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…
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
As the new year began, I was still trying to adjust to my new surroundings. I continued to feel out of place, and wasn’t very happy, but I held on because I didn’t want to waste the once in a lifetime opportunity I had before me. Michigan was a very highly regarded school and a great place to work, supposedly, and I knew I was very lucky to have a job there. Winter was tough, however, and seemed to drag on forever. The sun rarely ever came out, and the weather was always cold, gray and cloudy. My first full winter in Ann Arbor was challenging. My skin was so pale, I had to convince some people I was of Mexican American descent. I heard comments like, you don’t look like a Mexican. Oh well, I’d tell them. I am a Mexican whether you think so or not.
My job continued to consist of spending time at the reference desk, answering questions, and helping students find resources for their research, conducting instruction sessions on how to use the Library for students in English, Psychology, and other courses, and selecting materials for the collection. I also continued to learn the new technologies that were coming our way. The Library’s new automated library system, called Mirlyn, for example, was about to go live in the Fall, and I participated in a series of training sessions that covered the ins and outs of the system. I also had a couple of fun projects assigned to me. One was called the Rolodex Task Force. The work required that we verify and update information, kept on a giant rolodex, that was used at the Graduate Library’s reference desk. I got to know a lot about the various libraries on campus and about resources and organizations in and around the University.
I also began to manage the Undergraduate Library’s Peer Information Counseling program in the Spring. In a nutshell, Peer Information Counselors were students of color who worked at the reference desk as reference assistants. They received extensive training, and were there to help other students of color feel more comfortable and welcomed as they approached the reference desk and used the library. Darlene Nichols, an African American librarian colleague, had been running the program since 1985, but wanted to hand it off. I eventually was given responsibility for it. I was assigned the task of getting a newsletter out and hiring new students. By the Fall I was managing the entire program by myself. I have to admit that at first, I was resistant to taking on this assignment, because I felt that it was being given to me only because I was a minority, and it just wouldn’t look good for a white person to manage it. Oh well. I got over it, and enjoyed working with the students I hired and trained. They were bright and engaged and eager to learn.
I went home to Tucson for vacation in February. I spent a lot of time with my old friends and with my family, and I got my portrait done in pencil at IBT’s, a gay bar on 4th Avenue, by an artist named T. Barr Stevens. I brought it home as a gift to my mom. She was very ill, but I didn’t realize how sick she really was or that she wouldn’t make it until the end of the year. Sometime in the Spring after I had returned back to Ann Arbor, my older brother Charles called me and suggested that I might think about coming back home for a while. He told me that our mom didn’t have long to live. I decided that I couldn’t leave my job. I had bills to pay and felt stuck, and Brent would not have been able to make it on his own in Ann Arbor. He would have had to move back to Muskegon. I also didn’t believe that my mom was so ill. To this day, I regret my decision to stay put and not go home. It breaks my heart to think that I could’ve spent more time with my mom in her last days, and that I chose not to. Dammit. It made my life at Michigan even more difficult, as I was unhappy as it was. I began to really dislike my job and Ann Arbor. The counseling that I participated in did nothing to help. It was a complete waste of time and money.
In early March, I participated in facilitator training on leading discussions among the staff about the issue of racism. The training was provided by Dr. Frances Kendall, a consultant from California who specialized in diversity training. She took the stance that if you were born and raised in the US, then you were racist, whether you knew it or not or agreed to it or not. She argued that our culture and its institutions were built to benefit wealthy white men, and that they hadn’t changed much at all since they were founded. Thus, racism was “institutional.” And built into our social structure. Her work was all about helping people realize this. Her goal was to help people acknowledge their prejudices and work towards getting rid of them through dialogue, education and self-awareness. I was among several staff members who participated in the training she provided. Most of the participants were from the Graduate Library and were managers or administrators, and being in this group felt a bit intimidating, but I stuck it out and tried my best to learn and participate fully. A couple of weeks after we received the initial training, Dr. Kendall was brought in again and gave an all staff presentation on the issue of racism and the challenges of overcoming it. Another person, Vivian Sykes, an African American librarian from San Francisco, also spoke about her personal experiences with racism in librarianship. Both presentations were hard hitting, and it left a lot of the nearly all-white staff feeling very uncomfortable. Once the presentations were given, the staff was then required to participate in a series of small group discussions, and I, as one of the group facilitators, helped to lead these.
After the training was completed, some members of the facilitator group formed the Library Diversity Task Force, with the intention of continuing our discussions about the issues. We wanted to build momentum among the staff for learning and for cultural change. It was at this time that I got to know my dear friend Karen Downing. We hit it off and became inseparable, and we worked together on several projects, including producing a diversity film festival for the Library staff that took place in the Fall and planning events for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day the following January.
In May, I attended my first conference while at Michigan. It was called LOEX, which is short for Library Orientation Exchange, and was focused on library instruction and improving teaching. The conference was held at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green Ohio, just about an hour’s drive south of Ann Arbor. I attended a workshop, Reaching and Teaching Diverse Library Users, conducted by Louise Greenfield. I had met Louise when I was a graduate student, and would later work with her at Arizona. My colleague Linda TerHaar, gave a presentation on the PIC program and my supervisor also gave a presentation. I didn’t do anything but attend various programs and poster sessions. In my free time, I visited the library on campus and was in heaven because I found they had a bunch of Aretha Franklin 45s from her days at Columbia in their collection. They have one of the best popular music collections in the world.
In the Spring, I attended some lectures featuring several very interesting speakers. They included Angela Davis, Cesar Chavez and the writers Cherrie Moraga, who co-edited, along with Gloria Anzaldua, the groundbreaking book, “This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color”, and Rudolfo Acuna, who was the author of Occupied America, a Chicano history book I had read back in college. It was at these events that I started meeting other Chicanos and Latinos, including a graduate student named Raul Villa. He was studying in the American Culture program, and was from Nogales, Arizona. He had a girlfriend named Eileen, and she and I became good friends and remained so even after Raul left. Raul introduced me to several other Chicano and Latino students, including a medical student named Roberto Tostado, and other students who were enrolled in the law school. Unfortunately, Raul and I didn’t always get along, and he left Michigan at the end of the Spring semester to complete his graduate studies at UC Santa Cruz. He would continue to write to me, however, for more than a year, but we eventually lost touch. He now resides in Los Angeles and is a professor at Occidental College.
In the Spring, Brent’s dad got sick and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was told he didn’t have long to live so the family decided that he should receive experimental treatment in the Bahamas. It was expensive and promising, but it didn’t work, and he died later in the year, just a month after my mom died. Brent spent a lot of time with his parents both in Twin Lake and the Bahamas this particular year and I went home a total of four times, once in the Spring and three times in the winter. It was a tough time for the two of us, and we struggled to keep things together.
In late October, my sister Irene called me to tell me that our mom was in the hospital and didn’t have long to live. I rushed back home and stayed for about a week, and stupidly convinced myself that my mom was getting better, so I flew back to Michigan. A week later, I got another call and this time, it was definite. Mom didn’t have but a day or two left to live. She died on November 2, at University Hospital in Tucson sometime in the early evening. It was the saddest moment of my life. I cried like a baby at her funeral and felt like I wanted to die too. Thank goodness my friend Richard was there for me. He knew how much I loved my mom. She was my hero. Even though she had her problems, I loved her dearly, and I know she loved me unconditionally. I was her last and favorite child.
I went back to my job in Ann Arbor after having stayed with my dad and family for a couple more weeks after we buried our mom, and I did my best to resume my life as it had been before she died. But it wasn’t the same. I was a mess, emotionally, spiritually and physically. I didn’t know how I’d get through the coming months, but I suppose I managed. Brent’s dad died in mid-December, so we had another sad tragedy on our hands to contend with. Christmas came along, and I went back home again. It was a rough time for the family. Although we took a family portrait at this time, and we all looked like we were happy together, one of my brothers was getting out of control, drinking and fighting with anyone he encountered. He even fought with our dad one night while I was visiting, and we had to have him arrested.
Because I had to go back home several times, I ended up going into more debt by the end of the year. There was no way I could go back home the following year. I even missed my best friend Richard’s wedding in January, and it made me feel very bad. Winter was in full swing again, and the sun was nowhere to be found. God, how I missed it.
My work calendar
This film had a great soundtrack. Released on 1/15/88
I turned 29 on January 15, 1988, and received several birthday cards from my friends and family back home, including my Teatro friends Liliana, Pernela and Scott, and my college friend, Tim Moles. It was a rough time for me, as I didn’t get to go home for Christmas, and things weren’t turning out so well at work. It was nice to hear from my friends and family. Winter time in Ann Arbor was cold and gray in more ways than one.
A birthday card from my dear friend Liliana Gambarte. We were in Teatro Libertad together.
A birthday card from Scott and Pernela, my Teatro Libertad friends.
Here’s a birthday letter from my good friend Tim.
A birthday card from my sister Irene.
My friend Richard wrote to me several times in 1988. Below is another of many letters I received from him while I lived in Michigan.
A birthday letter from my friend Richard.
This is a birthday card from my co-workers at the library.
The letter below, from my mom, is one of my prized possessions. She sent it to me for my birthday, January, 1988. The photos she refers to can be found at the tail end of the 1987 entry of My Life Story.
Mom and Dad.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys and the Beatles, Jan. 19, 1988.
Another letter from Richard. In this one he updates me on what’s happening with Arizona’s crazy governor Ev Mecham, and he also mentions Emily, his future wife, for the first time.
Cherrie Moraga visited the University of Michigan campus on February 10. She and Gloria Anzaldua co-edited the popular book, “This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color.” Moraga, a lesbian Chicana feminist, would go on to publish more essays and plays over the years.
A David Hockney print
Denise and Mike wrote several letters and postcards to me and Brent while we lived in Michigan, but they never did make it over for a visit.
I had a rough time, and continued seeing a counselor for the rest of the year. It didn’t help at all.
Another card from my sister Irene. She and Becky both sent me lots of cards.
I got to tour the Ann Arbor Public Library as a participant of the University Library’s new staff orientation program. I visited it quite a bit. They had a great collection of music on cd.
Downtown Tucson in the 1980s. I spent my vacation there from 2/18 to 2/28. The city seemed to have grown considerably since I had last been home. There was traffic everywhere.
While in Tucson, I went to a local gay bar on 4th Avenue, and an artist was doing portraits, so I decided to have mine done.
This is one of my very favorite movies. I love the soundtrack. The film was released on February 26, 1988. It would be a few months before I actually saw it, however. Below is photo of John Waters, the director of the film and an excerpt from a review that appeared in Rolling Stone on March 24, 1988.
In early March, Dr. Frances E. Kendall was hired to do anti-racism work with the Library staff. I was chosen to participate as a discussion facilitator, and attended a number of training sessions with Dr. Kendall. This was the beginning of my work in the area of “diversity”. The group that participated in the facilitator training later went on to become the Library Diversity Committee. I was a member of it for over 4 years.
Harris Glenn Milstead, otherwise known as Divine, shown alongside Jerry Stiller in a scene from the movie “Hairspray”, passed away on March 7, 1988. Divine was in many of John Waters’ films, including Pink Flamingos, Polyester and Lust in the Dust. She performed in Ann Arbor at the Nectarine Ballroom shortly before she died. I should’ve gone to see her, but didn’t.
This is a wonderful movie, with positive portrayals of Latinos, for a change. It was released on March 11, 1988.
Brent’s family. His dad had just been diagnosed with brain cancer. The following months would be difficult for the family.
Released on March 18, 1988. Another excellent film, but they could’ve done a better job casting real Latinos/Mexicanos in some of the roles. Hollywood gets things wrong more often than not.
March 19, 1988. This was the second time I got to see Angela Davis speak. I had seen her several years earlier when I was an undergraduate at the University of Arizona. I would see her again a couple of years later in Ann Arbor. She’s a fascinating speaker and writer.
Rudy Acuna came to campus and spoke at the following symposium a day after Angela Davis spoke, on March 20, 1988.
Released on March 23, 1988. One of my favorites.
The critics at Rolling Stone magazine were always hard on Joni Mitchell. This was a great album. They’re full of it.
I’d never heard of Pedro Almodovar before. What a talented director. Antonio Banderas is in this film as is Carmen Maura. A wonderful comedy, released on March 26, 1988. For a while there, I watched every one of his movies.
Released on March 30, 1988.
This was a fun event that had been taking place in Ann Arbor for almost two decades, but there were police all over the place, so one had to be very careful. I used to have a t-shirt, but I wore it out.
I finally bought a car, a rather worn out version of the one above, a 1974 Corolla 4 door. Mine was rusted around the edges and looked much duller because of its age. Cars do not last long in Michigan weather, because the roads are salted and salt causes rust. This one eventually fell apart on me. I drove over a speed bump one day and the chassis split in two, it was so badly rusted.
My picture came out in the daily student newspaper. It accompanied the article below.
Released on 4/15/88. What a great debut album. Talkin’ about a revolution was a hit! Couldn’t believe it. See review below.
From the Ann Arbor News.
My sister Becky sent me cards and letters on a regular basis throughout the seventies and into the eighties after I left home. I still have all of them.
My cousin Turi was one of Cesar Chavez’s assistants, and he coordinated a big fundraiser for him in Detroit. Turi lived in Dearborn with his family. He brought his mom, my Aunt Helen out to help cater the event. This was the second time I got to meet Mr. Chavez.
This was a wonderful recording, released on April 26, 1988. . Brent and I would get to see kd lang live later in the coming year. The highlight of the night was when she sang the Roy Orbison song, Crying.
Here’s a live version of “Crying”.
My first professional conference while at Michigan was called LOEX, (short for Library Orientation Exchange). It took place in early May at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green Ohio, about an hour’s drive south of Ann Arbor. I and several colleagues, including Linda TerHaar, Lynn Westbrook and Barb Hoppe attended. Bowling Green was a very nice, well-kept, small college town. The Library at the University had an outstanding popular music collection, and I visited it while there.
Bowling Green. It was a lovely little town.
Louise Greenfield, a librarian from the University of Arizona whom I had met when I was a graduate student, conducted this workshop. I would later work with her again after I moved back to Arizona.
One of my colleagues, Linda TerHaar, gave a presentation on what we called the PIC Program. PIC was short for Peer Information Counselors. Another colleague, Darlene Nichols, who oversaw the program up until mid-Spring, developed the handouts. In January, I was strongly encouraged to take over coordination of the program, and by this point, had started managing it. I probably should have been the one to do the presentation, but my supervisor chose Linda instead. This was yet another example of her denying me opportunities to participate in professional activities. It would be another year before I was “allowed” to attend ALA.
Bowling Green State University’s Jerome Library– a wonderful place. I visited the music library while there. Here’s a description of it. “With almost a million recordings, the Music Library & Bill Schurk Sound Archives (MLBSSA) is the largest collection of popular music in an academic library in North America. Our recordings include 45s, 78s, 33s, LPs, reel-to-reel tapes, cassette tapes and CDs. The sound recording collection is supported by books, scores, video/film, hard-to-find periodicals, fanzines, promotional material and archival collections”.
These are a couple of the handouts I picked up at the Library on my visit.
Denise and Mike, my two crazy friends, were quite talented. Denise had openings all over the place. This one took place in Santa Barbara.
More correspondence from my buddy Richard.
King Sunny Ade’ represents African and World music at its finest.
King Sunny Ade
I know I was at this concert, but I remember very little about it…
From the Ann Arbor News, May 16, 1988.
Chet Baker was a great jazz musician. He played trumpet and sang. I played his music quite a bit when I was with KXCI. He died on May 13, 1988.
Here’s one of Chet Baker’s songs that I would play on my show all the time.
Becky, my Mom and Irene, early June 1988.
My sister Becky holding our nephew Jose’, my brother Fred’s newborn son.
A postcard from Brent’s mom. The Bahamas.
One of my very favorite comedies. It opened on June 10, 1988.
Another card from my friend Denise. She and Mike had moved to New York by this time.
Released on 6-15-88. I love baseball movies. Susan Sarandon is also one of my very favorite actresses. Below is a review from Time Magazine, June 20, 1988. .
Yet another card from Richard. We both missed each other a lot.
Seeing Sarah Vaughan was a dream come true and the highlight of my summer. Her concert took place on July 2, 1988. She died two years later. I was lucky to have been able to see her perform.
A letter I wrote to my parents. I found it later, after I had moved back home in 1992.
Lake Michigan. Brent tried his best to help his parents out during his father’s illness.
This paper was used as a guide for the Library in reaching its goals to become a multicultural organization.
A rare journal entry. I wrote more when I was in my early 20s than I did during this period of my life.
Another great album from Dwight Yoakam, released on August 2, 1988. Streets of Bakersfield as a big, big hit and included the vocals of Buck Owens and the accordion playing of the great Flaco Jimenez.
This tv program aired on PBS on August 22 as part of the American Masters series. I was in heaven for sure!
Seeing Pete Seeger was one of the highlight’s of my time in Ann Arbor. He’s been one of my heroes for a very long time.
This was another fun concert. I love Pete Seeger and have many of his recordings.
Oh wow, I just love this album. Etta’s big comeback, released on September 26, 1988.
I love this song…
This folk album, recorded all in Spanish, by Los Lobos, was released in September, 1988. It’s reminiscent of their very first album, Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles/Just Another Band from East L.A, released 10 years earlier. They play a lot of son jarocho on this disc.
Here’s the title cut.
I tried to get involved with the campus gay community, but it was not an easy group to become a part of. There were some very, very radical women running things and they were not welcoming at all.
Brent spent time in the Bahamas with his parents.
Another day when I was visiting my mom, a week or so before she passed away, a nurse came in and my mom called to her and said, “hi honey. Do you know who Ray Charles is? Well he can park his shoes under my bed any time!”. The nurse said, “that’s nice Mrs. Diaz” and rolled her eyes, or something like that, and then she left the room. I turned to my mom and said, “oh ma, why did you say that? How embarrassing!” She shot back, “well, I would’ve said Vicente Fernandez, mijo, but this pendejita wouldn’t have known who I was talking about!” I still crack up thinking about it, and remember it like it was yesterday…
My mom.
St. Ambrose Church was filled to capacity during the services for my mom. She was special to many people.
Me, Rudy and Becky at our parent’s house the day of our mom’s funeral.
With the family after the funeral.
These two cards are just a sampling of the dozens of sympathy cards I received from my colleagues at Michigan and friends from back home. Everyone was very supportive.
One of my very first Lucha Villa cassettes. I bought it shortly after my mom died.
This song, from the above anthology, just breaks me up.
A few days after my mom died, I went to the swap meet to see if I could find some good Mexican music so that I could play it in her memory. I knew she loved Mexican rancheras, and that she particularly enjoyed the music of Lola Beltran and Lucha Villa, so I looked around for some of their recordings at the various booths that sold Mexican music. Man, did I luck out! I found a cassette with the above photo on it that day and brought it home. Simply titled “Lucha VIlla”, it was a greatest hits anthology and it included some of her earliest and best known recordings from the early 60s to the mid 70s, including several songs written by Jose Alfredo Jimenez. My dad heard it and said to me, “this is a gift from your mother”. Every song hit hard and seemed to be about my parents relationship. From this point on, I was hooked on this woman’s music and on Mexican mariachi and rancheras in general. I’ve since traveled all over the US and Mexico collecting her music, and I now have practically everything she’s ever released on lp, 45, cassette and cd. I also have several of her films. She was a great actress too. Now that Youtube is available, one can listen to most of her recordings there, and even watch her many movies. Back when I started collecting her material, however, there was no Youtube, and finding her recordings required perseverence and dedication as most of it was out of print. Back in 2011, I created two websites devoted to her music. One covers her output in the 60s, and the other in the 70s. Included are all her albums and movies from each decade. I now have them linked as two pdf documents. You can see them here (60s)and here (70s).
I’m not sure I got to vote this time around as I was in Tucson when the election for president. took place. I found the cards below at a novelty shop in Ann Arbor.
Michael Dukakis
Stevie Wonder is all over this album. It’s great. Released on November 22, 1988.
My favorite song from the album…
The following song is from the movie, Scrooged, which premiered on November 23, 1988. I love both the original version by Jackie DeShannon and this version by Annie Lennox and Al Green. What a match!
This was the second time I got to see Buffy Ste. Marie. I would see her again one more time before I left Ann Arbor and came back to Tucson, and then again in San Francisco at one of the ALA Conferences. I just love this woman!
The great Roy Orbison died on December 6, 1988. He was a great vocalist and songwriter. His biggest hit was “Pretty Woman”.
This film premiered on December 14, 1988. It’s a powerful film with great performances by Anne Bancroft and Harvey Fierstein.
A complicated film. One has to pay close attention in this one. It premiered on December 16, 1988.
Dustin Hoffman is an amazing actor. This film was also released on December 16.
Brent’s dad was a nice man. At first, he had some trouble accepting our relationship, but he eventually came around.
What a sad movie. Released on December 21st.
William Hurt was in Kiss of the Spiderwoman, so I just had to see this one too. It premiered on December 23.
Artwork by Ana Elias, my friend Richard’s sister.
I received a lot of Christmas cards this particular year. Here’s a small sample of them. The one above was from Richard’s sister-in-law Sarah, who was married to Albert, Richard’s older brother.
Maria Hoopes was very kind to me when I was a graduate student. She stayed in touch too.
Home for the holidays, with my sister Becky and my dad.
Goofing around with Becky and Richard.
Richard, you’re hurting me you brute! Ha ha ha.
Taking this was a bittersweet experience. Our mom was gone. She always wanted us to have a family portrait like this.
Becky and I at a Christmas party hosted by her boss.
My last visit to San Francisco took place five years ago when I attended the American Library Association’s annual conference. I stayed at the Hyatt Regency near the Embarcadero Center. While it was a nice location and a very nice hotel, I did have to walk pretty far to get to my meetings. Nevertheless, I had a great time. I spent some time with my friends Mary, Alex and Karen. I also got to see the gay pride parade and Steve Grand, a gay singer whose music I really like. I also visited the Mission District and took pictures of many of the murals. On my last day, I ventured over to the Haight Ashbury neighborhood, where I went record shopping. I went to several conference meetings and saw Nancy Pelosi speak too. I’ll add more later, but for now, here are some of the photos I took during the trip and a few I added from other sources.
