another photo taken at my birthday party at work.
Three of my co-workers, Janet, Jan and Patty, at my birthday gathering at work. They were very nice people.
I was on the Library planning committee for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Richard and Emily at their wedding.
I couldn’t afford to go back home to attend this wedding. It’s one of my biggest regrets in life. Richard was my best friend and it hurt him that I didn’t go.
Released on 2-6-89
Having too much fun…
My buddies Roberto and Hector. We were having a great time…
Buzzzzzzzz….
I became very attached to my buddy Roberto, and unfortunately, this put a strain on my relationship with Brent. The following song reminds me of this time in my life. I was not thinking clearly, that’s for sure.
Writing has always helped me clarify my feelings and thoughts. It’s a great way to vent. I was not a happy camper, that’s for sure.
Lake Michigan
The sand dunes at Lake Michigan. I was very depressed at the time.
A card from my buddy Richard.
A letter from Frank. Man, I sure missed him. He could always make me feel better.
Released 3-21-89
Released some time in March, 1989.
Released 4-1-89
Wow, what a night! There was rioting in the streets in Ann Arbor. The students went crazy. I was there!
What a character. One of my all-time heroes. A one of a kind intellectual rabble rouser.
He was found dead in his home on 4-12-89
I grew up watching Lucy on television. I was devastated when she died. My mother loved her too.
Released 4-27-89. See the duet she does with Whitney Houston below. Wow!
I loved this lady. She died on May 20, 1989.
The University of Michigan sponsored this conference. I was given the above name tage at registration.
This was the second LOEX conference in which I participated since being hired at Michigan. This time around, I co-authored a poster session with my colleague Darlene Nichols. The conference was held in Ann Arbor from May 3 through May 5, 1989. The abstract for the poster session is below.
To see all of the materials that we used in this poster session, click here.
I attended this workshop. It was very helpful.
These guys were hilarious. Their performance was just amazing. Reminded me of my days in the teatro. We were never this good, however. These guys are pros.
I attended this conference, but it was a bit over my head. A lot of the sessions were about public policy and I just didn’t learn much from them.
Law professor Michael Olivas spoke on campus on June 1, 1989. He was one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard. He spoke about Latinos and education. He went on to have an amazingly successful career in Texas as an educator and writer.
Released on 6-6-89
Released on 6-23-89
My first ALA Conference while employed at the University of Michigan. It was time to find another job.
My first trip to Dallas. It was quite an experience.
I roomed with my friends Karen and Stuart Downing at the Travelodge-Viscount hotel, #17 on the above map. It was quite far from the convention center. I had to take the bus everyone. The hotel was a dump; there was an adult video arcade right next door.
The kind folks from the ALA local arrangments hospitality committee picked me up and showed me around downtown. I remember this landmark well.
St. Jude
This chapel is right smack dab in the middle of downtown Dallas. I stumbled upon it while walking around.
My friend Richard DiRusso borrowed a big Cadillac convertible from one of his friends, and he and I attended the gay pride picnic together. It was fun cruising around in that monstrosity.
Meadowbrook, Pontiac, MI. (suburban Detroit).
Another heartfelt journal entry.
I attended this with my friend Eileen. It was a wonderful concert. Judy sang “Song of Bernadette” and other Leonard Cohen tunes. It was magical.
If I recall correctly, Ms. Collins sang the following song during her show. I know she also covered The Song of Bernadette. I was in heaven for sure!
The Ann Arbor Street Fair was huge. I loved it.
Released July 21, 1989.
My dear friend, Karen Downing.
My office mate and fellow resident, Gene Alloway.
The PIC students. They were a great group.
Another amazing concert.
Release date: September 18, 1989
From Rolling Stone Magazine, a photo of the artist whose work appears on the cover Dylan’s latest album.
John Berry was the editor and publisher of Library Journal, one of the library profession’s leading publications. He visited Michigan and conducted a seminar with the Library Residents.
Released on October 3, 1989
This is the album where she does several beautiful duets with Aaron Neville. Released in October, 1989.
I loved this movie. Premiered on October 6, 1989.
Linda Crismond was executive director of the American Library Association, another leader in the profession that was brought in to work with the library residents.
I spent many nights alone watching old Bette Davis movies when I lived in Ann Arbor. There was a Blockbuster Movie store across the street from my apartment complex, and I’d go there on a regular basis. She was the best.
This guy was incredible. I took extensive notes.
Tragedy struck the Bay area on October 17. The magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake claimed over 50 lives and was centered just south of San Francisco in Santa Cruz county.
Nancy Kranish served as President of the American Library Association and is a well known leader in the library world. Another guest speaker.
Sitting next to me is my dear friend Barb. She’s the only one worth mentioning other than Gene, who has his back to the camera.
This was a horrible tragedy. The head of the Undergraduate Library’s daughter died in this accident.
This is a beautiful album.
This song appeared on the album, Speaking of Dreams. It reminds me of her early work, when she sang sad love ballads.
I reviewed this reference book for “Preview” magazine. It was one of my very first published reviews, and I was a bit harsh. This multi-volume series turned out to be a one-of-a-kind source for finding biographical information on popular musicians. My criticism of it was that there were some inaccuracies in some of the entries and that the quality of the writing was sub par, but it did get better over time.
Neil Young was one of my friend Richard’s favorite musicians. I’m a big fan too.
I loved doing exhibits. This was one of my very first.
Released on 12-04-89
Premiere date: 12-08-89
Released on 12-13-89
Film premiere date: 12-20-89
Brent in our living room. I loved our little apartment.
I’m sitting in Brent’s sister’s living room in this photo. Christmas time.
Teresa, Brent’s sister. She was a real sweetheart.
“El Buqui” was a quarterly publication produced in 1979 and 1980 by the Arizona State Library Association’s newly formed Services to the Spanish Speaking Roundtable and the Arizona chapter of REFORMA. At the time, both groups had combined into one larger organization. A total of six issues of the newsletter were published. According to the welcoming note in the first issue, each issue sought to feature”book and media reviews, commentaries on library-related topics, along with program ideas and events, job announcements and personalities”. Below are all the issues that were published. They are linked as pdf files.
As current president of the Tucson Chapter of REFORMA, The National Association for the Promotion of Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, I am very interested in the history of librarianship and library services in Tucson and Arizona, and these newsletters provide great insights into the work of those librarians who were active in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of them were graduates of the University of Arizona Library School’s Graduate LIbrary Institute for Spanish Speaking Americans, or GLISA.
