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Wildlife
Steven Kwan Arts Editor 520•621•3106 arts@wildcat.arizona.edu
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BEFORE YOU GRADUATE
Tucson Festival of Books wows authors, attendees
Just a few blocks west of the sanitized shopping scene on University Boulevard lies Fourth Avenue: Land of the local hipster, the aging hippie and the tattoo enthusiast. Aside from the eclectic crowd, Fourth Avenue offers a wide array of bars, restaurants, clothing stores and coffee shops. The best part is the local flavor. Most of these shops are locally owned and pride themselves on offering something personal and unique. So put on your hipster jeans, vintage Wayfarers and a plaid shirt, and visit Fourth Avenue before you graduate.
The winner’s Fourth Avenue checklist (Start north and head south): • People-watch while enjoying a Coffee Coffee Milkshake and an outrageously large dessert at Epic Café. • Buy a non-black pair of sunglasses at Zoe, and maybe a floral romper if you’re in the mood.
Rodney Haas/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Graduate student Bethany Jones talks about the nervous system and the evolution of the brain, and shows off an actual human brain during the Tucson Festival of Books on March 14.
By Heather Price-Wright Arizona Daily Wildcat Tucson is living proof that the written word isn’t dead. Just ask the 80,000 people who, according to the organizers’initial estimates, attended last month’s Tucson Festival of Books. Organizers attribute some of this year’s success to interest generated in 2009. “People who didn’t make it last year flocked this year to see what all the buzz was about, and the people who did experience it in 2009 were really enthusiastic about it and wouldn’t have missed it,”said Helene Woodhams, co-chair of the Author Committee. The festival, in its second year, grew an astounding amount, both in attendance — last year’s numbers hovered around 50,000 — and in community interest and involvement. More than 450 authors from a wide array of genres flocked to Tucson to give workshops and readings and engage in discussion with other writers. The number and variety of authors was greater this year, proving that the festival has made a place for itself on the literary map. The festival has been compared to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, billed as“America’s largest literary event”on its Web site. Though this year’s Los Angeles festival is still upcoming — it will take place April 24-25 on the UCLA campus — the annual event usually draws crowds of 130,000 or more. Considering Tucson’s smalltown feel compared to Los Angeles, 80,000 festivalgoers is impressive for the Old Pueblo. Many participating authors, organizers and attendees agree: this year’s fair was a resounding success. Chris Impey, a UA distinguished professor of astronomy and the author of a myriad of popular books, textbooks and articles on astronomy and cosmology, participated in the festival. He said that his panel discussion on the interface between science and science
fiction was well-attended with about 50 people present. He was surprised that all the festival’s events, lectures and discussions generated sizeable audiences, even the more obscure talks.“I didn’t see many sparsely attended things,” he said. Impey was also impressed by festivalgoers’willingness to participate in discussions.“There were a ton of questions. We ran out of time before we got to them all,” he said of his panel discussion. Overall, the visiting authors were impressed by this year’s festival, Woodhams said. “Authors loved it!”she said.“They loved Tucson, loved the weather and loved the thousands of people who came out to the festival. Many of them commented on the amazing organization, and said they’d never seen anything like it. Not one could believe this was only the festival’s second year.” While Tucson may seem an unlikely place for such a massive celebration of the written word, the festival is a tribute to the city’s culture and involvement. “Tucson’s a good example of the fact that books are not dead,”Impey said.“It might not be as high-cultured a place as NewYork or so on, but people are still reading.” John Humenik, publisher and editor of the Arizona Daily Star and one of the festival’s founders, chalked up the festival’s success to the partnership with the UA, the variety of sponsors and vendors, enthusiastic volunteers, promotion from the Daily Star and Tucson’s famously beautiful weather. But the most important factor, Humenik stressed, was the visiting authors. “The number of best-selling authors and the variety of topics covered makes the difference. We can only be successful if the authors are available and find great value in their experience here in Tucson. They are the attraction,” he said. Luckily for Tucson, more than 450 authors trekked to
• Sit outside Sky Bar with $2 espresso. • Have a slice, some garlic knots and a beer at Brooklyn Pizza. • Unleash your inner feminist with a rare book from Antigone. • Indulge in an at-Aveda-only “moment of wellness” at the Elements in Balance Salon and Day Spa. Rodney Haas/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Popular children’s book character Skippy Jon Jones, one of the cartoon characters walking around the Tucson Festival of Books, flexes its muscles. Skippy is a Siamese cat who wants to be a chihuahua.
the desert for the festival, a fact that delighted lovers of literature.“We know their fans — and there are many — are thrilled by the access they get to the authors during the festival,”Humenik said. Paige Wheeler, a creative writing junior and selfavowed bookworm, attended both days of the festival and left only because she had to“tear (herself) away for work.” “I love it. I’m a nerd,”Wheeler said. Though some UA students and Tucson locals feel ambivalent about Tucson, seeing it as a Podunk desert town, the Tucson Festival of Books suggests otherwise. “The success of the festival proves that Tucson is not entirely a backwards, primitive village,”Wheeler said.
Guthries ride into Tucson By Brandon Specktor Arizona Daily Wildcat
INSIDE
Bryan Rierson/Courtesy of UApresents
It’s a chilly afternoon in March and Sarah Lee Guthrie lounges in a patch of grass on The Georgia Institute of Technology campus. Sarah Lee, the youngest daughter of folk legend Arlo Guthrie, has just finished playing two shows with her entire family in frigid Asheville, N.C., and the 60-degree weather is a welcome respite. “Everybody looks cold for some reason,” Sarah Lee says over the phone from her perch on the grass.“But this is so warm, they have no idea.” A month later, Sarah Lee and family prepare to hitch up the family bandwagon and head to Tucson for the tail end of the nationwide Guthrie Family Rides Again tour. The tour, which started in October, unites three generations of Guthries in a 14-member stage show
that has everyone from grandpa Arlo strumming classics like“This Land is Your Land”to the youngest Guthrie grandchildren rounding out the chorus. “Even the littlest kids, 2 and 3 years old, are up there,” Sarah Lee said.“So it’s been so much fun to look around and see everybody, you know, playin’ and puttin’ it out.” In addition to Sarah Lee,“everybody” includes Arlo, his son and longtime collaborator Abe, his daughters Cathy and Annie, Sarah Lee’s husband and musical partner Johnny Irion, and a whole slew of children, including two of Sarah Lee’s own. Growing up in a family as ingrained in American musical history as the Guthries, the musical bug has been nothing short of “contagious” for Sarah Lee and her kids. “Well, one’s 2 1/2, and it’s kind GUTHRIES, page B4
B6 All That Jazz
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Broadway musical to swing through Tucson
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• Eat a tamale at Pancho Villa. • Have a $1 can of PBR at Che’s. • Listen to live music and ogle hot hipsters in skinny jeans in the back room of Plush. • Moon over Jim Morrison posters at Hippie Gypsy but leave before the incense gives you a migraine. • Try on vintage hats at the Tucson Thrift Shop. • Buy a pair of Lucite (read: stripper) heels and some rockabillyesque lingerie at Kanella’s. • Drink a Red Stripe at the Hut and gawk at the oversized tikihead, a remnant from the now defunct Magic Carpet Golf. • Sit on the patio of The Shanty during happy hour and play with their resident bar cat, Agent Jack Bauer. • Attempt to decipher the difference between Maloney’s and O’Malley’s. — Claire Engelken