New man…no stranger in town.

Any superlatives we may use to describe Charlie Dye and his paintings will certainly be endorsed by his cowboy artist friends who loved the late great artist and cowboy. His human characters were "salty" and earthy. His portrayals of horses are eloquent with "soul" which more than makes up for the Jockey Club image of equine beauty. Of all the Charlie Dye paintings we have seen, "Stranger in Town" is our favorite. It is a "happy" painting, one we would choose to hang in our home for day-afterday living. We thank Jim Fowler for granting us permission to reproduce the original to enhance our very special signature pages. The stranger at the hitching rack belongs to Tom Cooper, fresh in from his Tucson diggin's. Tom plans to settle in Phoenix town where he will take over the editorship of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Magazine, come January 1, 1976. Tom Cooper is no stranger to Phoenix nor to this magazine. It all started several years ago when Tom began coming up from his diggin's on the University of Arizona campus to gather nuggets of information for his Master's thesis. At that time he was teaching courses in magazine publication and photography. The more Tom saw of our gold mine, the more he let it be known that he'd like to help us run the claim. His finished thesis turned out to be a gold mine of information about ARIZONA HIGHWAYS and the people who have made this publication into a standard of the world for graphic and editorial excellence. Completed in 1973, Cooper's report is an amazing chronological documentary of an amazing enterprise.

In 1974 we asked Tom Cooper to serve as guest editor, during our summer vacation periods. Our readers joined us in praise for his imaginative “Arizona by Night” presentation.

Golden Anniversary celebrations don't happen every year, especially in the magazine business. No one who has seen Tom Cooper's book commemorating our 50th anniversary can deny that the title, “The Best From Arizona Highways”, promises that we will see more of the best from Tom Cooper.

Our September 1975 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, compiled and edited by guest editor Cooper, is an eloquent tribute to places and people of the southern part of our state.

We welcome our friend, Tom Cooper, to our town and to these diggin's. From what we've seen of the stuff in the new editor's pack, and what we know of his plans, we're sure that ARIZONA HIGHWAYS readers will be amazed and rewarded by the beauty and brilliance from the new vein in the old mine.

As great as this experience has been, we are looking forward to the magnificent adventure of our life. As gold must be smelted, refined and worked by human hands for ultimate appreciation so it is with friendships and the ultimate appreciation of what makes living worthwhile. In the everyday process of making a living we have acquired a treasure of friendships.

Although we have always tried to “pay in coin as good as we get” it turns out that for nothing more than words and thoughts we have amassed a treasure of untold wealth. It hardly seems a fair exchange, for the quantity and quality on one side of the scale far outweighs the other. Our friends insist that from their side of the table it's the other way around. Anyway what a joy it will be to share the wealth and set the scales right. And how fortunate we are to be blessed with the time, the heart and the mind to enjoy life to the fullest measure.

Alas if there were but nuggets enough.

Ah, but what friends we have made at ARIZONA HIGHWAYS who assure us that the gates to the old mine will always be open for a probe or two into our very own secret vein. Meanwhile, we'll be cutting some new trails, prospecting for nuggets and new friends.

Hasta la vista . . . . . . . . . JOSEPH STACEY No mere caption can describe the talent of the artist nor interpret the charm and beauty of “Arizona Prospector”, engraved on French Daum crystal by REG MANNING. The design is executed on both sides of the dual lobe-shape pieces of crystal. Manning, a Pulitzer prize winning syndicated cartoonist, started engraving on glass several years ago and his work is eagerly sought by collectors. He was recently honored with a special showing at the Phoenix Art Museum.

From the artist's collection.