For the first time in 20 years, I am at a loss for words.
But fear not...I'll think of something.
I am writing this a couple months before the February/March 2009 edition reaches newsstands and subscribers' mailboxes. That has been the Zephyr custom for two decades. It was always a great relief to get away from the "issues" for a while. But of course, this has a slightly different feel to it. So I am struggling a bit.
Recently I was trying to remember how I got myself into this mess in the first place. I wandered back to the first issue, to remind me and you just what I had in mind for The Zephyr, two decades ago. This, in part, was the Plan...
This is the first issue of The Canyon Country Zephyr, a monthly publication of news, opinion, information and entertainment...According to Webster's, "zephyr" is "any warm, western breeze." As it applies to this newspaper, the definition may vary. To some The Zephyr will represent a breath of fresh air; to others it may sound like a lot of hot wind. At one time or another, I hope that every reader will reach both conclusions...we're not here to cater to and patronize any one constituency, or anger and provoke another. But we would like to stimulate intelligent discussion of the issues that concern the citizens of this county...
This newspaper is determined to objectively tell its readers about the stories and events that are affecting Southern Utah. But we will also express opinions which, in your eyes, may not be correct. I may find myself disagreeing with commentaries within these pages. If The Zephyr hopes to offer a balanced view of life here, it has to offer more than one perspective...
All this opinion and commentary won't be worth the paper it's printed on without the participation and feedback of its readers. If you disagree with The Zephyr, don't sit there and grumble—let us know. Tell us why we're wrong....Only through an exchange of ideas and information can anyone hope to learn anything...
This first issue is in its embryonic stage. It will change and grow as time passes. We'll try new ideas, new formats, new features and sometimes they'll work and sometimes they won't. If you have ideas for us, let us know; we have an open mind. The Zephyr hopes to be around for a long time, but it depends on your participation and approval.
I think I succeeded beyond my wildest ambitions when I pledged NOT to "patronize any one constituency," and the idea of creating an open forum where opposing points of view might be openly discussed and debated was a dream I cling to, even now.
More than anything else, The Zephyr was born out of an almost primal desire to defend my home, no matter where I thought the threat to it came from.
And isn't that what we all want in the end? A safe and lovely place to call home that we would defend with our hearts and souls?
I came to southeast Utah more than 30 years ago, so young I still only needed to shave the tips of what I claimed were sideburns. Nixon was president. Gasoline was 38 cents a gallon and the canyon country was a very conspicuous blank spot on the map. ("To what avail are 40 freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" Aldo Leopold)
More than a decade later, when the Zephyr idea began to form nebulously in the corners of my brain, my optimism was unbridled and my enthusiasm was unprecedented. It wasn't that I thought The Zephyr could make a difference—instead, it was that I believed my fellow citizens and I, working toward a common dream, could create a community that did not look like all the other "progressive" New West towns.
I saw a chance to meld the old and the new. I hoped we could preserve and honor Moab's history and pioneer culture while maintaining a community that respected all kinds of lifestyles. I wanted Moab to be a community of homes, not property investments. I thought the riches we already possessed were worth more than double digit growth and a booming real estate market.
It was a foolish notion, but what is the point of living without foolish notions? And for a while, Moabites did pursue their visions in ways today's residents can only...well...dream.
But to be fair, most of the newer Moabites would not have wanted to live there thirty years ago. It was too isolated. Too lacking in amenities. Too poor. And if the question was put, many of them would believe Moab is a far better place now than it was then; they'd insist that its population reflects a more environmentally sensitive demographic, more likely to support wilderness legislation and a group more inclined to avoid stepping on cryptobiotic soils. I wouldn't argue that point at all.
I also know that happiness itself is relative to one's own history. For New Westerners, both in Moab and far beyond, the lifestyles they've made for themselves is a decided improvement on the urban nightmares they thought they'd left behind. When I complained in recent years about gridlock traffic on Main Street, I'm sure a few veterans of the LA Freeway Wars must have thought I was either insane or ungrateful for the relative quiet. They may be right.
Still I can't help but feel a bit sorry for them.
They have no idea what they missed.
But a word of caution to those who have sought refuge in the New West; as Satchel Paige once said...don't look back. What you left behind may be gaining on you, faster than you could ever imagine.
Now I turn to the next part of my life, both excited and a touch apprehensive about some of the changes that await me, but hopeful that the future will be as rewarding as the times I've already had the honor and pleasure to experience. Life's journey never fails to amaze me. What's next? We'll be reminiscing about it, sooner than you can imagine.
See you there.
THANKS...WHERE TO BEGIN?
This is impossible.
First I want to thank my old home on Locust Lane in Moab. It served as "Zephyr HQ" for more than 15 years and provided me a roof over my head and wonderful neighbors like Toots McDougald and Ken Davey and Julie Fox for most of them.
My best friend, John Hartley, bought the old homestead last year and, with his own two hands, restored it magnificently. Over the years every time the house needed major renovations, I opted for the cheaper quick fix and another ticket to Australia. As a result I worried that if I sold it to a property speculator, the Locust Lane home might go the way of the wrecking ball. John's loving craftsmanship has assured its survival. Thanks old pal.
And I want to thank two dear friends who are gone—Herb Ringer and Bill Benge. Both are honored elsewhere in this issue, but I miss them both and always will.
The paper Zephyr survived all these years because of the loyal and long running support of its advertisers and readers. Many of them deserve special attention. Bruce Benge (Benge's Shoes in Grand Jct.) started ads in the second issue, way back in May 1989 and is STILL in there. Not only is Benge's the oldest shoe store in Colorado, it is the Zephyr's longest running ad. Vern Erb's Hogan Trading Company didn't miss an ad for 19 ½ years. And Riverside Plumbing never missed an ad in 19 years...thanks Rick. And Tom Till...even before Tom had a gallery, the great photographer bought an ad that often said, "I have no idea why I buy an ad in the Zephyr," but I knew why. Tom wanted to keep the Z going. Thanks old friend.
And the Groff Family and Rim Cyclery. I think they only missed a couple issues about ten years ago when I pissed them off over something...imagine that. Me?
Back of Beyond Books has been a solid advertiser for 19 years, since the day they opened, first under the ownership of Karilyn Brodell and Bruce Hayse (and the steady hand of Jose Knighton), and for the last several years with new owner, longtime Moabite Andy Nettle. I cannot thank you enough.
And the Tex's Riverway Boys...Darren, Devin and Dirk Vaughan, who hopped onboard in the early 90s and never had the good sense to get out.
And my friends Jim Collar and John Andrews, the Footprints guys, who have not only been buying TWO ads each issue for years, they are the brains behind the Footprints "Top 10 List."
My friend Ali of Mazza's in Salt Lake City, has been a great friend and offered moral support in hard times.
Good grief...This really IS impossible.
There's Salt Lake Roasting...in the Z since 1994. Thanks John. And Brad Boyle of Walkabout Travel, who is the only advertiser who I also arrested in a previous life.
And Scott at Lazy Lizard and local carpenter Dave Wagstaff. Both of them regular supporters.
And Lynn Winter! My Kentucky pal who chose to put all her advertising monies into a newspaper that was "only 1531 miles away." (But Lynn...stand still for a minute!)
And Catherine Shank, who not only has been a loyal advertiser but also kept me limber in stressful times.
And Joseph Day, who I still haven't met, but who keeps the Zephyr alive on the Hopi Reservation.
And Browntrout. Thanks Marc and Wendover. How do you make all those calendars!
And Eddie McStiff's. Thank you Ed...and I will get those shoes for you, as soon as possible.
And Joe Kingsley. I've made Joe mad, many times, but we never seem to be able to STAY mad. Thanks Joe for your patience and open heart.
And Julie Fox, my neighbor for more than 15 years and my dear friend and owner of Eklectica, and her lovable, albeit irascible hubby, Ken Davey.
And my beloved Janis Adkins, the garden gal, and Brother Bodner, and that crazed Scotsman, Howard Trenholme who makes great egg salad sandwiches, and the Red Rock Canoe folks...first Bruce and Lisa, and then lately Theresa.
And Kelly and Anthony and Judy at Arches Realty. And Dave Bierscheid, who not only supported this paper for almost 15 years but who had the courage to oppose the Book Cliffs Highway, during his city council days, when nobody else would.
And Faye Carpenter, whose hair carving skills I miss BADLY. And the Mad Man...Mark Austin, whose James Watt secret will never escape my lips. And Norma Nunn, who supported The Zephyr for 15 years and who also helped me buy my Locust Lane home. And Paul Swanstrom, who is without doubt, the greatest bush pilot on the planet.
And the Whipples, Doug and Karen, who advertise a plumbing biz and the Peace Tree café in the same ad!
And Gene Schafer, who once said to me, "Damn Stiles...you look like shit. I'm gonna get you some steaks." He is one of the kindest and most decent men I have ever known. I miss him...and his damn steaks.
And then there have been the writers. How many rags can claim that Ed Abbey donated a story to the premier issue? One of the great blessings of my life was having Edward Abbey as a friend.
And it's an honor to say that his old pal, Ken Sleight, is still a buddy of mine, almost 35 years after we first met at the Arches National Park visitor center. Ken was supportive of this paper, financially (he and Jane ran ads for Pack Creek Ranch for 16 years) and creatively—he was a regular columnist for almost 15 years.
From the get-go, I looked for a diverse mix of writers who represented the spectrum of political and social and environmental thought. Someone once said, "The Zephyr is full of boneheaded radicals and radical boneheads." Well, I did something right. The staff changed over the years, but there was always someone to disagree with—from John Sensenbrenner and Jane S. Jones on the right, to Jack Campbell and Lance Christie on the left. I ran a column by Scott Groene and SUWA for more than a decade but also provided space for anyone who chose to disagree with them (including ME, of course!).
Ken Davey, the Dean of the Moab Press Corps in the early 1990s, was a regular voice of unflinching candor and honesty in The Zephyr.
Erratic contributions from someone who calls herself Chinle Miller have enlivened these pages from time to time, but I do not know if Chinle really exists, or if she does, in what form.
Sasa Woodruff did some great work for The Zephyr in the late 1990s. She is now a producer/editor for NPR in Los Angeles. Keep up the good work, Sashinator.
Martin Murie came to The Zephyr as a writer in 2002, though we met years earlier at Carl Rappe's "Main St. Broiler." Martin's words of wisdom and his friendship have been indispensable to me.
And there's the cantankerous and brilliant Ned Mudd, who I still haven't seen in the flesh but who claims to live in some kind of hell called Stinkingham, Alabama. His crazed notes from "the crawlspace of history" consistently 'nail it.'
I had some memorable readers over the years who took the time to write...readers who became friends. I would not begin to attempt mentioning all or even some of them here, though let me at least send a salute to one...Chuck Miller. I met Chuck just once, at the Dos Amigos during the Golden Days of Marooney. Somehow we always stayed in touch. A couple years ago, Chuck sent me some photos of a long ago visit to the canyon country in the '50s. On page 5 is one of them. Thanks Chuck for thinking of me from time to time.
Marge and Larry Fleenor, former owners of the Printing Place, put up with my lack of computer skills for almost 15 years. They set my headline and advert type in the early days on an old Compugraphic machine and even did all my half-tone images when I was too intimidated by technology to engage a scanner. Marge died a few years ago, and I am sorry I never had the chance to tell her how much her patience and generosity meant to me.
Young Lance Lawrence, a recent BYU grad and recently married (!), has been doing the Salt Lake City distribution for a few years now. He is also a passionate advocate for restoring Glen Canyon and sometimes I do believe he has a bit of Hayduke in him!
Linda Vaughan has been doing my bulk mailings for years now...I can't even remember who did it before her. Thanks Linda.
And the Rock of them all...Jose Churampi has distributed The Zephyr in Moab for most of the last two decades. Always a gentleman and always fair, it has been my honor to be his friend all these years...............next page
Cortez News printed The Zephyr for 14 years and working with head press man Larry Hauser was a pleasure. After he retired I made a switch to the Tooele Transcript. The guys in Tooele—Scott, Keith, Darwin. Shawn—have been great. I'm really going to miss the ride and the visit. Thanks for all your kindnesses.
Finally, after my move to Monticello a few years ago, my friend Bill Boyle and his staff at the San Juan Record gave me more help than I ever deserved and his able assistant Andrea actually taught me...taught ME!...how to use InDesign and electronic layouts after 18 years of cut and paste. Bill or Scott FTPed my large layout files to the printers in Tooele every two months and I was even fed the best salsa in all the Southwest, thanks to the crazed but lovable Melissa Shakespeare.
I really miss you guys.
No doubt I've failed to mention many people whose names deserve to be listed here with the others and I apologize. Trying to recall 20 years of good friends and memorable experiences and a thousand acts of kindness is not easy. If you know you should have been mentioned here, and know that my brain is going, then I also know you'll understand.
So to all of you who have played a role in The Zephyr these last two decades...please accept my gratitude and know that my heart is full.
THE FUTURE....THE 'CYBER-PRINT' ZEPHYR
If I ever had a Zephyr Regret, it was that stupid slogan: "Clinging Hopelessly to the Past since 1989." I think it allowed critics to dismiss some of the more serious aspects of this publication and write me off as a "cantankerous, cranky curmudgeon."
Which I am.
I don't think there is anything wrong with sentimentality; in fact, I wish more people felt a sentimental connection to the past. My hope was always to learn from the past, save the good parts and build a future that was realistic and sustainable and rewarding. I don't think that's a cranky or cantankerous perspective at all.
So now...ladies and gentlemen...The Future.
If all goes as planned, the first CYBER-PRINT edition of The Zephyr: Planet Earth Edition, will go online around April 1, 2009. My webmaster, Gary Henderson is reconstructing the web site, even as I type.
What you'll encounter, we hope, is very similar to what you see here. When you open the new home page, you'll be confronted with a series of thumbnail images. Each one represents a two page Zephyr spread. Click on each one and magnify to taste...no need for reading glasses anymore.
By breaking down the paper into two page increments and by reducing the resolution to screen quality, the download time should be nominal (Damn...it actually sounds as if I know what I'm talking about.).
Content-wise, expect more of the same and then some and something else as well. Still assume I'll be talking about the Colorado Plateau and environmentalism as it relates to global warming, the economy and the recent global economic crisis and the end of civilization as we know it (!)
I'm particularly excited to welcome Doug Meyer to The Zephyr as a regular columnist. I met Doug more than a year ago, via my book, Brave New West, when he volunteered to put some papers around his home in Flagstaff.
When I realized he was far smarter than I could ever hope to be on many of the issues this publication confronts, it seemed like a good idea to hire Doug immediately. He will henceforth be known as The Zephyr's "Colorado Plateau Bureau Chief," which is a pretty heady title for such lousy pay. I think Doug will impress you as much as he has me and I look forward to his intelligent and honest approach to the crises we face.
Also, for the first time, The Zephyr will embrace color. After all these years, I'm excited at the opportunity to print Herb Ringer's photographs as they were meant to be seen. Eventually, even the ads may go to color.
And we'll be adding a goddamn BLOG to the homepage...if this isn't proof my 'clinging hopelessly..." mantra has been shot all to hell, I don't know what is.
But I also hope I can convey to my readers the sense that the problems we face in Utah are shared and echoed around the world. The stories are strikingly similar, no matter where I go. Americans are the most insular people I have ever known. In a very small way, maybe the "Planet Earth Edition" can help change that a bit.
And I intend this to be The Zephyr's next catchphrase:
"The Zephyr...where, unless it's about your mama, everything's on the record."
C'mon everyone, put your money where your mouth is. Let's have that honest debate.
I don't know how many of my advertisers will stay with me when I make the transition. The Zephyr lost almost a third of its ad base this year, in part because of the impending change, but also because the economic downturn is trickling down to Moab I'm hoping the greatly reduced rates will allow some of the surviving advertisers to stay with me. I'm also hoping that with the online Zephyr, available world-wide, that it can attract more geographically diverse businesses.
And finally, I cannot express more emphatically, how important the Backbone will be to The Zephyr's online survival. Your participation will mean everything.
So...what else is there to say. I hate long goodbyes, and this isn't even goodbye. Just a change of venue. Still, I can't help but feel a pang.
Thanks to all of you...
