EDITOR'S LETTER

editor's letter -IN MEMORIAMCHARLES BOWDEN 1945-2014

HUMMINGBIRDS. Some are as little as 2.29 inches long, and none are bigger than pocket-sized. They're among the world's smallest vertebrates, and yet, they played a large role in the life of Charles Bowden. “There is nothing in my day that matters to me beyond birds, walking and reading.” That's from a recent entry in a journal Chuck called “Creek Log.” He was fascinated by birds - hummingbirds in particular - and the seduction goes back to his childhood.

“As a boy,” he wrote in an essay, “I'd walk the dog under a tree in the corner of the park at twilight and hummingbirds would hover just over my head. I knew nothing of their customs or various nations then. But my boy's eyes glimpsed an open door as the night came down and the promise of what I could be and learn if I left the everyday world and spun up into the sky.” The essay is titled Mysterious Little Birds, and it's featured on page 46. As writers, we all have access to the same set of vowels and consonants, but Chuck was the master of composition - he'd string together words the way Mozart paired notes and Monet combined colors.

“The land rose, a river cut, the entrails of the earth came into view, time beyond human comprehension loomed up like a wall and the hand could rub and feel billions of years.” That's from an essay about the Grand Canyon.

In another essay, one in which I was expecting an obituary for a battered national monument, he wrote a beautiful piece about hopefulness: “I stand in the shade of an ironwood that is likely older than my nation and I have the faith of a pupfish, surviving century after century in a desert. Organ Pipe is open for business and its business is to teach the power of life in a very hot place. We made a deal with the ground and the bad times cannot touch our dreams.” Of course, his mastery of the written word went beyond the pages of Arizona Highways. He wrote more than two dozen books and won a long list of writing awards. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and when the editors of Esquire selected the 70 best sentences in the history of their magazine, Chuck was in the mix, along with Hemingway, Steinbeck and Fitzgerald.

As you'd expect, it's the quintessential sentence. I share it with my students when I teach magazine writing at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. I share it and tell them to write as if every word were on trial for its life. That's how Chuck did it, but for him, the exercise went beyond vowels and consonants. He was meticulous about his punctuation, too. Or the lack thereof.

If you're familiar with Chuck's writing, you know that he liked to write long sentences without the burden of commas. Although it kept our proofreaders up at night, the rule around here was simple: No red marks on Chuck's copy. Only he had that kind of immunity, and now there's no one.

Chuck died on August 30, 2014. I was sitting in the sand, staring at the Pacific, when I got the details from Molly, his loving partner. “Surreal” is one of the most overused words in our language one that's rarely acquitted when on trial for its life - but the news about Chuck was surreal. I'd just talked to him a few days earlier. He'd pitched me an idea for the magazine, and we discussed some new essays. It never occurred to me that that would be it. No more vowels, no more consonants, no more inspiration. I can't put into words what I was feeling, but I remember thinking: “Surreal” is a word that should be reserved for the unexpected death of Charles Bowden.

I also thought about the first time I met Chuck. It was more than 20 years ago. My mentor, Dick Vonier, introduced us. Dick and Chuck had been rabble-rousing journalists in Tucson - the Butch and Sundance of independent magazines. Dick was quiet, and usually went unnoticed in a roomful of writers, but Chuck was an alluring combination of Hunter S. Thompson, Edward Abbey and Aldo Leopold. Writer, activist, teacher ... Chuck was smart. He had a degree in American intellectual history from the University of Wisconsin, and he had a lot to say. About human rights, the environment and even hummingbirds.

Although I wanted more, it's fitting that Chuck's last words for Arizona Highways were about his beloved hummingbirds. He was in Patagonia, working on Mysterious Little Birds, when he started getting sick. Just before he headed home to Molly in New Mexico, he sent her an email: “I feel better - slept. I try to comfort myself with thinking of the past.” He wasn't specific in his message to Molly, but I suspect one of those memories was about a dog and a tree and a park - a place where hummingbirds would hover over his head at twilight. I hope all of his final memories were beautiful. Like the beautiful words he wrote for all of us.

So long, Chuck. Say hello to Dick.

contributors

When Gary Ladd moved to Page from Tucson in 1981, he didn't know about Coyote Buttes, Horseshoe Bend or other attractions near town. "I had been into Antelope Canyon a few times," he says, "but I had never run into other visitors. It wasn't known to the world, either." Today, Lake Powell visitation is exploding, in large part because of the attractions that were virtually unknown to the outside world when Ladd came to town. That inspired The Great Beyond (see page 32), Ladd's essay on all the other reasons to visit the Page area. Of all those reasons, Ladd says Horseshoe Bend should be No. 1 on a visitor's list: "It's about a 20-minute hike on a very sandy trail to a sudden view that you can't prepare yourself for. Try to be there at sunset. It's totally free - no permits, no entry fees, no parking charges, no hassle. Also, no railings at the overlook!" Ladd is a longtime and frequent contributor to Arizona Highways. He's currently working on a Grand Canyon Association book about how best to photograph the Canyon from its rims.

GARY LADD

"If I go too long without going outdoors and getting dirty, life is not good," says photographer Bruce Taubert, whose photos accompany Charles Bowden's essay on hummingbirds (see Mysterious Little Birds, page 46). You've probably seen Taubert's photographs in just about every issue of Arizona Highways in recent memory. His specialty is nature photography, and he usually provides the shots of plants and animals you see on page 13 of our magazine. Taubert says he sees photography as "a mechanism to show our nation's wildlife heritage to the public." With hummingbirds, he says, the challenge comes not in photographing the bird but in making the image beautiful: "Backgrounds, flower placement, lighting and location are critical to making a great hummingbird image." Taubert's images have been used in numerous calendars, magazines, educational publications and advertisements for conservation groups.

BRUCE D. TAUBERT

Eirini Pajak studied photography in college but didn't keep up with it after she graduated. A decade later, a monk at St. Anthony's Monastery in Florence, where Pajak often attends services, suggested she start photographing wildflowers. "He added, specifically, not to overlook even the tiniest flowers," she says. That suggestion has shaped her photographic style: As you'll see in our portfolio (It's in the Details, page 24), Pajak has become a pro at capturing the small things, partly through her use of a technique called focus-stacking. "I'm trying to give more attention to beautiful wildflowers that I think are often overlooked," she says. "I've seen so many amazing images of poppies and lupines, but there is a whole world of neglected - and often quite tiny - flowers that are no less beautiful." This month's feature is Pajak's first in Arizona Highways. Her photos have also appeared in Arizona Wildlife Views, a publication of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. - NOAH AUSTIN

EIRINI PAJAK

LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP

A long time ago, precisely in 1984, during a holiday in Arizona, I came across Arizona Highways for the first time, and after reading it, I fell in love with it. It's one of the best magazines I have ever been subscribed with. I live in Italy, and when my monthly copy arrives I feel very happy to spend my evening, after work, going through its pages and being informed about Arizona and enjoying the outstanding pictures.

Giovanni Salvi, Bergamo, Italy

December 2014

KEEPING UP DOWN UNDER

I don't know how many international subscribers you have, but moving away from Arizona five years ago would have been near-impossible without having Arizona Highways delivered to my door in Australia. I absolutely loved Chikku Baiju's winning photo [Best Picture 2014, September 2014]. The Superstition Mountains are my favourite and mostvisited place in all of Arizona.

Brian Kozan, Melbourne, Australia

DRY HUMOR

I was terribly disappointed that in your otherwise-fine article about Prep and Pastry in Tucson [The Journal, October 2014], the author chose to disparage the noble scone. I think Prep and Pastry is a great place, and I am particularly fond of the sweet-potato hash. But scones are supposed to be a little crispy on the outside, not too sweet and with a relatively dry texture. Otherwise, they are nothing but a flat muffin. Muffins are fine in their place, and I can objectively understand some people preferring them. But, really, preferring Pop-Tarts? I am sure there is a Christmas-fruitcake-defense league, and I may have to start one for the scone. Right down the street from Prep and Pastry is Raging Sage, which almost always has a line serving my favorite scones. I have to admit that even my husband thinks that the scones I like taste like cardboard - I prefer to think I have a more refined palate.

Marcia Jurgens, Green Valley, Arizona

MUSEUM QUALITY

My brother, who lives in LA, has given me a subscription to your beautiful magazine. I love its great articles and wonderful pictures. Here in the United Kingdom, we have lovely local scenes, but nothing compares with the expansive wonders of your beautiful Arizona. This month's issue [August 2014] contains an exceptionally beautiful picture of lightning over Coal Mine Canyon, and I wondered if I could purchase a copy for my geology-museum wall.

Barry Taylor, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom Editor's Note: Thanks for the kind words, Barry. Some of our images are available at www. arizonahighwaysprints.com. Check it out.

WAY-BACK MACHINES

Years ago, long before computers and printers, in the days of linotype and veloxes, I owned an advertising agency in California. From time to time I was called upon to produce comprehensive layouts for clients' sales brochures or annual reports. I was familiar with Arizona Highways and its excellence in photography. Many a time I made the trek to the used-magazine shop, on the other side of town, to pore through back issues of your publication for [inspiration]. Today, out of the kindness of a dear friend in Prescott, I once again enjoy the excellence of your magazine through a gift subscription.

David Free, Kaneohe, Hawaii To contact us If you have thoughts or comments about anything in Arizona Highways, we'd love to hear from you. We can be reached at editor@ arizonahighways.com, or by mail at 2039 W. Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009. For more information, visit www.arizonahighways.com.