skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Tucson...Two Months On
This city in the Sonoran Desert has been our adopted "second city" now for more than ten years. We have come to love the place, particularly this time of year.
The near arrival of spring brings a huge variety of life to the desert. The birds start talking at first light, the cool mornings give way to progressively warmer days until, as the incredible pink sunsets appear in the darkening, brilliant blue sky, the desert night cools again and one of the greatest star shows anywhere helps remind us how insignificant we are in the grand scheme.
The third annual Tucson Festival of Books has been dominating the city this weekend, particularly the campus of the University of Arizona. Thousands flocked to the campus yesterday to wander among booths, listen to music and celebrate books with a long list of good writers.
I listened to writer Jonathan Eig talk about his latest book on the Chicago mobster Al Capone. As a baseball fan, I've admired and enjoyed Eig's books on Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig. He had a big crowd in a big tent laughing yesterday as he disposed of a few myths about Big Al. Capone didn't order the St. Valentine's Day massacre, for instance, and Eliot Ness had almost nothing to do with bringing Capone to justice. More plausibly, Capone got crosswise with a smart U.S. Attorney.
Frank DeFord held forth, as did J.A. Jance and Douglas Brinkley. I'm looking forward to seeing a talented historian Annette Gordon-Reed later today and one of my historian heroes, Robert Utley.
NPR's Scott Simon moderated a fascinating panel with Luis Alberto Urrea - his book The Devil's Highway is a chilling and exceeding well-crafted account of human trafficking along the U.S. - Mexican border - and T. Jefferson Parker, a novelist who writes about the drugs, money and guns that increasingly define our relationship with Mexico.
Simon seemed momentarily taken aback when a questioneer thanked him for his sensitive and knowing reporting in the aftermath of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and so many others on January 8. The big crowd in the UA Student Union applauded the remark and the conversation returned to the nature of the misunderstood story playing out daily in the borderlands.
Still, a little over two months on from the shootings, the healing here comes slowly and one gets the impression that a whole city is still processing, reflecting, mourning and trying to move ahead.
Six white crosses still sit on the ground across the street from the Safeway at Ina and Oracle where Gifford was meeting constituents on January 8. There was a big benefit concert this week to raise money to further the healing. A Gifford's aide, Ron Barber, organized a fund for that purpose and a big car dealer and Republican businessman who had supported Gifford's opponent last year made a large donation. The UA has launched an institute devoted to civility and a Gifford's intern-turned-hero, Daniel Hernandez, announced this week that he'll run for student body president at the University. And, of course, the updates on the Congressman's condition dominated the news here and got big play everywhere. Life goes on.
The big book festival this weekend made me reflect anew on the power of stories in the hands of gifted storytellers to help us make sense of an often senseless world. Artists simply help us live and cope.
Luis Urrea, a great and gifted writer who straddles at least two cultures, gave me a new mantra while he was talking with Scott Simon. Urrea says he tells his writing students that every day is Christmas or their birthday, they just need to be open to the gifts - mostly little tiny gifts - that come their way every day.
Tucson is finding its way two months on by finding and enjoying the little gifts that come its way every day.
Tucson...Two Months On
This city in the Sonoran Desert has been our adopted "second city" now for more than ten years. We have come to love the place, particularly this time of year.
The near arrival of spring brings a huge variety of life to the desert. The birds start talking at first light, the cool mornings give way to progressively warmer days until, as the incredible pink sunsets appear in the darkening, brilliant blue sky, the desert night cools again and one of the greatest star shows anywhere helps remind us how insignificant we are in the grand scheme.
The third annual Tucson Festival of Books has been dominating the city this weekend, particularly the campus of the University of Arizona. Thousands flocked to the campus yesterday to wander among booths, listen to music and celebrate books with a long list of good writers.
I listened to writer Jonathan Eig talk about his latest book on the Chicago mobster Al Capone. As a baseball fan, I've admired and enjoyed Eig's books on Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig. He had a big crowd in a big tent laughing yesterday as he disposed of a few myths about Big Al. Capone didn't order the St. Valentine's Day massacre, for instance, and Eliot Ness had almost nothing to do with bringing Capone to justice. More plausibly, Capone got crosswise with a smart U.S. Attorney.
Frank DeFord held forth, as did J.A. Jance and Douglas Brinkley. I'm looking forward to seeing a talented historian Annette Gordon-Reed later today and one of my historian heroes, Robert Utley.
NPR's Scott Simon moderated a fascinating panel with Luis Alberto Urrea - his book The Devil's Highway is a chilling and exceeding well-crafted account of human trafficking along the U.S. - Mexican border - and T. Jefferson Parker, a novelist who writes about the drugs, money and guns that increasingly define our relationship with Mexico.
Simon seemed momentarily taken aback when a questioneer thanked him for his sensitive and knowing reporting in the aftermath of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and so many others on January 8. The big crowd in the UA Student Union applauded the remark and the conversation returned to the nature of the misunderstood story playing out daily in the borderlands.
Still, a little over two months on from the shootings, the healing here comes slowly and one gets the impression that a whole city is still processing, reflecting, mourning and trying to move ahead.
Six white crosses still sit on the ground across the street from the Safeway at Ina and Oracle where Gifford was meeting constituents on January 8. There was a big benefit concert this week to raise money to further the healing. A Gifford's aide, Ron Barber, organized a fund for that purpose and a big car dealer and Republican businessman who had supported Gifford's opponent last year made a large donation. The UA has launched an institute devoted to civility and a Gifford's intern-turned-hero, Daniel Hernandez, announced this week that he'll run for student body president at the University. And, of course, the updates on the Congressman's condition dominated the news here and got big play everywhere. Life goes on.
The big book festival this weekend made me reflect anew on the power of stories in the hands of gifted storytellers to help us make sense of an often senseless world. Artists simply help us live and cope.
Luis Urrea, a great and gifted writer who straddles at least two cultures, gave me a new mantra while he was talking with Scott Simon. Urrea says he tells his writing students that every day is Christmas or their birthday, they just need to be open to the gifts - mostly little tiny gifts - that come their way every day.
Tucson is finding its way two months on by finding and enjoying the little gifts that come its way every day.
Posts
