Category Archives: Friends

My 64th Birthday–January 15, 2023

Family, Friends, My Life Story

Sunday, January 15, 2023…

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!

R and B, Summer, 2022.

Mike Carroll

Friends, Music, ,

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.

My friend Denise. Please send her a big hug.
Another MIke Carroll original.

Remembering Richard Elias: A Virtual Tribute, March 28, 2021

Friends, , ,

I participated in this tribute to my best friend Richard Elias back in late March, on the anniversary of Richard’s passing. The program was produced by Andres Cano, one of Richard’s dearest friends, and hosted by Ernesto Portillo, Jr. It includes heartfelt reminiscences by a number of people whose lives Richard touched in one way or another. I thought I would add it to my web page as a blog entry. Following this tribute are a couple more audio/visual stories about Richard that I found here and there. Enjoy!

Remembering Richard Elias: Arizona Public Media’s tribute

KGUN 9 Extended Interview with Richard Elias / October, 2016

Remembering Richard Elias

Friends,

Today the Pima County Board of Supervisors named the Mission Branch of the Pima County Public Library after my best friend Richard Elias. Richard had been a member of the Board since 2002, and over the years, he remained a very strong supporter of libraries. He passed away suddenly on March 28 of this year. From this day forward, the Mission branch will be known as the Richard Elias Mission Library.

Richard loved reading to children.
The Richard Elias Mission Library
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A proclamation was drawn up in his honor and read by Supervisor Ramon Valadez, current chair of the Board.

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Supervisor Valadez reading the proclamation naming the Mission Branch Library after Richard, as Richard’s daughter Luz looks on.

County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry wrote the following memorandum about the renaming:

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Luz Elias speaking about her father.

Richard’s daughter Luz spoke, as did Mayor Regina Romero, who read the proclamation that U.S. Congressman Raul Grijalva wrote and read before the U.S. Congress shortly after Richard died.

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Tucson Mayor Regina Romero.

Also on hand were Richard’s assistant Keith Bagwell, Tucson City Council members Lane Santa Cruz and Richard Fimbres, Richard’s brother Albert, TUSD Board Member Adelita Grijalva, and Arizona House member Andres Cano, among others.

Andres Cano, member of the Arizona State Legislature.
Supervisors Ramon Valadez and Betty Villegas, with members of Richard’s family, his friends and staff.

Supervisor Betty Villegas also read a statement on my behalf that I submitted to her beforehand. I was very honored to be included in this ceremonious occasion. I know Richard would’ve been quite thrilled that a library was named after him.

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As Richard would always say, “Resist, much love…