A Java LOVER’S Guide to the
MOST MUSICAL
Cafés
Where to
TASTE OLD
Arizona
Winter issue sponsored by
DIOGUARDI FLYNN LLP Attorneys at Law
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Wavelength
Features 22 Generation KJZZ By Vicki Louk Balint
KJZZ’s teen radio project lets young people share stories about themselves and their worlds. 26 The Sounds of Science By Walt Lockley
Two local buildings with very different backgrounds somehow managed to nail the art of acoustics. 30 Live Cheap, Make Art By Rosemary Connelly
How two 50-something KJZZ fans sold their house, got visas and moved to Italy for two years—taking public radio along for the ride. 40 Man in Waiting By Ginger S. Eiden
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A look at Peter Sagal, host of the NPR quiz show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, in three parts.
Two KJZZ fans up and moved to Italy to follow their dream of making art. Read about Bob and Rosemary’s excellent adventure on page 30.
30 On the Cover KJZZ and KBAQ general manager Carl Matthusen prepares for life off the air.
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Departments 8
Culture Klatch
Welcome to our local coffeehouses— the most caffeinated places to take in a show. By Amy Abrams 16 So Long, Radio Days
Carl Matthusen looks back on a remarkable career that includes snagging the station’s call letters and putting the jazz in KJZZ. By Trisha Coffman 46 Day Trips With a Twist
New theories explain how Native American settlements in and around the Valley may have been organized for war. By Peter Aleshire 55 Still Savory After All These Years
Restaurants that have stood the test of time, serving sustenance with a side of Arizona history.
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By RaeAnne Marsh
Featured Listener Stories Pages 14, 20, 44, 53 & 60
Also Inside
Contributors Editor’s Note 62 KBAQ Programming Guide 63 KJZZ Programming Guide 64 Crossword
What Arizona eatery has a notorious past? Find out on page 55. EMILY PIRAINO
PETER ALESHIRE
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Contributors
PUBLIC RADIO
Wavelength Winter 2009
Amy Abrams Formerly with Art & Antiques magazine and Museum & Arts Washington, Amy has contributed hundreds of articles about the Arizona arts scene to local and national newspapers and magazines.
Daniel Friedman Over the years, Dan has worked as a photojournalist at a daily newspaper, a commercial photographer, and an elementary and middle school teacher. He is now a writer and photographer for Raising Arizona Kids magazine.
Peter Aleshire An award-winning writer and editor, Peter has written eight books, including four history books, three geology books and a book about training F-16 pilots.
Art Holeman A commercial photographer for 30 years, Art has garnered national awards, including appearances in Communication Arts, Applied Arts and Graphis. To see more of his work, visit artholeman.com.
Vicki Louk Balint A former producer of KJZZ’s local weekly edition of Here and Now, Vicki writes, podcasts and produces Web video for Raising Arizona Kids magazine. Find her blog at raisingarizonakids.com.
Fred Jarmuz Fred takes care of his right-brain tendencies by cycling all over the Valley and keeps his left brain happy by solving and creating crossword puzzles. He’s seen his published in the Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun.
David M. Brown David has been a publisher, reporter and editor and now freelances in subjects such as architecture, entertainment, tourism, food, cars and wine.
Yvette Johnson Yvette is a freelance writer. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and their two rambunctious sons.
Trisha Coffman Trisha works as a freelance features writer and sometime editor. She has contributed widely to local magazines, and these days writes mainly about business and science for Web and print publications.
Walt Lockley Walt was born in Texas and educated in the back seat of a 1972 Buick Riviera crisscrossing the continent. His work on disappearing midcentury modern architecture in Phoenix is at waltlockley.com.
Bob Connelly Bob is a photographer who loves to capture people in their everyday lives, as well as intimate scenes of nature. He was a Tempe firefighter for 25 years while working toward a fine arts degree from ASU.
RaeAnne Marsh RaeAnne’s byline appears over articles on subjects as varied as business, décor and life in Arizona. She is the proprietor of Grammar & Glitz.
Rosemary Connelly Rosemary, a watercolorist, lives in Milford, Delaware with her husband, Bob. She studied fine art and graphic design at ASU and worked for more than 20 years as a graphic designer. Ginger S. Eiden An award-winning journalist, Ginger is also the Web content manager for the City of Glendale. She has worked as a reporter and editor for several Valley publications and is a frequent contributor to Phoenix Magazine. Kristen Forbes Kristen is a freelance writer living outside Portland, Oregon. To view her blog, visit krissymick.blogspot.com. 4
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Emily Piraino From the moment she lifted her first camera, Emily knew she wanted to spend her life documenting the world through a lens. She lives for the thrill of preserving in print the way the human spirit thrives. Robert Westerman Robert was a paramedic before realizing he could get paid to do what he loves most: create photographs. To see more of his work, visit robertwesterman.com. Evan Wyloge Evan is a freelance writer, longtime Arizona resident and current graduate student at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.
Production of Wavelength is underwritten by Friends of Public Radio Arizona (FPRAZ), 2323 W. 14th Street,Tempe,AZ 85281 EDITOR IN CHIEF
Karen Werner ART DIRECTION / PRODUCTION
Susich Design Company EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
Peter Aleshire FPRAZ BOARD OFFICERS
Phil Hagenah Dan Schweiker Susan Edwards Mark Dioguardi
Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Secretary
FPRAZ BOARD MEMBERS
Mike Chiricuzio Steve Curley Jan Dolan Sandra Etherton Bob Frank Karen Greenberg Win Holden Dr. Laura W. Martin
Carl Matthusen Carol L. McElroy Michael Moskowitz Edward Plotkin John Roberson Linda Saunders Dr. Linda Thor Paulina Vazquez-Morris
KBAQ / KJZZ GENERAL MANAGER
Carl Matthusen KBAQ / KJZZ SENIOR MANAGERS
Lou Stanley, Scott Williams ADVERTISING SALES
Nancy Mitchell, Public Radio Partners 480.946.6500 KBAQ / KJZZ 2323 W. 14th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281 KBAQ 89.5 FM www.kbaq.org 480.833.1122 KJZZ 91.5 FM www.kjzz.org 480.834.5627 KJZZ can also be found: In Flagstaff / Cottonwood—89.5 FM In Prescott—90.1 FM In Tucson—98.9 FM In Globe—106.9 FM KBAQ, your classical music station, can also be heard in Ahwatukee on 89.3 FM, and North Scottsdale on 89.7 FM. Both KBAQ and KJZZ are streamed live on the Web 24 hours a day to provide worldwide access to our programming at: www.kbaq.org and www.kjzz.org. The views expressed in Wavelength are solely those of the individuals providing them and do not necessarily represent the opinions of KBAQ, KJZZ, FPRAZ, their agents or their affiliates. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information herein, we do not assume responsibility or liability for errors or omissions. © 2009 FPRAZ. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction in any manner is prohibited.
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editor’s note
Karen Werner
“Despite the changes, the job’s allure lives on.”
ROBERT WESTERMAN
A Similar Spark or me, the spark came from H.L. Stevenson, the late editor in chief of United Press International. I was his teaching assistant at NYU, and I’d stand with him on Washington Square, waiting for him to finish his cigarillo so we could head to class together. A natural-born raconteur, he’d hold court in beret and tartan vest, regaling me in his Mississippi way with tales of covering Watergate, Vietnam and the Apollo moon landings. He made journalism seem like the coolest job in the world. Recently, I saw KJZZ general manager Carl Matthusen cast a similar spell over a group of students from South Mountain High School. The kids are part of a KJZZ pilot project that teaches teens public radio reporting and lets them share their takes on current events and the travails of teen life. They had come to the station to see it operate and watch a live broadcast. As Carl walked them around the building, he shared tidbits about the station’s inner workings— how hosts are encouraged to stand while they speak, so their voices convey energy; how the computer gives songs that air on KBAQ a “vacation date,” so they can’t play again too soon. The kids even got to see what happens when the station loses outside power—a storm knocked out the electricity and the station switched to its generator, which, Carl told the class, sits prepared to run the place for two-and-a-half days without refueling. Despite all the excitement, when the tour was over, it was Carl they wanted to know more about. “How did you get into radio?” a boy asked. “Did you start at the bottom and work your way to the top?” You can read his answers in this issue. You see, Carl Matthusen recently decided to retire and gave an exit interview of sorts to Wavelength. In it, he conveys how he got started in broadcasting, the stories he’s most proud of, and why public radio has held his interest for so many years. The heyday of a generation of people like Carl and H.L. is drawing to a close. There are fewer reporters who raked muck and met deadlines without cell phones, the Internet or computers. But despite the changes, the job’s allure lives on. And thanks to programs like KJZZ’s teen radio project—which is also featured in this issue—a new crop of reporters will be there to tell the stories that connect us, and to help us make sense of the world.
Warmly,
P.S. Speaking of reporters ... we’d love a story tip from you. Much of the material in Wavelength comes from suggestions from KBAQ and KJZZ listeners. So if you have an article idea, a place to recommend or there’s just something you’d like to learn more about, please drop me a line at wavelength@fpraz.org.
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diversions By Amy Abrams Photography by Emily Piraino
Culture Klatch San Francisco? Check. New York? Of course. But the Valley? Welcome to our local coffeehouses— the most caffeinated places to take in a show. ometimes you want a place to hang out or, better yet, a place to hear live music. Not a concert hall with crowds and pricey tickets, but a sit-back-and-relax environment where you can just chill. Perhaps that’s why local coffeehouses featuring live music from jazz to bluegrass are increasingly popular haunts. Regulars—elbows on tables, coffee in hand—keep coming back for their live music fix. Others stroll by after dinner or
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a movie, hear the joint jumping, and end up lingering for hours. These independently owned spots are big on charm, and on bucking the Starbucks trend. Welcoming and often worn—with decor that might include love seats and long coffee tables—they’re an invitation to share in the creative arts and create community. To help with that, here is a java lover’s guide to some of the Valley’s most theatrical cafés.
Live acoustic music at Fiddler’s Dream attracts a new generation of folk fans–as well as anyone interested in hearing any type of music that can be performed unplugged.
Fiddler’s Dream Coffeehouse: Where Friends Come to Play oes a place with no signage
Dand concerts held in an old schoolhouse on a Quaker meeting property pique your interest? Then go find Fiddler’s Dream—a 22-year-old nonprofit that encourages “music of the people,” says Nia Maxwell, who runs the small board of directors committed to sharing folk, world, Celtic and traditional American music. Here, you’ll tap your feet to music that’s completely acoustic. There’s something special about a concert with no microphones, no sound system, held in a historic room that holds just 50 people. Moreover, many shows are just $3 ... not bad for three 45-minute sets of down-home fun. Local favorites—including Gaylan Taylor and Joe Bethancourt—draw crowds, and big names such as Tom Chapin play here, too. In a welcome throwback to 1960s-style fund-raising, benefit concerts support those in need, including veterans and victims of domestic violence. Money is also raised for animal rescue. Customers enjoy coffee, tea and snacks purchased from the all-volunteer staff. In fact, Fiddler’s Dream is run entirely by volunteers, who often sign up after seeing just one show. Fiddler’s Dream Coffeehouse 1702 E. Glendale Ave., Phoenix; 602-997-9795; fiddlersdream.org
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Mama Java’s: Something’s Brewing isa and Patrick McKay played
Lcoffeehouses as musicians
before opening Mama Java’s five years ago. This urban cool spot of concrete floors, black leather couches and contemporary art draws neighbors from Phoenix’s Arcadia district, as well as a devoted following of other folks looking for good music and other celebrations of art, including poetry readings and theater performances.
“There’s something going on almost every night,” says Lisa, as she tallies up a scone and hot latte. Sunday nights are always hopping with the Arcadia Bluegrass Jam—a group of about a dozen local bluegrass aficionados (including musicians on banjo, violin, harmonica, accordion and guitar), who play bluegrass favorites for a packed house of diverse fans. Tuesday open mic nights might include comedians, poets and improv groups, in addition to a host of musicians. The spoken word is celebrated on Monday nights with poetry and literary readings. And new to the venue are one-act plays straight from the theater department at Scottsdale Community College. On weekend nights, musicians (from jazz to countryfolk) perform to eager crowds. “We’re done complaining that there’s nothing to do in Phoenix,” says Lisa, who is proud to help Phoenix develop a reputation as a music destination. “In addition to our commitment to providing a really good cup of coffee, we’re about bringing people together—the coffee shop has a history of that.” Mama Java’s 3619 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix; 602-840-JAVA; mamajavascoffeehouse.com
A bit of bohemia—in addition to coffee, Mama Java’s serves up a comfortable atmosphere and a venue for graphic and performing arts.
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Gold Bar Espresso: Escaping the Grind ome places possess a
Swelcoming feeling ... you walk into Gold Bar Espresso and want to stay for a while. Karen and Dennis Miller created this intimate coffeehouse amid the hustle and bustle of chain retailers, near the hectic intersection of Southern Avenue and McClintock Drive. Dennis, a former pastor who founded a church in Tempe, emanates a jolly, everything’sgoing-to-be-all-right vibe, welcoming old-timers and newcomers alike. He’s also the music maestro—a sax player who formed Jazz Alliance, a remarkably good band that mellows guests on Friday and Sunday nights. “We have no delusions of grandeur here,” he says of his tight-knit band consisting of regular folks with day jobs (including an art director, an engineer and a high school science teacher). Standards are favored, with a focus on big names like Coltrane and Miles.“We have a faithful crowd and get a lot of people who just happen in, including ASU students,” Dennis says. The band also plays at the Scottsdale and Chandler arts festivals each year. On Sunday mornings, customers come in to read the
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On weekends, Jazz Alliance— the house band at Gold Bar Espresso—enlivens the place with straight-ahead acoustic jazz.
Share Your Finds Favorite new store? Local hike? E-mail your suggestions to us at wavelength@fpraz.org.
paper, sip coffee, tea or hot chocolate, and relax to the sounds of classical guitar played by Scott Anderson, Monte Ewert and Gabriel Santa Cruz. Regulars greet other regulars and even hang out behind the register, shooting the breeze with the owners
as they ring up tabs. Old black-and-white photos of jazz greats, mixed with vintage movie posters, local artwork and stained glass decorate the walls. You’d never guess you’re in a strip mall. Gold Bar Espresso 3141 S. McClintock Drive, Tempe; 480-839-3082; goldbarespresso.org
Free Wi-Fi and an at-home vibe make Gold Bar Espresso popular with students.
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All That Java (and Jazz) On-air hosts at KJZZ and KBAQ share their favorites for a cup of joe and a show. Compiled by David M. Brown
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XTREME BEAN in my Tempe neighborhood used to be a bank. I think they still use the drive-thru window, so if you’re in a hurry you don’t have to leave your car. It’s cozy and
has a quiet room, free Wi-Fi, books and games, a piano and great coffee and people. Live performances take place monthly the first and third Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and ragtime Monday nights.
SACRED GROUNDS has live jazz every Thursday night, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. You’ll hear some national talent, as well as some of Arizona’s finest, such as pianists Dan Delaney, Armand Boatman and Bob Ravenscroft.
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Blaise Lantana
Randy Kinkel
Xtreme Bean, 1707 E. Southern Ave., Tempe; 480-820-0333; xtremebean.com
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It’s just a dressed-up cafeteria with a coffee bar and cakes, but the music is killin’ and the audience is listening.
Sacred Grounds, Scottsdale Congregational United Church of Christ, 4425 N. Granite Reef Road, Scottsdale; 480-9462900; scucc.com/sacred_grounds.cfm My favorite is DRIP COFFEE LOUNGE bordering the Coronado Historic District where I live. Excellent coffee, tea, cookies, cupcakes and breakfast and lunch, too. The place is always full of great people, and it’s a good place
to come and chat and meet new folks. Every last Saturday of the month features acoustic music. Jon Town
Drip Coffee Lounge, 2325 N. Seventh St., Phoenix, 602-795-9905; dripcoffeelounge.com May I suggest four great places? I’ve seen some amazing national acts at the CAVE CREEK COFFEE COMPANY. I always enjoy sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee, overhearing the retirees talk about their horses. I also love COPPER STAR COFFEE in my old neighborhood, the Melrose District in midtown Phoenix. It’s a cool place, a converted gas station, definitely a
neighborhood joint and always fun on First Fridays. Every week, I go to FAIR TRADE CAFÉ downtown, behind Trinity Cathedral. Good coffee drinks, slam poetry and, again, lots of regulars—a true neighborhood café. It’s active politically and artistically: a great spot. If I’m in Glendale, it’s MIGHTY CUP ‘N SPOON— another eclectic place. Good coffee, open mic, karaoke and fun people-watching, though very cozy. There are live music performances every Thursday and Saturday nights. Jane Hilton
Cave Creek Coffee Company, 6033 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek; 480-488-0603; cavecreekcoffee.com
Copper Star Coffee, 4220 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix; 602-266-2136; copperstarcoffee.com Fair Trade Café, 1020 N. First Ave., Phoenix; 602-354-8150; fair-trade-cafe.com Mighty Cup ‘n Spoon, 7021 N. 57th Ave., Glendale; 623-915-5595; mightycupandspoon.com Some jazz with your coffee? The intimate Appian Way restaurant’s banquet room is the setting for the best live jazz
in the Valley. Local and regional musicians play Latin, classic and contemporary jazz every Friday evening at JAZZ IN THE HILLS COFFEEHOUSE. Michele Robbins
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Jazz in the Hills Coffeehouse, The Appian Way, 17149 Amhurst Drive, Fountain Hills; 480-836-7899
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listener profile By Kristen Forbes
Constant Companion In a changing world, KJZZ keeps the doctor entertained and informed.
DANIEL FRIEDMAN
Dr. Jami Kupperman says many of her patients are at first skeptical about naturopathic medicine, only coming to the clinic because someone tells them they should. But “after experiencing their results firsthand, they are the ones telling others of the benefits,” she says.
Dr. Jami Kupperman “KJZZ is always on in the car. And my office. And with my morning cup of coffee.”
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Around 1992, when Dr. Jami Kupperman was attending college in Vermont, she got hooked on NPR and has made a point of finding local member stations ever since. “News, a wider worldview, a closer local view, entertainment and companionship,” she cites as reasons for tuning into KJZZ. Medical school brought this New York native to Phoenix, where she works as the supervising physician at the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS. The HIV-community resource agency—recently scaled back due to budget cuts—provides prevention, outreach and testing services, behavioral health care, a registered dietitian, and is a site for clinical trials. But one treatment option that will no
longer be offered is Kupperman’s specialty, naturopathic medicine. “There is a glimmer of a bright side, however,” says Kupperman. “Thanks to support from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, we will be able to offer naturopathic consultations. Staffed with naturopathic medical students, with me as their attending physician, we will continue to perform evaluations and create plans. This is minimal care, but at least it is some form of care,” she says. Kupperman, who says an “Aha! moment” led her to naturopathic medicine after majoring in biochemistry in college, says dealing with skepticism and a lack of awareness about naturopathy as it relates to HIV is an ongoing challenge. Kupperman also works for several other clinics, specializing in chronic fatigue, clinical nutrition, diabetes and her passion: adolescent medicine. “Unfortunately, once puberty hits, a lot of kids don’t have a place in their pediatrician’s office and they don’t have a place with their parents’ doctor, either,” says Kupperman. “They’re not just big kids and they’re not simply little adults. They have a host of physical and mental issues specific to their age group, and they need physicians familiar, willing and able to deal with them.” To unwind, she does The New York Times crossword puzzle, reads, plays softball, rollerblades (“badly”), golfs (“less ably”), plays bridge (“I am currently without a partner”), and listens to KJZZ. “Weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., some or all of the day, I tune in,” she says. “Before 8 p.m., KJZZ is always on in the car. And my office. And with my morning cup of coffee. Music doesn’t resonate with me, but words do. Words are a connection to the wider world around me.”
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inside kjzz By Trisha Coffman
So Long, Radio Days As he prepares for retirement after nearly 35 years at KJZZ, general manager Carl Matthusen looks back on a remarkable career that includes snagging the station’s call letters and putting the jazz in KJZZ. 1940s radio sits in the office Carl Matthusen is about to vacate upon retirement. “The old family Philco” has for several years resided on a shelf behind Matthusen’s desk, even though the AM-only radio can’t tune in his own FM stations, KJZZ and KBAQ. Still, Matthusen has kept it in operating shape, replacing the cloth and some of the tubes as he’s moved it around with him through the years. Arizona is a long way from the Philco’s original Wisconsin home where Matthusen, general manager of the stations since 1978, grew up. A long way for a radio, a lifetime of radio experience for Matthusen, who is capping off a distinguished career: from announcing at a “mom-and-pop” station in Eau Claire; to studying at San Diego State University (where he learned from notables like “The Twilight Zone” screenwriter Rod Serling and the chief legal counsel for the National Association of Broadcasters); to winning numerous professional awards and serving six years on National Public Radio’s board of directors, including four years as chairman. Matthusen came to KJZZ as operations coordinator in 1975, shepherding the station through an eclectic programming phase with a dismal number of listeners, to its now tried-and-true format, begun in 1985, featuring NPR, local programs and jazz music. Here, Matthusen shares his recollections and wisdom.
ART HOLEMAN
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KJZZ TIMELINE
Having worked many jobs in radio, Carl Matthusen is bidding the airwaves goodbye. He hopes to travel, work with the Audubon Society, do some genealogy and spend more time with his grandkids.
1951 – Beginning of KJZZ on February 22 on the Phoenix College campus. Call letters are KFCA. 1965 – Carnegie Commission funds a study to determine possibilities for public radio in the United States following international models such as the BBC and Radio Nederlands. 1967 – Public Broadcasting Act signed into law under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) created. 1970-71 – Beginning of NPR and its first flagship program, All Things Considered.
On the stations’ supporters and staff: “All three ladies I’ve reported to at Rio Salado College understood that KJZZ and KBAQ are assets. That’s something we didn’t enjoy previous to 1978, when Rio Salado College was created. We were viewed more as boat anchors and orphans when we reported to other colleges. When Rio was created as a non-campus, nontraditional college, Joyce Elsner was the first to treat the station as an asset, which allowed us to begin to prosper. And others in the district were enormous help as we went along. It’s so important to us, because in many ways we’re a square peg in a round hole.”
On his award-winning interview in 1976 with Emery Kolb of the Grand Canyon’s Kolb Studio, when Kolb was in his 90’s: “Emery Kolb was an amazing man. His agreement with the National Park Service was that he could live at the
Grand Canyon until he died. He and his brother had lived there before it was a national park and they blasted out part of the rim for their home and studio. He had a picture window that was unbelievable. “To develop the pictures Kolb shot of trail parties, he would hike down every day to Indian Gardens and use water from the spring, then hike back up. He would leave his studio after taking all the pictures and after the mules were gone. The mules would start down and he’d start developing—he’d beat ‘em down and he’d beat ‘em up! He sold the photographs to hikers at the top. “He and his brother, Ellsworth, shot the early film of the Canyon. It wasn’t a tourist thing then. It was risking life and limb because people died down there. He was fascinating to talk to. He’d done National Geographic specials for a long time, working the circuit, so to some questions he’d reply with stock answers. He’d just go into the spiel, so if asked, ‘When did
you first come to the Canyon?’ he’d say [affecting a shaky voice], ‘My brother and I first came to the Grand Canyon in 1912.’ And he’d just plug in that answer. So in producing the story, I used some of that for background, and then got him onto some other things that weren’t stock answers. I asked, ‘What happens to this place when you leave?’ And then I got to that part of the story, that he was a little bitter he couldn’t leave the Canyon to his heirs. The story ran on NPR’s Options program and won the ‘Best of West’ award in 1976.”
On putting the jazz in KJZZ: “There had been a jazz station in town called KXTC—great call letters, ecstasy!—for a long time. They decided they were changing format. At that time, we had a difficult time finding a format and, as a result, we were extremely eclectic. We had big band night, opera night, Indian music night, folk night. We had
1972 – KFCA transmitter moved to South Mountain. Power increased from 10 watts to 100,000. Call letters changed to KMCR. Listening audience numbers 5,000. 1975 – Carl Matthusen hired as operations coordinator. 1976 – Matthusen wins 1st Place, Best of West Radio Information Program. 1978 – Rio Salado College acquires KMCR. Matthusen promoted to general manager. 1980-82 – Matthusen serves as president of Rocky Mountain Public Radio. 1985 – KMCR adopts jazz format and changes call letters to KJZZ. More NPR programming added. 1992-96 – Matthusen serves as chairman of NPR board of directors. 1996 – Matthusen receives NPR’s Edward E. Elson Award. 2002 – Stations relocate to 19,000-square-foot studios at Rio Salado College in Tempe. Winter 2009 17
In 1995, during his tenure as chairman of the NPR board of directors, Matthusen got to spend 15 minutes talking with President Bill Clinton. “I’m just from a small town in Wisconsin!” Matthusen says. “This was pretty tall cotton for me.”
Celebrate
THE FATHER OF KJZZ!
Barbara and Tom Payne invite you to a celebration honoring general manager Carl Matthusen for 34 years of service to public radio. Saturday, March 14, 2009 Paradise Valley Country Club Menu design and special appearance by Lynne Rossetto Kasper of American Public Media’s The Splendid Table. For more information, call 480-774-8448.
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a night for everything—but we didn’t have any listeners! Nobody could remember when their night was. “So when KXTC dropped jazz, I went over and talked to ‘em and said, ‘You’re gonna get a lot of bad press from every jazz lover in the Valley because you’re dropping their music, and that’s a bad way to start your new endeavor.’ And I said,‘The only thing that’s keeping me from being a jazz station is that I don’t have a library, and it seems to me that you have a library that you’re not gonna use.’ So they agreed to give us their record collection. This way they got a tax write-off and good PR.
“We were still KMCR then, and I hated those call letters. They were awful! They didn’t say anything! I had let some of my public radio friends know that I hated those call letters. One day I got a call from the GM of the Tacoma station, saying that KJZZ in Tacoma was dropping their call letters. So I verified that this was true, and got the effective date. I called our communications attorney and said, ‘This is the date these call letters are going to be available and I want ‘em! So file on this date!’ And I got ‘em. KJZZ is much more memorable than KMCR.”
On impressing his two daughters, Amy and Paula: “When my kids were in high school, it was hard to impress them. They weren’t impressed that I was with KJZZ and KBAQ, and they weren’t impressed that I was chairman of NPR’s board. But what impressed them is when I was in Boston for a Corporation for Public Broadcasting event and wandered into Harvard Square, looked up and saw on the window, ‘Dewey, Cheetham & Howe,’ which are Car Talk’s offices. So I went up there to see Doug Berman, the show’s executive producer, but he was out to lunch. So there’s some young
On the continuing importance of public radio: “Stories have become more intense in some ways. I think the coverage mirrors the news. 9/11 certainly did that, because we had never had anything quite like that, where acts of war were being committed in this country. “On my way into work that day I was listening to Bob Edwards fumble the story. He was just unsure. He was not reading script and wasn’t as fluent and eloquent as usual and I thought, ‘This is really odd. What kind of story could make Bob Edwards sound unprepared?’ I got to work and turned the newsroom TV on and thought, ‘No wonder! Here’s this skyscraper ablaze and it happened while Edwards was on the air!’ Then the second tower was hit, and I remembered I had two daughters in Manhattan working and going to school, so I worried on that count. Then as the story developed, public radio did a phenomenal job. And our local people were so good. “There has never been more need for public radio. As the intensity and complexity of stories has increased, KJZZ and NPR have become indispensable as sources of trustworthy information.”
On why his job has been satisfying: This photo taken at the old KJZZ studios shows some of the people who have worked with Matthusen longest. Pictured from left to right are Carl Matthusen, Scott Williams, Yolanda Soliz, Bill Shedd, Dennis Gilliam, Norma Perez, Doug Ramsey, Bob Glazar and Gordon Helm.
fellow in there stuffing envelopes, and I said, ‘Well, if Doug’s due back in a bit, I might as well do something useful.’ So I helped stuff, Berman came back, we chatted, and I went back to the CPB thing. “The next week Tom and Ray are on the show and they’re talking about this: ‘This is really somethin’! The chairman of the board of National Public Radio was here stuffing envelopes in our office! He’s a big deal!’ “And that resonated with my kids. But that was about the only thing.”
“Besides the in-depth news, we tell stories about life and living. One of the hallmarks of public radio is making time for those stories. Some stations have time for Howard Stern, and I believe he has a right to say pretty much what he likes on the air, but if that’s all I could put on as a broadcaster, I’d find another line of work. I could’ve made more money in commercial radio than in public, but I wouldn’t like to get up and go to work in the a.m. and wouldn’t feel as good when I go home at night. “There have been very, very
few days when I haven’t looked forward to coming to work. It has been my good fortune to lead the team of creative and dedicated broadcasters that every day generates some of the best public radio in the country.”
Harmonic CONVERGENCE Carl Matthusen gives a shout-out to the five groups of people— Rio staff, station staff, NPR colleagues, listeners, and other colleagues, friends and mentors—who enable KJZZ, KBAQ and Sun Sounds to be the best they can be. Rio Salado College Staff: Joyce Elsner Myrna Harrison Linda Thor KJZZ/KBAQ Station Staff: Scott Williams Bill Shedd Terry Ward Lou Stanley Dennis Gilliam Dennis Lambert Yolanda Soliz Sterling Beeaff Randy Kinkel NPR Colleagues: Delano Lewis Kevin Klose Scott Simon Carl Kassel Korva Coleman Mike Starling Sid Brown Listeners: Friends of Public Radio Arizona (FPRAZ) Susan Edwards John Thomas Friends and Mentors: Maggie McConnell Arlen Solochek Karen Holp Eric DeWeese Mike McIntier Winter 2009 19
listener profile By Kristen Forbes
A Link to the Outside World KJZZ and Sun Sounds bring normalcy to a listener’s life.
Steve Welker “It is the only way I can take in information.”
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ROBERT WESTERMAN
A talented guitarist, Steve Welker enjoys listening to music on the radio, but finds that it is KJZZ’s news that’s made the real difference in his life.
“Before the accident,” Steve Welker says, “I was a news junkie. I read the newspaper every single day—I couldn’t get enough news. After the accident, I was lost. I remember one day, sitting on my couch, holding this newspaper that I couldn’t see, just crying.” The car accident he’s referring to took place in April 1994, when Steve and his wife Kristi were hit head-on at 60 miles per hour en route to the hospital, where the surrogate mother of their twins was being admitted. The Phoenix couple was preparing for what they knew would be the happiest phase of their lives—they were about to become parents, something they’d once thought impossible. Their giddiness vanished in a flash. The accident left Kristi with head injuries, broken clavicles and a crushed left foot. She was unable to return to her job as a
pharmaceutical representative. Steve had severe head injuries, broke nearly every bone in his face and suffered a stroke of the optic nerve that left him permanently blind. Two weeks later, their boys Colton and Dylan were born. Welker has no memory of the births. It took another six weeks, he says, before he comprehended that he was alive, a parent and blind. “I went into a deep depression, as you can imagine,” Welker says. Still, his sons motivated him. “I never wanted them to be embarrassed that their dad was blind. I wanted them to think they had the best dad in the world, who just happened to be blind.” Welker was “a mess” for the first year after the accident. Then, step by step and with God’s help, he says, he put the pieces back together. He returned to work in insurance and later opened his own agency, which he ran successfully for seven years. Realizing his life had a different purpose, he left the insurance business to write a book about his journey. The World at my Fingertips was published in 2006. While on a book tour, Welker discovered his passion for talking to people. He became a motivational speaker and now teaches his Radical Resiliency philosophy (“the ability to not only survive, but to thrive”). Welker discovered KJZZ’s business reviews and Sun Sounds, which allows him to call in and listen to articles read over a special radio. He tries to listen to the entire newspaper when he has the time. “It’s my link to the outside world,” he says. “It is the only way I can take in information.” Welker credits Kristi, now recovered and working as a psychologist, for helping him regain his confidence. Now, he’s passionate about empowering others, too. “You can go through a horrific event,” Welker says. “Regardless of what it is, you can go through a tragedy and come out on the other end and go on with your life.”
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South Mountain High School students Robert M. Green, left, and Celestina Muñoz, right, are learning the art of radio.
Teen radio project lets young people share stories about themselves and their worlds.
Z
By Vicki Louk Balint Photography by Art Holeman
ake a handful of high school kids, throw in a few microphones, and send them out to gather sound and story. Tap a 20something reporter willing to shepherd them through interviews with the likes of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an admissions dean at Arizona State University, the Phoenix police, and plenty of their peers. Gather them into a KJZZ production booth to shape their work for the airwaves, and presto— you’ve got the KJZZ teen radio project, a pilot program that lets young people ask the questions and develop their own stories for public radio. Giving youths an opportunity to produce radio journalism isn’t a new idea. The concept likely grew from a Berkeley, California after-school program originated in 1992 by veteran journalist Ellin O’Leary. A former NPR reporter herself, O’Leary built Youth Radio, which today offers a well of news and commentary that NPR and other media outlets dip into for stories straight from the mouths of today’s youth—who are, unquestionably, the “media generation.” And they have plenty to say. “They are thoughtful, creative and although they think about some of the same things—war, the economy, families, relationships— they think differently than older people,” says Ginny Berson, who manages the National Youth in Radio Training Project. Public radio listeners, in particular, says Berson, yearn to hear from a variety of perspectives to help them understand the world. Teens happen to be a big part of that world. And contrary to what Hollywood and Madison Avenue might have us believe, there is no such thing as a typical teen. Berson notes, “How teens are portrayed in the mainstream media simply doesn’t originate from teens themselves.” When given an outlet, however, they offer a kaleidoscope of perspectives. At the start of the fall 2007 semester, KJZZ reporter/host Tony Ganzer signed on to begin the teen radio project with students from Arcadia High School’s media arts program in Phoenix. During spring 2008, Ganzer expanded the program to include students from Dobson High School in Winter 2009
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TOP: Tony Ganzer talks to students about sound, while the new teen radio project instructor Daniel Newhauser looks on. BOTTOM: Jesus Castro works on a story about teen pregnancy, which he hopes will air on KJZZ.
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in
Listen Hear student stories at teenradio.kjzz.org
Mesa. He developed a curriculum designed to introduce students to public radio, offering a chance to participate in the inner workings of the KJZZ newsroom. The idea is to give teens a shot at pitching stories, interviewing subjects, writing copy, voicing a story and, perhaps the most fun of all, gathering sound. Ganzer begins his presentation to a classroom of students, many of whom have never heard anything about public radio, by playing a montage of his own stories. He includes the one about the hip-hop artist in Tucson who raps mainly about immigration and drug trafficking. Also in the mix is a story about Arizona’s water supply, and those mysterious underground aquifers. As the stories play, says Ganzer, the idea of how to use sound begins to sink in. “You watch these kids in class as they listen, maybe for the first time, and they get it. They understand what we are talking about. ‘Oh, you mean I can use hip-hop music in a story?’ Or ‘Just water? That tells me something,’ they say. And it does. They start to realize that,” Ganzer says. Even though participants study journalism in class, or have been involved with their high school radio station, for most it’s a first crack at conveying meaning without pictures or print. “If you want to do a radio story, Ganzer tells his classes, “you need to look for the sound.” So, that’s one of
the first assignments. “Bring me back sounds,” he tells his charges, sending them out, KJZZ recorders in hand, to play around for a day. “Find a faucet, the students in the hallway, the air-conditioner, a door slamming, kids outside in the parking lot. I don’t care. Just bring me sounds.” And they do. Next, it’s time to get down to brainstorming story ideas. What are they interested in? For Jessica Testa and Rebecca Bever, co-editors of Dobson’s student newspaper and spring 2008 participants in KJZZ’s teen radio project, that wasn’t so easy. “We had to give our generation a voice on an important Arizona issue,” says Testa,“and there were so many things that we could have chosen.” When they proposed the idea of investigating the challenges faced by illegal immigrant teens in Arizona, Ganzer grilled them on the hows and whys of the topic, which, at first, seemed to hold plenty of potential—just spot-on NPR stuff. “But then I started quizzing them,” says Ganzer, “and it became clear that none of the arguments were their own. Teachers, principals and parents had found out they were participating in an NPR project— and they influenced it! I had to throw out everything.” So Ganzer switched gears.“What bothers you?” he asked the teens. “This is your project; that is why I’m here.” Testa and Bever, who now attend Arizona State University, settled on the topic of teen transportation. They talked to a variety of students at their school—those who drive, carpool, even a skateboarder—to explore the challenges of getting around the Valley. They also interviewed representatives from the Arizona Department of Transportation, as well as Valley Metro, about the future of public transit. The story, titled “Teens Getting Around,” aired last May on KJZZ’s Morning Edition. Bever, who voiced the story, says that after hours of hard work, the two were ultimately very happy with the finished piece. “We knew what we were talking about,” adds Testa. “We knew what we wanted to say.” Youth radio projects don’t only provide a distinctive point of view for their audiences. Often, they aid in the self-discovery process that is a natural part of the teen years. Matt Butson, a recent graduate of Scottsdale’s Coronado High School, commuted to Arcadia High’s media arts program in his senior year to pursue an interest in film editing. There, he caught the radio bug, and decided to work on a story about teens and DUI, which included a trip downtown to interview Sheriff Arpaio. The piece ultimately became the KJZZ teen radio project’s on-air debut. But the story that Butson will never forget, he says, turned out to be “Flying Toward Higher Education,” which aired last spring. Faced with big dreams of film editing, but a small budget for college, Butson was at a crossroads—the kind that senior year often brings. As they discussed ideas for the teen radio project, Butson shared his anguish with Ganzer, confessing he was scared to make a mistake, since he didn’t want to waste time or money floundering after high school. Ganzer responded that that was his
“You watch these kids in class as they listen, maybe for the first time, and they get it.” story.“You’re confused, you feel like you’re the only one. Let’s see if that’s the case,” he said. And a story idea began to take shape: What if they tapped into Butson’s dilemma and talked to an ASU dean of admissions, an educational psychologist, perhaps other teens? The result is a peek into one young man’s stress over choosing a school, a major, a future, and how to pay for it all. Butson says his actual life plans came together within the process of interviewing and assembling that story. He reassessed his decision to attend ASU and began to explore other options for college, looking more deeply into media and film programs, and job opportunities. Ultimately, he stuck with ASU, but credits his work with Ganzer and the project for guiding him to greater selfawareness. “It led me to find out what I’m doing for my future,” says Butson. “That was really powerful.” Ganzer hopes the program will continue to grow so that more teens can share their stories. So much so that he’s spreading the word around the world. A recipient of the prestigious Arthur F. Burns journalism fellowship, Ganzer spent nine weeks reporting in Germany last summer. While there, he visited a business-oriented high school and middle school in a small Alpine village in Austria. He touted KJZZ’s teen radio project to the head librarian and tenured educator at the school, which integrates English into part of its day. Now, the school is looking to replicate the program there. Meanwhile, closer to home, the project continues with new crops of students at Dobson High School and South Mountain High. Daniel Newhauser, another young reporter, is now teaching the class, while Ganzer keeps a watchful eye. “I feel like I am facilitating some kind of dialog between young Americans and whoever else wants to listen,” Ganzer says. “I can actually see it happen right in front of me.”
The Voice of
Youth
Programs for teens in radio are as diverse as the kids themselves. Here’s where you can hear teen voices from around the country: Youth Radio Stories, commentary and music from teens in the Bay Area. YOUTHRADIO.ORG
Radio Arte Teens from Chicago's Latino community produce radio novelas on issues of immigrant health. WRTE.ORG
Voices of Youth—Moab A project designed to connect teenagers with the history, folklore, people and issues of Canyonlands country. KZMU.ORG
Blunt Youth Radio Project Teens, both free and incarcerated, produce a weekly call-in show in Portland, Maine. BLUNTRADIO.ORG
WNYC’s Radio Rookies Young people in New York City produce radio documentaries. WNYC.ORG/RADIOROOKIES Winter 2009
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THE SOUNDS OF
Science Veteran Valley architect Wendell Rossman (below) is an expert on thin shell, airport, dome and acoustical construction. His expertise in the latter is fully evident in the Chandler Center for the Arts (pictured).
ithout much warning, Dr. Wendell Rossman climbs onto the stage of the Chandler Center for the Arts, sits at the piano, and dashes off a Chopin scherzo with accuracy and flair. This was unexpected. Sure, Rossman has plenty of credentials: a Ph.D. in engineering, 17 patents, two published books, a recent and rare Kachina Award from the local AIA, a Maltese knighthood and a list of prestigious memberships. As an architect, Rossman ran offices responsible for some 200 buildings internationally—a number of Phoenix-area icons among them— and he’s an accomplished structural engineer, too. But nobody knew about the piano. This afternoon, Dr. Rossman was kind enough to offer a tour of this, his building, with the scherzo as the audio portion. He’s proud of the Chandler Center for more than the obvious reason—that it’s three successful theaters in one. Two smaller houses are both mounted on carousels, so they can turn and ‘face’ the main stage, carefully balanced to turn using a small motor, and still in perfect working 26
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order after 19 years. The 69-foot-diameter recital hall, an 82-foot-diameter theater, and the larger auditorium combine for a 1,544-seat concert shape. This is a brilliant way to accommodate different needs and schedules, and run multiple shows at one time, maximizing its value as a venue. The Center books something like 700 events a year. It’s a healthy facility, busier than ever, important to the community, adjacent to Chandler High School, and home of the Chandler Symphony. That’s sufficient reason to be proud. But Rossman is most proud of it for another reason. Early in his career, he set for himself insanely complicated mathematical challenges, operating at the frontier of thin-shell concrete structures for building exteriors. His frontier here, though, was inside: sound. The acoustics are near-perfect for each of the three houses separately, acoustically isolated from one another, and also nearperfect for each possible configuration. To understand that architectural acoustics is so mathematically complex it borders on inexplicable, is to begin to understand Rossman’s accomplishment here. When asked if he used an acoustics consultant, he
on architectural acoustics should he ever decide to publish it. But the crisp Chopin scherzo demonstrates the result. The piano thunders and rings, and the sound is full and rich all around, hovering three-dimensionally. It sounds like ... science.
Explaining Architectural Acoustics
Two local buildings with very different backgrounds somehow managed to nail the art of acoustics. By Walt Lockley Photography by Art Holeman
The secret to the Chandler Center’s flexibility as a performance space? Two houses mounted on carousels that can rotate into place.
glances up, rather suddenly, and says, “No! I was my own consultant!” A few moments before, in a walk through the basement level—a maze of concrete dressing rooms, shops, tool cages and rehearsal areas—we’d found an entire defunct television studio due for renovation. Then we came up underneath the stage, in the orchestra pit. The pit is not used much anymore, since acts don’t travel with orchestras as much as they used to. (In fact, the major change to the hall since it was built is a big soundboard installed in the main entry to accommodate current performers, who rely so much more on amplification.) The pit opening was surprisingly small, but the good doctor was certain that 92 percent of the orchestra’s sound would vent nicely up into the main hall. So, yes, he remembers his homework. Rossman produced a book-length calculation on the acoustics of the Chandler Center for his own reference during construction, a valuable textbook
After the Chopin is over, we stand on the stage, looking out, and I point toward the interior of the hall. Every wall and ceiling and balcony surface is convex, bulging out, some surfaces more rounded than others. Spatially, the walls feel plush, or even inflated. Which of these curvy surfaces are important to the sound? “Well,” Rossman says patiently, “all of them.” They’re all convex, because concave surfaces would tend to concentrate and reflect sound back to the source, undesirable here. When you design a concert hall, the first necessary number is the number of seats. Everything else flows from that. The classic examples, the greatest European halls—like La Scala, the Hungarian State Opera House, the Paris Opera—have something on the order of 1,500 to 2,000 seats. Each of those seats needs about 270 cubic feet of empty volume overhead, for optimal sound reverberation, which helps determine the height of the ceiling. Seat count is an economic constraint as well, translating into potential for revenue generation. Rossman mentions his late friend, Vern Knudsen, the world-renowned acoustician. Knudsen was called in on the case of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center— a much anticipated venue, and well-known for its disappointing acoustics. After a trip to New York and a careful look, Knudsen’s concluded that the hall couldn’t be fixed. With a relatively high seat count of 2,738 (for revenue reasons), the basic shape of the hall permitted no possible remediation, no dampening, no installation of ‘clouds,’ no tinkering possible to improve the sound. They would have had to demolish and start again entirely, because of the building’s poor underlying configuration. Knudsen had a better opinion of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Gammage Auditorium in Tempe, which is acoustically unusual because the box-truss balcony allows a sonic cavity at the rear of the auditorium. Next to consider: the purpose of the hall. Speech and music have radically different requirements. For spoken word, in an auditorium, you want clarity and very little reverberation. In a concert hall, you want a warmer and more resonant sound with a little echo and rich reverb. Designing either a pure auditorium or a pure concert hall is a piece of cake, compared to a mixed-use hall, where you have to arrive at some sonic compromise. The key measurement of sonic performance is the decay pattern. An ideal curve for “speech” is flat, and the “music” curve should have two or three graceful bumps as it decays—the echo, and its echo, etc. You want those bumps at certain times. The science of architectural acoustics is to identify that optimal decay pattern and then design the building around it, to produce that curve, by tuning the shapes and angles Winter 2009
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of the facing surfaces, adjusting the balcony depths, accounting for materials and considering a dozen other critical variables.
A Sonic Gem
Composer, violist and patron of the arts Louise Kerr (above) came to Arizona in 1936. She dreamed of creating a retreat for musicians, writers and artists, and built this performance hall in 1959 (top). 28
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In contrast to this example of science at work, there’s another Valley venue with wonderful acoustics that were achieved by a different approach—with heart. An approach closer to the time-honored techniques of the Old World craftsman with a Milanese accent, apron and T square who ambles forth and calls out, “Make-a-like-a-DEES!” We’re talking about the auditorium at the ASU Kerr (pronounced “Care”) Cultural Center on Scottsdale Road, tucked away from the road, close to The Borgata, nestled next to the Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort. The Kerr is comprised of two buildings. One, a fiveroom adobe house, dates from 1948 and has been muchrepaired since. The other, the auditorium, was built in 1959. These buildings are all that remain of an informal art and music colony, the vision of Louise Lincoln Kerr.
As the eldest daughter of inventor and Phoenix land developer John C. Lincoln, she had the means to acquire 47 acres of flat, empty desert bordering the street named after her father. She’d been educated back East, and became a dedicated string musician, composer, music director and educator whose doors were open 24 hours a day. More than 100 of her compositions are held at ASU, and all this real estate was willed by her to ASU for exclusive use as a concert space. Forever. Around 1960, Louise Kerr had 12 or 14 one-story adobe duplexes built there, called “The Shacks.” This colony was never highly organized, but it did provide sanctuary for a semi-permanent collection of musicians, professors and artists, and temporary housing for the likes of Pablo Casals, Isaac Stern and the Juilliard String Quartet as they came to visit wild Arizona. A cello’s voice drifting into the moonlit desert—it’s that contrast of world-recognized musicians camping like bohemians on the edge of desert wilderness that makes those concerts pleasant to imagine.
Set into the wall of the Kerr’s east doorframe are empty beer bottles—some emptied by Louise Kerr herself.
When asked to describe The Shacks, one former resident’s first word was “dusty!” Kay Coze knew Louise Kerr in 1966 as landlady—kind, strikingly beautiful and “a magnificent person.” Late at night, after a concert, here would come a gigantic cloud of dust, and Louise would stay out hosing down the air, and watering her roses on the southern property line. But let’s turn our attention to the original adobe auditorium. Visually, it’s an attractive box that seats 250 people, so it’s an intimate space. The room is surprisingly simple, woodsy, lodge-like, somewhere close to Mary Colter’s National Park Style, with a series of massive rough-hewn beams overhead, wrought-iron detailing and beautiful woodwork. In short, it’s got soul. And it’s easy, once inside and up close with the musicians, to mentally drift and forget where you are. With her typical inexhaustible energy (“Let’s play another concerto!” she’d cry out, way after midnight), Louise Kerr herself oversaw construction and brought the place to life. And the acoustics at the Kerr are mysteriously good. This is an observed, established phenomenon, not just casual opinion. According to prominent local oboist Eugene Chieffo, who admits to being partial to the Kerr for its comfort, “It’s not a huge hall but it’s wood, and it resonates, and you can play very naturally. It’s designed for a string quartet, with a certain geometric proportion, and with no smooth surfaces. Whether she really thought about it or not.” Tracy Petersen, a dedicated amateur violinist, says the hall is deceptive and it makes her sound too good, so she can’t correctly judge her performances there. How did Louise do it? This little adobe auditorium was built “without benefit of architecture,” as they say. We don’t know what kind of technical assistance Louise might have received, if any. We do know that some of her empty beer bottles are set into the walls. And Kerr certainly had some unusual brainpower handy, according to Kay Coze—university professors, musicians, artists, and at least one architect and a numerologist. Maybe another of the guests was a wayward engineering genius. In any case, whatever she did, she got it right. Or maybe just knowing Louise Kerr’s story has some positive effect on the whole experience of place. The Kerr is special: warm, with its own personality and sense of the past. Both people who play there and those who have enjoyed performances in the building mention those resonant wood beams, as if the building itself is alive somehow, participating in its concerts. Though strikingly different, both the Kerr Cultural Center and the Chandler Center for the Arts are as fine as tuned instruments—instruments you sit inside of, instruments that play you ... Consider going out and hearing for yourself.
Visiting the
VENUES Located at 6110 N. Scottsdale Road, the ASU Kerr Cultural Center sits directly south of The Borgata, surrounded by the Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort. The Kerr is an intimate venue of about 250 seats, giving concertgoers a close look at the musicians and performers. Upcoming events include the Native American classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala on Jan. 30; the jazz and spoken-word show “Langston Speaks” on Feb. 20; and the guitarcello duo Brad Richter and Viktor Uzur on Feb. 27, all starting at 8 p.m. For a full listing of Kerr events and further information, visit asukerr.com, or call 480-596-2660. The Chandler Center for the Arts is looking forward to a year of renovations that begins May 15. Then, they’re going “dim” (not “dark”), only closing the main auditorium, leaving the smaller revolving halls open. In the meantime, there’s a full calendar of events: George Winston at solo piano on Jan. 25; Preservation Hall Jazz Band on Feb. 7; and a special engagement of KC and the Sunshine Band on April 25. The Chandler Center is also the home of the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, whose mission includes making classical music accessible to the public, and whose concerts are free (with suggested donation). The Orchestra will play on Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. and on March 29 at 3 p.m. For a full listing of events and information, go to chandlercenter.org, or call 480-782-2680.
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LIVE CHEAP,
ma ke
Art Or, how two 50-something KJZZ fans sold their house, got visas and moved to Italy for two years—taking public radio along for the ride. By Rosemary Connelly Photography by Bob Connelly Paintings by Rosemary Connelly or years, my husband and I dreamed of living in Italy. We wanted to see the world from another perspective and live a simpler life, filled with experiences rather than things. Plus, my grandparents were born in Italy and I yearned to connect to my ancestry in a real way. We had watched too many friends and relatives succumb to cancer or heart attacks before they could enjoy retirement or see their children grown. We wanted to travel while we were still relatively young and healthy, and we decided life was too short to put off our dreams. So after 25 years as a firefighter and five more teaching high school photography, my husband Bob retired, and I resigned from my job, having worked as a graphic designer for 20 years. Bob wanted to devote himself to photography and I longed to paint every day, which was difficult to do while working full time. We sold our home and put into storage what remained after selling, donating and tossing everything else. Bob and I moved to Arizona in 1973 but, native New Yorkers, we always missed the beaches, the seasons and our family along the East Coast. So we purchased a condo in Delaware, which boasts low taxes and where we could afford to live close to the beach. We decided to rent out the condo until we returned from Italy. Our plan was to live six months in each of four different regions, beginning in Umbria and going south for the winters, to take advantage of warmer climates and offseason rents. We are not wealthy—we have a pension from the fire department and a small nest egg—but we decided it was doable if we lived within a tight budget. We left for Italy with two suitcases each—one for clothes and one for art supplies. We couldn’t wait to arrive.
F
During the Infiorata flower festival, the citizens of Spello literally paint the streets with flower petals, stems, leaves and seeds. Entire families work through the night to complete the intricate pictures before morning. Then, a bishop holds mass and leads a procession through the city—walking over the flower paintings.
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Perugia, Umbria: 2 April to 30 November 2005 ope John Paul II died the day we landed. We heard about his impending death at the airport but, being less than two hours from Rome, the irony was that we had not heard much else about him that day. We sat on the steps of the cathedral days later and listened to the bells chime for a solid half-hour when the new Pope was elected. We found an Internet café and logged on to National Public Radio’s Web site, where we followed the unfolding story, a pattern we would repeat often throughout our two-year sojourn. NPR via the Internet became our lifeline to news from around the world and in our new home. And what a home! Living in a furnished apartment in Perugia was different from staying in a hotel. We had a working kitchen, dining and living space and a separate bedroom. Living cheaply, we couldn’t afford anything fancy, but we wanted something with charm and character “in centro” (the historic center of town). We arranged our mini-appartamento (about 164 square feet—quite a change from Phoenix) through the University for Foreigners, which sent us a few bad photos by e-mail. Because
P
ABOVE: Rosemary painting in Corciano, Umbria. RIGHT: Via dell’Acquedotto in Perugia.
ABOVE: Bob taking photos of a rope-making demonstration at a medieval festival in Corciano. LEFT: A journal painting of the underground remains of Perugia’s medieval fortress, the Rocca Paolina.
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we needed an address in Italy to obtain visas, we reluctantly accepted. Turns out this apartment in a historic palazzo at the highest point in the city, surrounded by a private park and the lush Giardino dell’Usignolo (Nightingale’s Garden), was a paradise. While Bob captured it all in photographs, I spent hours sketching flowers and views from our ancient Etruscan wall. We loved living in that medieval city, walking ancient streets and sitting in piazzas, listening to free concerts. We took language lessons and met people from around the world studying Italian. We walked the city, admiring churches and other historic sights, like our favorite, Il Tempio di San Michele Arcangelo, a small, round 5th century church, a popular place for weddings. My
journal was my constant companion and I added many watercolor entries of medieval streets and terra cotta roofs that summer. I was too intimidated to attempt individual paintings, but the journals felt safe and I filled one after another. We kept costs down by shopping at the open market and preparing meals in our tiny kitchen. I cooked with every leftover, stretching our euro as far as it would go. But we could also share a pizza and a quarter liter of wine for around $13. Life was good. We loved the festivals, especially Calendimaggio in Assisi, with its pageantry and medieval costumes, the Festival of the Ceri in Gubbio and L’infiorata in Spello. With just our toothbrushes, my sketchbook and Bob’s cameras, we traveled around the area and would often find the last available room in town. We’ll never forget all the pizza, cappuccinos and gelatos, all the walks uphill to our apartment at the highest of spots in that highest of cities.
TOP: The Festival of the Ceri, in Gubbio, Umbria. ABOVE: “Il Tempio di Michele Arcangelo”— one of the Connellys’ favorite places in Perugia. LEFT: Bob’s photograph of Il Tempio.
Meanwhile, Bob followed the fires in Northern Arizona on KJZZ’s Web site, since many of his friends from the Tempe Fire Department were fighting them. I had worked on several design projects for Phoenix Art Museum and was interested in how its renovation was going. KJZZ covered the local stories we cared about and helped us feel connected. Arriving in early spring and remaining to see the red tile roofs dusted with snow, we enjoyed Perugia in every season. But with a mixture of sadness and excitement, we headed south in December, spending one whirlwind day in Naples before boarding the ferry to Catania and the island of Sicily.
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Marina di Ragusa, Sicily: 1 December 2005 to 31 May 2006 n Marina di Ragusa we lived across the street from a sandy beach and walked the shore every day, dipping our feet in the Mediterranean; stopping to buy fresh fruit and vegetables from a truck that came daily and pane caldo (warm bread) at the bakery. I carried my art supplies everywhere and captured my favorite scenes as I walked along the Lungomare (promenade by the sea). Bob was never without his cameras and some of his favorite moments were shooting the beach’s shifting sands, the faces of the old men in the piazzas, and the fishermen with their nets and colorful boats. The best part of Sicily was the warmth of its people and the friendship we formed with Elio and Giovanna, our landlords, who treated us like old friends, helping us through every crisis and suggesting places to visit we never would have found. When two of my journals were stolen from our car, I was heartbroken and couldn’t paint for weeks. Elio took us for gelato to help cheer us up. I stopped using journals for fear of losing them and concentrated instead on individual paintings, and my confidence grew. We discovered the delights of fresh, hot ricotta, Nero d’Avola wine, typical Sicilian meals at the masseria (large farm), cassata cake and fresh fish purchased at the seaside market. Everything in Sicily was affordable and at the weekly market vendors would
I
ABOVE: Old men in a piazza in Caltagirone, a town known for its ceramics. RIGHT: Watercolor of a rustic blue door near Marina di Ragusa.
ABOVE, LEFT: A Good Friday religious festival where the men dress as “penitents” and the little girls as nuns/saints. ABOVE: Windmills at Marsala salt pans, in western Sicily.
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often toss in a few extras after weighing my haul. Driving to Catania, we stopped to buy oranges and tangerines by the side of the road and ate them in the car like candy, their skins falling away like too-big overcoats. We never tired of Ragusa Ibla and Modica and their incredible panoramas. I sat for hours in Scicli, atop an ancient stone wall, sketching the cave houses that run up and down the hills while Bob shot details of the Baroque palaces in centro. We attended Euripides’ 5th century play, “Trojan Women,” in the ancient Greek theater in Siracusa and stood in the piazza in Catania as fireworks exploded overhead, choreographed to music for the Feast of St. Agatha. When elections for Prime Minister took place, we watched the posters change in the main piazza as candidates tried to outdo
one another. We again turned to NPR for coverage, learned more about Italy’s complicated political history and were astounded to learn that Romano Prodi had defeated Silvio Berlusconi. Even though our language skills improved in Sicily, trying to understand rapid-fire Italian TV was a challenge, so we often logged on to NPR.org for news and even to learn about events happening right there in Italy. Through KJZZ.org, we also learned that 100,000 people had marched for peace in Phoenix, and we shared their feelings from the other side of the world. We visited Palermo, with its chaotic and crumbling beauty, and the cities of Marsala, Trapani, Erice and all the Greek temples; Taormina and Cefalu, and the elusive volcano, Mount Etna, which would disappear in the clouds and reappear. By the end of May, tourist season was about to begin. We couldn’t afford the summer rent and didn’t relish the crowds. So, weeping, we packed the car and headed north.
TOP: One of Rosemary’s watercolors of a street corner near her apartment in Perugia. ABOVE: Fisherman’s hand-painted boat in Aci Trezza, near Catania. LEFT: The Mediterranean Sea along the beach near the Connellys’ apartment in Marina di Ragusa. Winter 2009
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How we ‘LIVED CHEAP’
When we arrived in Italy, the exchange rate was $1.26 to 1 euro. By the time we left, it had climbed to $1.40. Rent averaged 750 euros (around $1,000) per month. In places like Sicily and the Amalfi Coast, it could cost that much or more for a week during peak season. Heating was our biggest expense, averaging around 100 euros (then, around $130) a month, another reason to go south in winter. Phone calls were also costly, averaging around $100 a month.
LEFT: The Living Chess Game in Maróstica, where up to 650 people reenact a game first played in 1454. BELOW: Torre dell’Abate, a manufactured hydraulic built in 1568-69 to drain the land around the fortress of Duke Alfonso II, and also as part of the fortification itself.
Here’s what some of our other staples ran: • Gas averaged $5 a gallon. • A small gelato cost around 2 euros, cappuccino about the same, less in the bars the locals frequented. We could have two—due cappuccini—with cornetti (like a filled croissant) for around 4 euros. • Each region had its own bread, sold by the kilogram. In Perugia, we could purchase a portion of one of the large, round artisan loaves. • Groceries were very affordable, especially at the weekly outdoor markets where you can buy fresh, seasonal fruit and veggies, meats and cheeses. In Sicily, we could buy a huge bag of oranges for around 3 euros. • A pizza and quarter liter of wine ran around 10 euros; dinners were pretty inexpensive as well. Rarely did we spend more than 30 euros for both of us, including wine, but we also rarely had three-course extravaganzas. • We didn’t have a car for the first six months. Instead, we walked everywhere and used public transportation. It was inexpensive, convenient and readily available— except in Sicily, where it would have been impossible to do everything we did without a car.
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ABOVE: Panorama of Verona from the Museo Archeologico.
ABOVE: Lazise, one of the charming towns along Lake Garda. LEFT: A few of Rosemary’s “drive-by sketches.”
days at lovely Lake Garda and wandered the elegant cities of Padua and Mantua, Brescia, Bolzano and Trento, watching the Living Chess Game in tiny Maróstica with delight. We drove through other regions of the north, seeing the Dolomites for the first time. Each region we visited contained a different color palette, and we strove to capture its essence in our work. Everything was more expensive in the north and we often shopped in the supermercato, where prices were lower, but preferred the street market, where cheese sellers gave samples and I could walk back to our apartment, nibbling delicacies along the way. We ate pumpkin risotto and ravioli with butter and sage, drank lots of chilled white wine and sampled chocolate salami and even horse meat. I painted almost every day, the weather was so lovely. I stood on an ancient bridge with my watercolors resting on its walls, oblivious to passersby looking over my shoulder, while Bob explored the city with his cameras. It was fun going home at the end of the day and sharing what we had done. When Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New Orleans and Mississippi, we read with sadness and horror on NPR’s Web site about the lives of people in its wake, powerless ourselves to do more than watch, as so many other Americans were at home. We felt as one with them. It had been an incredible summer, but by late October the frost was on the zucca and with just five months left of our adventure, we headed south to the famed Amalfi Coast, excited, but sad again to be leaving friends.
Borgo Roma, Verona, Veneto: 1 June to 31 October 2006 erona was refined and cultured. The Adige River winds romantically through it, and the Renaissance and medieval architecture, church towers, bridges and castle delighted us. We rented an apartment in a neighborhood called Borgo Roma, five minutes outside the more expensive city center. The people were more reserved, with the exception of Laura and Giorgio, our landlords, who became treasured friends. We enjoyed outings with their families, like a boat ride on the Po Delta, with Giorgio narrating in simple words we could understand. One summer evening Laura and I went to the Roman Arena for a thrilling performance of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” while Bob and Giorgio shared beer and pizza in town. With Venice just an hour’s drive away, we returned to that magical city several times to attend festivals and watch fireworks explode over gondolas in the canals. We whiled away summer
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ABOVE: One of Rosemary’s watercolors, entitled “Verona, standing on the Ponte Pietra looking toward the city.”
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Vietri sul Mare, Amalfi Coast, Campania: 1 November to 31 March 2007 ur apartment in Vietri sul Mare sat halfway between sea and centro. Whichever way we walked there were breathtaking views, up toward the Duomo or down to the beach, and the harbor at Salerno was just around a curve in the road. Vietri is the first city on the Amalfi Coast, and it was easy to head toward Positano and Sorrento or up toward Naples, Pompei and Mount Vesuvius, south to the Cilento coast or inland toward Benevento and beyond. The cliffs and towers, the colors of the sea, the orange and lemon trees gave us endless delight. We saw Mount Vesuvius from every vantage point, and looked directly into its mouth. I returned to watercolor journaling and filled several books with “drive-by” sketches, quick drawings I made in the car, laying in washes of color later at home, like filling in a coloring book. With its many ceramica shops, Vietri was like a big candy store, its colors and patterns jumping out at us as we passed. We bought a set of dishes with typical Vietri patterns, as my greatgrandmother might have had—the biggest splurge of our “live cheap” lifestyle. While we fulfilled our dream, KJZZ informed us about the slowdown in Phoenix’s real-estate market. We felt fortunate to have sold our home when we did, since selling our home was
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ABOVE: Christmas dinner with Nunzia’s family (her sister-inlaw is showing off a big pot of “frutta di mare”–mixed seafood– just one of the courses served). RIGHT: Blue door and window in Cetara.
ABOVE: Amalfi at night. RIGHT: Ripacandida, the Connellys’ friend Pino’s hometown (of Pino’s Pizzeria in Phoenix).
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key to making our plan work. We worried about friends whose futures were on hold, waiting for the market to turn. Naples was fabulous. In places—the walk along the seaside, the lovely castles and parks, the views onto the harbor from Vomero Hill—it was absolutely gorgeous. We enjoyed old Napolitano songs and, of course, the food: the pizza, the bufala mozzarella, the pastries! Our apartment in Vietri was not our favorite, but our neighbors were delightful and we were invited to share Christmas dinner with Nunzia and Antonio’s family in Cetara and to a fresh fish extravaganza at Martine’s, where her husband Piero caught everything that day. We learned so much, both of the history and culture of Italy, and about the people we met, thanks to the patience of our hosts and our determination to master the language.
Arrivederci, Italia ith our two suitcases each, having sent home what we couldn’t carry, we boarded a train in Salerno to spend a few final days in Rome, not only to say “Arrivederci, Roma,” but also farewell to Italy, no easy thing. Saturday, March 31, 2007 was the last day we considered ourselves residents. For two years we lived simply and had the time of our lives. There were challenges, but mostly the time was filled with wonderful experiences and incredible people. We had studied Italian in Phoenix for more than a year and continued in Perugia, hoping cultural immersion would help. It did, but we still struggled and wished we had started earlier and worked harder. By the end, we were able to have more than rudimentary conversations, and develop friendships, but we never considered ourselves fluent.
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Interested? HERE’S MORE
We found these resources very helpful in trying the expat life on for size:
Living, Studying and Working in Italy This book by Monica Larner answered many of our questions about important topics, like how to apply for a visa, rent an apartment, use the post office and telephone, find classes, and use public transportation. Eyewitness Travel Guides Produced by DK Publishing, these were among our favorite travel books. We loved their gorgeous photography and maps. Cadogan Guides We discovered these English travel guides and enjoyed their more indepth explanations. They were great companions to the Eyewitness guides, with good history and background information. expatsinitaly.com This site provides information and links on every possible subject, from the paperwork needed to obtain a visa, to shopping, to everyday life. It also boasts an active online community, filled with people eager to help. slowtrav.com For travelers who like to take time to get to know one area in depth, this site provides a community forum where people share their travel experiences and other great information.
TOP: Paolo singing classic Napolitano songs at a café in the mountains near Naples. ABOVE: Painting of Vietri sul Mare.
Since returning to the States we’ve joined art leagues and participated in art fairs, selling our photographs, watercolors and giclée prints. Galleries display our work, too. I intend to keep painting and Bob still carries his cameras. But his major task since returning has been organizing the more than 30,000 digital images he took in Italy. We’ve been amazed by the number of people interested in our adventures. We started a blog to keep friends and families up to date, and readers came from all over the world. And since public radio was so helpful to us as we turned our dreams into reality, it’s our pleasure now to reach out to other fans. We started the journey by saying, “Now is the time. Life is short.” While acting on that wasn’t easy, it was worth it. So, I’ll end by saying this: If you have a dream, go for it. By putting one foot in front of the other, dreams become reality. We are living proof.
conslosangeles.esteri.it/Conso lato_LosAngeles The official site of the Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles, with everything you need to know to apply for a visa, including application forms. There is also an adjunct consular office in Phoenix, where we received information and assistance in the application process. It’s located at 2525 E. Camelback Road, Ste. 840; 602-956-3334. venere.com We used this site to find affordable accommodations for our side trips. studentliving.eu/eng/ For accommodations through the university, students access this site to locate small, furnished apartments for short periods of time. livecheapmakeart.blogspot.com Our blog, for those who want to see and read more.
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Man in Waiting A look at Peter Sagal, host of the NPR quiz show ‘Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!’ in three parts. By Ginger S. Eiden
ince its debut on NPR member-station airwaves in January 1998, the weekly, hourlong news quiz show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! has stumped, validated, challenged and crowned champion hundreds of news junkies throughout the country, including a handful of world leaders and Academy Award winners. And those brave souls who have accepted the challenge from host Peter Sagal—and the rotating band of humorists who join him each week—have been duly rewarded with longtime NPR newsman Carl Kasell’s recording the outgoing message on their home answering machines (a real news lover’s prize, if there ever was one). In homage to Wait Wait and in honor of its ringmaster Sagal, we offer up this show-inspired portrait and encourage you to play along. And while we can’t promise that a perfect score will win you any voice-mail perks, it just might garner bragging rights in your circle of friends. 40
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In addition to the shows they tape in Chicago, Peter Sagal (in sidecar) and Carl Kasell frequently hit the road to tape ‘Wait Wait’ in cities around the country.
Part 1—Bluff the Reader Below, you will find three versions of Peter Sagal’s life story. Score five points for guessing which one really made him the man he is today. 1. A quiet kid from the streets of Philadelphia, Peter Sagal couldn’t help but let the bullying neighbor kid get the best of him. But it was a moment of playground bravery one afternoon in the early 70’s that would shape Sagal’s professional life forever. Fed up with losing his lunch money, he formed a fist and swung a mighty left hook, knocking his tormentor to the ground. For the first time, Peter had taken back his lunch money. He also recovered the money of a fellow victim, Dougie Berman. When Berman became a bigtime NPR producer, he, always wanting to show his gratitude, vowed to offer Sagal a job. When the host position for Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! opened up, Sagal was Berman’s first call. 2. A self-described typical Jewish-kid overachiever from suburban New Jersey, Peter Sagal found his niche during his high school years, positioned center stage among the drama geeks. His thespian tendencies would point him toward more highbrow theatrics at Harvard and would eventually lead him to a playwriting career in New York. An invite from Chicago Public Radio to be a panelist on a quirky new radio game show (the early Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!) would ultimately result in a permanent host position.
TONY NAGELMANN
3. It was while surfing as a teenager in California that Peter Sagal discovered his love of game shows. A local version of “The Dating Game” was filming at Sagal’s favorite beach, and he stood in line for hours to become a contestant. The producers chose him, and though Sagal didn’t find true love, he did find his passion—game-show hosting. Obsessed, he started studying every show he could. He even served as third and fourth understudy for a few game-show greats (think “Come on down!”). He got his big break when tryouts were announced for a new NPR quiz show based in Chicago. As soon as he auditioned, executives knew he was the perfect host for Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Answer: Sagal was born and raised in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, and had what he calls “your typical suburban upbringing.” Living close to New York City, he spent much of his youth soaking up Broadway, and throughout high school, he was immersed in drama-club performances of his own. “I was a bit socially awkward, kind of a geek, so I really found my place in the theater and drama crowd,” says Sagal, now 43. The son of what he calls a “Harvard-obsessed” mother, the overachieving Sagal continued on his dramatic path throughout his years in the Ivy League, where, though he was technically an English major, his Winter 2009
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TONY NAGELMANN
Nearly 2.7 million weekly listeners tune in to 450 stations to listen to Peter Sagal’s antics on ‘Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!’
passion for theater thrived. He was a member of the school’s Hasty Pudding theatrical troupe, Harvard’s renowned sketch comedy team. “Harvard gives you this chance to just go out and do things,” Sagal says. “There’s this presumption that you can do anything you want at Harvard. I didn’t major in theater; I just did it, putting on plays all the time.” Sagal headed West with a friend after college and soon found himself working as the literary manager for a regional theater in Los Angeles. The position gave him 42
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insight into the playwriting process and the manuscripts he was reviewing inspired him to follow in their creators’ footsteps. He left his L.A. job in 1990 to begin writing but had a few detours on his way to New York’s theater industry, including freelance writing gigs, a stint ghostwriting a porn director’s biography and almost starring in a Michael Jackson video. “I was supposed to be a snake charmer in ‘Do You Remember the Time,’ but we never shot the scene,” Sagal says. By 1997, Sagal was living in Brooklyn and working as a playwright. His first child with wife Beth was on the way. And that’s when he got a call from Chicago Public Radio. “They hired me to be one of the original panelists, and then they decided later that they wanted to switch things up a bit and try me out as host,” Sagal says. Liking the new formula, Wait Wait producers decided to make things permanent, so Sagal loaded up the car and moved the family to Chicago. “In a period of three months, I had nothing but tremendous change—a new career, a new city, I was becoming a parent and homeowner,” he says. “It was so much change, and I had no control.” Celebrating more than a decade as the Wait Wait host, Sagal, whose show won a Peabody Award in 2008, is now the father of three girls ages 4, 7 and 10. He and his wife of almost 15 years live in a 104-year-old Victorian house on Chicago’s urban fringe. He drives a minivan, has a deck and has become an avid runner, completing four marathons. “It’s the same suburban life I grew up in,” he says. Sagal’s first book, The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them), first hit store shelves in 2007. A series of essays about sketchy behavior, Sagal’s book, which was recently released in paperback, let him peer deeper into lifestyles he had only glimpsed while ghostwriting for the porn director. Living a somewhat vanilla life, where hot dogs and strong coffee are his worst vices, Sagal says he was a bit nervous about crossing into society’s darker side—gambling, swinging, prostitution, pornography—but he knew the payoff would be worth his discomfort. “I think the Eliot Spitzer situation is the perfect reason I had to write this book,” he says. “I had to answer my own curiosity and find out what drives people to these choices. It also happened to be an occasion for me to be funny, and I tend to lean toward any opportunity to be funny.” Fans can catch Sagal leaning toward funny every Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. on KJZZ. And, if things go well, you might soon see a TV-version of the quiz show, which shot a pilot with CBS Entertainment last fall.
Sagal’s Vices Wait Wait host and author of The Book of Vice Peter Sagal claims to be too guilt-ridden to have any real, juicy vices. But he does have a list of indulgences (and somewhat mild addictions) he’s willing to own up to.
Part 2—Lightning Fill in the Blank We asked Sagal to answer the following questions. Give yourself one point for each answer you get right. Question: How do you take your coffee? Answer: “Black with sugar. I was doing black with Splenda for a while, but life is too short.” Q: What is your secret hidden talent? A: “I can juggle three balls really well. I can also do a good impression of Agent Smith [actor Hugo Weaving] in The Matrix.” (Sagal demonstrated his impression during the interview, and it is, in fact, spot-on.) Q: Whose voice is on your home answering machine? A: “My wife and my daughter, Willa.” Q: Living in Chicago, do you root for the White Sox or Cubs? A: “I am forever a Red Sox fan and, naturally, I thought I would be a Cubs fan because they both have similar disappointing stories. One day, I finally committed and went to a game, and I realized that the people at Cubs games are just too darn happy. It was a big party, and it wasn’t right. Everyone was smiling and having a good time, and the Cubs were losing. Then, I went to Comiskey [home of the White Sox] and everyone was miserable. That just felt more like my place.” Q: Chicago dogs or Chicago pizza? A: “Hot dogs all the way! I think this whole Chicago pizza thing is a crock. Everybody I know likes hot dogs, and no one who lives here is going out for deep dish. That’s a tourist thing.” Q: Personal theme song? A: “That changes from moment to moment, but right now it’s ‘The Future Soon’ by Jonathan Coulton.”
Here are his top five: 1. All encased, processed meats 2. Single-malt Scotch 3. The classic plain, salted potato chip 4. Wandering aimlessly through the Internet 5. Home-brewed coffee
Q: Favorite Wait Wait guest? A: “Picking a favorite is tough, but off the top of my head I’d have to mention John McCain, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and Tom Hanks, who happens to be familiar with the show, which is amazing.” Q: Preferred running shoe? A: “Brooks Adrenalines. I’ve worn them for years, and I’m on my fifth pair now.” Q: Best marathon time? A: “Three hours, 20 minutes and 39 seconds. That was at the 2006 Chicago Marathon.” (Score yourself right if you were within 15 minutes.) Q: Paper or plastic? A: “Paper! I grew up in my grandparents’ grocery store, so I have a certain nostalgia for paper.” Q: If you were a superhero, what would your power be? A: “I am never lost. It is legendary among those who know me, and my name is the Human Compass. But, if I had my choice of power, I want to be able to manipulate people’s minds so they think I am always right.”
Part 3—Sagal’s Prediction Just like his show, we’re closing this story with a Sagal prediction. As a bonus, you can add 10 points to your final score if his forecast pans out. (You’ll just need to wait a few years.) Answer: “Ten or 15 years from now, the headline will read something like: ‘In an amazing occurrence, three Nobel Peace Prizes were won by three sisters,’” says doting father Sagal.“Or, maybe it will read: ‘Radio host develops the natural ability to convince people he’s always right.’”
five favorite MOMENTS A popular Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! game is ‘Not My Job,’ which brings celebrities and other personalities on the show to answer questions on topics way outside their areas of expertise. Here are a few shining winners and losers who have participated throughout the years. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wowed audiences by correctly answering questions about Hugh Hefner and Playboy magazine. NBC anchor Brian Williams won his round by correctly answering three questions about duct tape. Comedian Sarah Silverman lost when she was unable to answer questions about Tom DeLay. “Hardball” host Chris Matthews showed he could master the game when he correctly answered questions about Gatorade. Ken Jennings, “Jeopardy!” grand champion, proved victorious in a special edition of “Not My Job” titled “What in the World Does Ken Jennings Not Know?”
SCORING KEY: What Kind of ‘Wait Wait’ Fan Are You? 0-5 points – You have some serious brushing up to do. Tune in to Wait Wait every Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. on KJZZ. 6-10 points – Not too shabby, but Carl Kasell’s job is secure. 11-26 points – You’re a Wait Wait fanatic! Perhaps Peter Sagal’s job isn’t so safe … Winter 2009
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patron profile By Yvette Johnson
Enjoying the Ride
Barbara and Tom Payne
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Whoever said love at first sight can’t last forever never met Tom and Barbara Payne. The couple met 51 years ago, when Barbara was a high school senior and Tom a freshman at Texas A&M. After raising four children and building and maintaining successful careers, they are as in love today as they were in 1957, the year they met at a bus stop in College Station, Texas. Tom and Barbara married just six months after they met. And their wedding story is straight out of a romantic comedy— marrying in secret with a fake ID for Barbara because she hadn’t yet turned 18. Today, Tom and Barbara are dedicated philanthropists in Arizona, but when they married, they owned nothing but a rundown car. Their fortunes soon changed. After graduating from college, Tom got several attractive job offers, but Barbara didn’t want
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to leave Texas. So, with few in-state options, he took a job with no perks and no guarantees—at IBM, just before the computer industry’s birth. Then, he was promoted to oversee a group called TI, short for Texas Instruments. As Tom and Barbara became more successful, they saw it as an opportunity to participate more in organizations that were important to them, like National Public Radio. In fact, Barbara was on the NPR board for a few years, allowing both Tom and Barbara to develop even deeper convictions about the value of public radio. Tom says, “I became a devotee when I attended some of the meetings Barbara went to. I was impressed by how hard they worked to be fair and balanced.” He says his listening doubled as a result. Barbara echoes this view. She feels the news on NPR is credible and reliable and
DANIEL FRIEDMAN
A couple combines love of philanthropy, public radio and—above all—each other. The Patrons Leadership Society (PLS) is a diverse group of philanthropic individuals and families committed to sustaining KJZZ & KBAQ’s ability to inspire and inform members of our community with world-class news, music and informational programming. Members of the PLS share the distinction of being our stations’ most generous annual contributors, giving $1,000 or more each year to one or both stations. In return, PLS members are granted behindthe-scenes access to our studios and are invited to participate in exclusive programming and private visits with public radio personalities from across the country. For more information about the PLS, please contact Aaron Pratt at 480-774-8453 or apratt@kjzz.org.
thinks that many other news outlets make the host the star. On NPR, however, the story is the show. Like many, Tom and Barbara love to listen to public radio in the car. They have homes in Phoenix and Flagstaff and regularly drive between them, listening to All Things Considered and The Diane Rehm Show along the way. “All of our kids listen to public radio on the road as well,” Barbara says. The couple celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2007. To commemorate the event, Tom surprised Barbara with a book he wrote called My Life with Barbara: A Love Story. The heartwarming tale of their life together—including failed startups, a house that nearly burned down, and a forgotten stock that skyrocketed 3,800%—demonstrates how lives, fortunes and even the world can be changed just by waiting for a bus.
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travel Story and photos by Peter Aleshire
Day Trips With a Twist New theories explain how Native American settlements in and around the Valley may have been organized for war.
These well-preserved ruins in a remote canyon of the Sierra Ancha mountains harbor clues to an absorbing mystery—the difficult construction of seemingly fortified cliff dwellings in the 100 to 200 years before the collapse of civilizations throughout the Southwest.
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are to spend a breezy, beautiful day investigating the death of a civilization and the sad, admirable triumph of human nature? A new generation of research has given an intriguing twist to the persistent mystery of a resourceful 1,000-year-old civilization’s collapse—with the epicenter of the tragedy right
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here in the Valley and the evidence of its effects hidden in scattered ruins, each of which would make a fascinating day trip from Phoenix. The massive ruins at places like Navajo National Monument, Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon get most of the publicity when it comes to the mysterious collapse in the 1400s of a network of in-
terconnected civilizations. But an equally fascinating part of the story lies closer at hand, made more riveting by some recent, stillcontroversial theories on what caused a chain of cultures all to collapse like dominoes at about the same time. Investigating these theories can provide a whole season’s worth of day trips, starting with an in-town
jaunt to Pueblo Grande, followed by trips to the Verde Valley to see Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot and Montezuma Well, then a trip to Roosevelt Lake to climb to the ruins in Tonto National Monument, and finally, for the truly adventurous, a journey to the Sierra Ancha mountains to seek out the little-known ruins there. Recent research connecting these sites all within about 100 miles of the Valley suggests that a generations-long war broke out between the scattered settlements around the famineplagued Hohokam heartland in central Arizona. That conclusion has emerged from a study of settlement patterns throughout the region, conducted by people like Museum of Northern Arizona anthropologist David Wilcox, who collected data from hundreds of settlements to try to explain why people in the central Arizona highlands started building defensible hilltop villages in the 1100s and then even more impressive fortresses in the late 1200s, before abandoning the area in the late 1300s. The researchers studied 500 hilltop sites from the Verde Valley and New River area up to the Rim and concluded that the people there created a network of fortified hilltops in sight of one another to fend off large-scale raids by the Hohokam living where Phoenix now sprawls. Mainstream archaeologists have long sought an environmental explanation like drought cycles to explain the baffling, 1,000-year ebb and flow of civilizations in the region. Although massive ruins like Montezuma Castle in the Verde Valley and Tonto National Monument near Roosevelt Lake look like fortresses, researchers have long downplayed violence and depicted prehistoric residents as peaceful farmers. But in recent decades, a more conflict-ridden picture has emerged. Wilcox and his colleagues built on earlier studies by Tonto National Forest archaeologist J. Scott Wood
In the 1100s, many cultures moved their villages into remote and easily defended sites, like this dwelling overlooking Lake Powell. The pattern of ruins in the shadow of the Mogollon Rim (below) suggests warfare might have played a role.
and others to try to explain several distinct building phases in the highlands and the Verde Valley. An aerial survey of the roughly 500 hilltop signs showed they formed a line-of-sight chain of villages that could have quickly spread word of invaders. Moreover, exhaustive analysis of pottery
patterns helped researchers fill in both the cultural relationships between different villages and the timing of their shifts. That research helped Wilcox flesh out an intriguing theory that invokes warfare between the people of the “Central Arizona Tradition,� who relied on dry farming and Winter 2009 47
The ruins of Palatki, near Sedona, offer a way to explore the Southwest’s greatest missing persons case on a day trip from Phoenix.
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small-scale irrigation, and the Hohokam, who built hundreds of miles of irrigation canals to support a large population. For some 4,000 years prior to A.D. 1100, people in central Arizona lived in extended family settlements, building scattered brush and log shelters, channeling rainfall to nourish small patches of corn, beans and squash, and participating in loose regional trade networks. Most of these settlements were built in valleys and along streams, without much regard to defense. However, starting in the 1100s these people built larger, more easily defended settlements, often surrounded by low stone walls— which could mark the onset of conflict. The mountain people could have triggered the conflict, by raiding the Hohokam settlements. On the other hand, Hohokam burials in Phoenix show evidence of recurring
famine—so perhaps overpopulation and crop failures prompted the Hohokam to launch raids into the hinterlands. In either case, a shifting noman’s land developed on the outskirts of present-day Phoenix as the Central Arizona Tradition people moved away to build ever more fortified villages. That trend accelerated after about 1275, when the people in the central highlands built large, heavily populated settlements in easily defended places, most of them in positions where they could signal for help from more distant settlements. Nearly everyone moved out of a 50-mile-wide buffer zone between the Hohokam core and the start of the highlands settlements. The people in the highlands formed what Wilcox calls the Verde Confederacy and mostly moved to fortresses, protected from attack on most
sides by 1,000-foot-tall cliffs, sites like Montezuma Castle and Well, and perhaps Tuzigoot. This final phase of the hypothetical war lasted for perhaps 100 years, before the onset of a still hotly debated regional population collapse. By the time the first Spanish explorers arrived in the 1400s, most of the great cities that had persisted for 1,000 years throughout the Southwest stood abandoned. Only a few settlements like the Zuni and Hopi mesas and the pueblos of New Mexico persisted. In the process, a regional population estimated at 200,000 shrunk to perhaps 60,000. Day or weekend trips to a number of ruins close to Phoenix provide a fascinating chance to investigate the mystery firsthand. Four complexes provide wellpreserved ruins, with lots of information and interpretation. Ruins in the Sierra Anchas provide a more rugged and remote
experience—although most require a tough four-wheel-drive vehicle, an adventurous spirit and strong legs. So here’s a roundup of places you can visit to launch your own investigation of the strange and absorbing death of an ancient civilization.
Pueblo Grande Beneath the airport flight path, this preserved Hohokam complex sits alongside one of the canals that helped create modern Phoenix. Early growers in the Valley simply dug out some of the hundreds of miles of irrigation canals the Hohokam originally built to sustain their densely settled population. The site provides some excellent interpretative displays that give visitors a sense of that vanished civilization—with its platform mounds, vast trade networks and ceremonial ball courts. 4619 E. Washington St., Phoenix; 602-495-0901; pueblogrande.com
Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well Just off Interstate 17 halfway to Flagstaff, these two ruins offer an accessible glimpse of the fortresslike settlements built by people in the Central Arizona Tradition. Montezuma Castle is built under the overhang of a naturally hollowed-out cliff face, while Montezuma Well includes several ruins located near a remarkable, spring-fed lake. Underwater springs dissolved a buried dome of limestone, which eventually collapsed—creating the small lake. Mineral-rich, spring-fed water seeped out of the lake, which the ingenious farmers diverted to their crops, taking advantage of the minerals in the water that produced what amounted to a selflining canal—still in use today. Montezuma Castle is open daily and can be reached by following I-17 to exit 289. It includes a museum, bookstore and picnic areas. Montezuma Well is open daily and has pit toilets, trails and a picnic area. It can be reached by following I-17 to exit 293 and continuing through
the towns of McGuireville and Rimrock, following the signs to the entrance of the Well. For information, call 928-567-3322 or visit nps.gov/moca/.
Tuzigoot National Monument This hilltop pueblo sits alongside the Verde River, next to a loop in the river where a spring has created a biologically rich marshland. The Sinagua Indians built the three-story, 110-room pueblo around A.D. 1000 and abandoned it about 1400. The 42-acre site includes a museum, bookstore and an easy trail around the ruins—which command a sweeping view of the surrounding valley. The diverse food resources of the marsh no doubt attracted the Sinagua—as the diversity of birds attracts birders today. Tuzigoot is open daily. To reach it, travel I-17 to exit 287, then west on State Route 260 to Cottonwood. In Cottonwood, take Main Street north toward Clarkdale. For information, call 928-634-5564 or visit nps.gov/tuzi.
TOP: The ruins of Tuzigoot offer a window on the past—explained in part by the fascinating exhibits at the visitor center. BOTTOM: The cultures that thrived for 1,000 years before collapsing in the 1400s left behind a wealth of rock art that puzzles archaeologists today. Experts think this spiral from a rock wall near Wet Beaver Creek near Sedona represents life’s complicated journey.
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Tonto National Monument on the shores of Roosevelt Lake protects cliff dwellings–as well as sites used by Stone Age big game hunters 8,000 years ago. The monument makes an excellent day trip from Phoenix, especially in the spring, when the poppies bloom.
GetWet!
In an upcoming issue, we’ll dive into the best lakes, streams, creeks and fishing holes in the state. Got a favorite? Write us at wavelength@fpraz.org.
Tonto National Monument This 1,100-acre monument centered on two sets of wellpreserved cliff dwellings offers another example of a post-1100 surge of fortress building. Moreover, the recent discovery of 3,000- to 8,000-year-old spear points and other artifacts nearby has pushed the history of this site back nearly to the Ice Age. The ancient site is one of 75 known prehistoric sites in the Monument, which draws between 60,000 and 80,000 visitors annually. The cliff dwellings date back 50
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a mere 700 years or so, when a group dubbed the Salado—who had been living in the Tonto Basin along the upper reaches of the Salt River now largely submerged by Roosevelt Lake— inexplicably decided to build these hard-to-reach but easy-todefend cliff houses. About a two-hour drive from Phoenix out State Route 60 east through Globe, then northwest on State Route 188 about 25 miles to the Monument. For information, call 928-467-2241 or visit nps.gov/tont.
The Sierra Ancha Range These remote and undeveloped ruins are hard to find without a guide or detailed directions, but fill in a key part of the picture. The most accessible of the ruins lies close to Workman Creek Falls, off the rugged State Route 288, which connects Young to State 188 near Roosevelt Lake, northwest of Globe. Other ruins lie in the jagged canyon on the back side of the Sierra Anchas, accessible off Cherry Creek Road, which connects to State 288. Archaeologists are still trying
to piece together the history of the people who built these wildly inaccessible cliff houses in places like Cold Spring Canyon. One theory holds that they had been living the easy life along the Salt River in the Tonto Basin when pressure from newcomers pushed them out. They might have been caught up in warfare with the increasingly hardpressed, more densely settled people living in the Hohokam heartland. In any case, archaeologists have found signs of raiding, violent death and warfare in some of the ruins they left behind, now largely protected from vandals by their remote location—mostly reached only by forcing a path through the brush on the merest suggestion of a trail.
Native WAY S KJZZ and KBAQ listeners share their suggestions for experiencing Native American culture. Compiled by David M. Brown I am happy to recommend the auctions presented by R.B. BURNHAM & CO. at various places throughout the year (including the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, the Smoki Museum in Prescott and Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix). Both Bruce Burnham and Hank Blair are knowledgeable Indian traders from multi-generation trading families, and their auctions are enjoyable, educational and a wonderful opportunity to find quality rugs, baskets and jewelry at fair prices. I have been attending these auctions since 1999 and have enjoyed them immensely, learned a great deal and acquired a sizable collection of Navajo rugs. — Janet Wise
R.B. Burnham & Co. Trading Post, U.S. Route 191, Sanders; 928-688-2777; rbburnhamtrading.com/auctions In Northern Arizona, take the time to see the ancient Navajo dwellings and steep-walled canyons at Canyon de Chelly. Enjoy either a half- or full-day tour along the canyon’s floor in heavy-duty, open-air touring vehicles driven by Navajo guides. Before or after your tour, dine on Native American dishes at the THUNDERBIRD LODGE, where the tours begin. — Margery Ellison
Thunderbird Lodge, Box 548, Chinle; 800-679-2473; tbirdlodge.com We’ve been to many Indian historic sites in our years in Arizona, such as Casa Grande, Montezuma Well and Castle, etc. One of our favorites, which is not so famous, is WALNUT CANYON. Following the walking trail through beautiful
forest and investigating signs of an early civilization was very interesting—and good exercise. — Bill and Eileen Wells
Heard Museum North, 32633 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale; 480-488-9817; heard.org
Walnut Canyon National Monument, Interstate 40 to exit 204, Flagstaff; 928-526-3367; nps.gov/waca
I go to DRUMBEAT INDIAN ARTS, just across from the Phoenix Indian Medical Center. It’s so authentic that I feel intimidated. Every time I go, I see new merchandise from many tribes. My son introduced me to it when a medicine man helped him to get off drugs in high school. He goes there now to purchase CDs of Native American music. I go to purchase jewelry, and my husband purchases “bear root,” one of the many healing plants carried at the store. — Margaret Daggett
I recommend the HEARD MUSEUM NORTH, which is conveniently located for those who live in the Northeast Valley and do not want to drive to the downtown Phoenix museum. The museum recently moved from el Pedregal to a new and larger building at the Summit at Scottsdale. I also strongly recommend having lunch at Arcadia Farms North Café, which shares the same building and provides both indoor and outdoor dining. — Mike DeAngelis
Drumbeat Indian Arts, 4143 N. 16th St., Phoenix; 602-266-4823; drumbeatindianarts.com
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listener profile By Kristen Forbes
Bravo! A young kid with classic taste.
Isaac Bravo Before Isaac could speak well, he would request the “La La Five” song, more commonly known as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
B
DANIEL FRIEDMAN
Forget “Twinkle, Twinkle.” Isaac Bravo’s favorite pieces include “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” and “The Firebird” by Igor Stravinsky.
“ Beethoven sounds like this: ‘Dun dun dun dun.’ I like that,” says 5-year-old Isaac Bravo, an avid KBAQ listener and undoubtedly one of its youngest fans. “When he was small, I’d say 18 months old, I’d play kids’ music for him, and he was not interested in that,” says his mother Kimberly. “But whenever I’d play something instrumental, he was really into it. To this day, it has to be an instrumental piece if he’s going to listen.” Kimberly says she envisioned parenthood as a time when she’d repetitively hear “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and the alphabet song. Instead, she’s been listening to Strauss, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Mozart and Brahms. “I’ve always listened to classical music,
since I was a teenager,” Isaac’s father Al explains. “And I knew, right from the beginning, that it was something I’d like to expose my children to.” Isaac’s introduction to classical music was as background noise: a CD playing at dinnertime, bedtime or during a ride in the car. Early on, the Bravos noticed Isaac’s enjoyment. Before he could speak well, he would request the “La La Five” song, more commonly known as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Now, he enacts the songs with an “air” violin or uses a wand to conduct an imaginary orchestra. When Isaac was listening to the same classical CDs over and over, Kimberly and Al started to yearn for variety. Hoping Isaac wouldn’t balk at not having one of his usual CDs, they tuned the car radio to KBAQ. Isaac instantly approved. And as longtime advocates of public radio, Kimberly and Al were delighted. Even if a song is new to him, Isaac can make a connection to something he already knows. Al explains that if they put on any of the other movements from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” Isaac will say, “Oh, this sounds like the springtime song.” Even Issac’s Kindermusik teacher was impressed when she put on music in class one day and Isaac correctly yelled, “The Blue Danube!” Isaac likes classical music so much, he’s now passing his passion along. For instance, he taught his friends the art of conducting at his third birthday party. Through it all, his mom insists that it is Isaac who inspires his parents to learn about the classics, not the other way around. “I’ve learned so much about different composers because of him,” Kimberly says. Winter 2009
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local flavor By RaeAnne Marsh Photography by Emily Piraino
Still Savory After All These Years
W
e asked KJZZ and KBAQ listeners to recommend restaurants that have stood the test of time. Here, we offer three eateries still going strong, serving sustenance with a side of Arizona history.
The Stockyards Restaurant was added to the Phoenix Historic Property Register for both its role in Arizona’s cattle industry and its relevant architectural style.
The Stockyards Restaurant and 1889 Saloon: Celebrating one of Arizona’s “Five C’s” he Stockyards Restaurant
Tgrew up with the Phoenix cattle industry—it was, in fact, inaugurated by working cattlemen. Built to house the administrative offices of the Tovrea Land and Cattle Company, the 1954 building
was once adjacent to a 200-acre feedlot, purportedly the largest in the world. The building included The Stockyards Restaurant, meant to accommodate cattlemen looking for a convenient spot to do business. These men would bring their own cut of beef from the feedlot to have it cooked for them—and maybe a five-gallon bucket of
Rocky Mountain oysters, for which they’d be paid in whiskey. Photos from the Tovrea archives depict the old feedlot operations, which date back to 1919. In a later era, Barry Goldwater and Sam Steiger had a regular booth in The Stockyards dining room. Although the menu is rooted in The Stockyards’ past, it has been booted well forward. Steaks, of
course—with a choice of sauces: a smooth whiskey peppercorn demi-glace, a rich blue cheese with caramelized onions, and a béarnaise—and the signature prime rib. Plus chicken, trout, baby back ribs … and a varied list of sides that includes cowboy beans with chorizo and roasted corn, worth a visit on its own. A dessert highlight is an adultrated root-beer float, made with Thomas Kemper root beer and a shot of Jack Daniels. For libations only, pass down the long hallway skirting the dining room, through the swinging doors and into the 1889 Saloon. (In 1889, Edward Tovrea started the “circle-walking-L” brand that would eventually make him a cattle baron.) An enormous, hand-carved, beautifully detailed mahogany bar spans one wall, while hand-painted murals of the Gay Nineties cover the other three. In short, the place oozes history. The Stockyards Restaurant 5009 E. Washington St., Phoenix; 602-273-7378; stockyardsrestaurant.com
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Seventy-five years ago, the hotel that houses the Cup Café played a starring role in capturing the infamous bank robber John Dillinger.
The Cup Café: Outlaw Eatery he Cup Café stretches across
Tthe front of Tucson’s historic Hotel Congress, built in 1919 to serve railroad passengers of the Southern Pacific Line. Shaded as much by mature mesquite trees as by the hotel’s awnings, its wide porch looks out on what was once a bustling depot. Numbers above each doorway hint at the café’s origins: individual shops attached to the hotel. In 1991, interior walls were 56
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opened up and the Cup Café was born as a series of connected rooms that still retain the flavor of the original architecture. A more recent remodel added a floor of pennies in tribute to the copper industry that supported the young state’s economy. Another chapter of hotel history is celebrated with Dillinger Days, commemorating the hotel’s role in the 1934 capture of the notorious Chicago gangster John Dillinger, then
America’s “Public Enemy No. 1.” The Dillinger gang’s impromptu hotel stay—the house they’d rented was unexpectedly not ready for move-in—was interrupted by a fire that forced the building’s evacuation. Trying to recover the loot they’d left behind, they were recognized by the firefighters they’d asked for help. During Dillinger Days, which marks its 75th anniversary on January 24, Cup Café specials like chicken fricassee—Dillinger’s favorite—hark back to the hotel restaurant’s 1934 menu. Southwestern dishes populate today’s menu, from breakfast through dinner. Eggs chipotle & borracho pork features two tasty sauces: a creamy chipotle sauce drizzled over the eggs and a sweetspicy one drizzled over slices of pork tenderloin. On the dinner menu, gorgonzola cream sauce sets off the tournedos of beef. Coffee at either end of the day comes rich and strong—and can be ordered “cowboy” style, with an added shot of espresso. The Cup Café 311 E. Congress St., Tucson; 520-798-1618; hotelcongress.com
Back in the 1930s and 40’s, when Duncan Hines was best known as a restaurant critic, he recommended dining at El Chorro Lodge.
El Chorro Lodge: Old-School Cool l Chorro Lodge sits on most of its original 22 acres, on what is now prime Paradise Valley real estate, with expanses of natural terrain helping to maintain its remote and rustic aura. It was built in 1934 by John C. Lincoln, a wealthy inventor and philanthropist, to be a school his daughter Lillian could attend. Today, the schoolroom that once rang with readin’, writin’ and ’rithmetic resonates to rum and rye—it’s the main bar at El Chorro. El Chorro’s life as a lodge and dining room began when Jan and Mark Gruber purchased the property in 1937—despite gibes from friends about the remote
E
location. The Grubers christened their restaurant with its new name, replacing its former: the Judson School for Girls. The rambling adobe became a favorite haunt of the day’s most prominent figures, including Hollywood stars like Milton Berle and Clark Gable. Later luminaries like Mikhail Baryshnikov extended its renown. Local lore suggests it also attracted guests from neighboring Camelback Inn looking for alcohol not served there. The menu focuses on classics: lobster tail, Chateaubriand, rack of lamb with mint jelly, prime rib. Current owners Evie and Joe Miller preserve the tradition of serving sticky buns
with entrées, changing nothing in the original recipe given to Jan Gruber by her great aunt. “We do it the same every day,” says Joe, acknowledging that it is expensive. But tradition has special meaning to Miller, whose own history with El Chorro dates back to 1952, when, at 21, he joined the staff as a bartender. The restaurant is also known for its Happy Hour, with filet mignon or sirloin sliders prepared continuously in the main bar. El Chorro Lodge 5550 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley; 480-948-5170; elchorrolodge.com
Cheap
eats
In a future issue, we’ll reveal some of the best places the frugal-minded can dine well on a dime. E-mail us your favorite places to eat cheap at wavelength@fpraz.org.
Winter 2009 57
Tasty Time Travel Marcel Proust was transported through time by the taste of a madeleine. Listeners share Arizona flavors that help them do the same.
“
THE LANDMARK RESTAURANT
809 W. Main St., Mesa; 480-962-4652; landmarkrestaurant.com
This restaurant is located in an old Mormon church, and not only does it have amazing food, the bottom level features old photographs of Mesa. — Robin Keener LOS OLIVOS
7328 E. 2nd St., Scottsdale; 480-946-2256; losolivosrestaurant.com
This is Scottsdale’s oldest Mexican restaurant, and it seems like it’s been around forever. It’s in an older building that doesn’t feel like it was built to be a restaurant—it’s more like a
house, with different rooms. You have to work your way back to the bar. There’s a mariachi band Thursday and Sunday nights. And during the spring and summer, they open the roof so you can see the stars. — Marshall Boyce
paintings throughout the restaurant—some give you a good laugh, to see those early days. We like the feel of the old building and everything in it—and the good food. We’ve never had a bad steak. — Dolly and Ellis Johnson
MONTI’S LA CASA VIEJA
LOS DOS MOLINOS
100 S. Mill Ave., Tempe; 480-967-7594; montis.com
8684 S. Central Ave., Phoenix; 602-243-9113; losdosmolinosaz.com
[This Tempe restaurant was built in 1871 by one of the area’s first settlers, Charles Trumbull Hayden. Leonard Monti bought the building in 1954, but records indicate it had been used as a restaurant since the 1890s.] We’ve been customers of Monti’s for more than 35 years, and it’s an excellent place to take out-oftown guests because of its historic background. [It is, in fact, the Phoenix area’s oldest continuously occupied structure.] In the waiting area, you can see the names of famous people who have visited, and there are a lot of old Western photos and
As newcomers to Phoenix, we found everyone seemed to know about Los Dos Molinos and treated it as a landmark. The courtyard has authentic character, and makes me feel like I’m in Mexico. The food is authentic, as well. On our first visit, I started to order wine with my dinner and the owner came over and halfjokingly said I should order a margarita, not wine. So I did— and he was right. My wife and I find the food very spicy, but it’s so good we can’t stop eating it. — Dana Ball
CHARLY’S GRILL
23 N. Leroux St., Flagstaff; 928-779-1919; weatherfordhotel.com Although Charly’s opened in 1977, the building that houses it— the Hotel Weatherford—opened on day one of that century. Frequently extending its hospitality to Zane Grey, it may share some credit for introducing the novelist to the Grand Canyon and, thus, prompting his prolific output of Westerns. The food is always delicious and the staff is personable. But more than those attributes, it’s really the ambience that draws me to Charly’s. To sit in the main dining room with a roaring fire in the middle of winter is a heartwarming experience. Following a good meal, the equally warm Charly’s Pub always offers great live music and a wide array of fermented beverages (in other words, a great selection of beers on tap). It warms my heart and soul just thinking about it. — Terry Colver
”
Puzzle PLAY
Here is the solution to the crossword puzzle on page 64. If you haven’t found the puzzle yet—no peeking!—get a pen and turn to the last page.
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Winter 2009 59
listener profile By Evan Wyloge
Anchor’s Away Local TV broadcaster returns to his first love—music.
Mike Chamberlin “It’s all about the music now.”
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M
DANIEL FRIEDMAN
Mike Chamberlin has performed more than 300 concerts in the past three years. Loving music as he does, he says he feels a sense of duty to support KJZZ.
Mike Chamberlin believes in fate. “You take a left or right turn. You choose this over that. You never imagine where those little choices will take you.” Most Valley residents recognize Chamberlin. Many know he delivered their sports and news for 20 years. Some even know he recently retired and now performs music full time. But few know the story—the set of choices — that brought him to broadcasting in Phoenix. “It was 1968, and I had it all,” Chamberlin says. “I was surfing, playing guitar in clubs around Costa Mesa and had a deal with Capitol Records.” It made sense to drop out of Orange Coast College to pursue his promising musical career. But in 1968, being enrolled in college prevented young men from receiving a certain call to duty. About eight months after
dropping out, 19-year-old Mike received a brown envelope with a letter saying he was being drafted into the Army. After a year in Vietnam, Chamberlin returned to California. By then, the record deal had evaporated, so he started working as a D.J. at a small radio station in Redlands, singing and playing guitar on the side. “I wanted to stay close to music,” he says. “But one day I noticed the guy reading the news. He only worked five minutes an hour. I said, ‘That’s the job for me.’” So Chamberlin started covering news at KCAL and was soon lured to a small TV station in Newport Beach. Within months, Chamberlin was at an NBC station in Monterey, then in Sacramento, and then at a large station in L.A. His popularity—and knowledge of water sports— even led to a part-time analyst gig at ESPN. In 1988, Chamberlin came to the Valley to become Channel 3’s evening sports anchor. He also formed a group with another local broadcaster, Chris Coraggio, called The Singin’ TV Guys. Last August, Chamberlin drew the curtain on his award-winning news career. “It’s all about the music now,” he says. “I’m booked for months solid at retirement homes, senior centers, RV parks and churches. It’s a thrill.” These days, he likens his style to James Taylor’s, but draws on a variety of musicians for inspiration, including the Stones, Beatles, Kingston Trio and New Christy Minstrels. Another inspiration is public radio. Chamberlin likes listening to KJZZ’s entire Saturday night block, starting with American Routes and Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz. “I can flip it on and know it’s going to be highquality and commercial-free,” he says. “I feel like I owe NPR.” In addition to playing solo shows, Chamberlin is working on an album with his new group, The Arizona Trio. He feels fortunate, and tries to remind people about fate. “At the beginning of my shows,” he says, “I like to talk about those little choices that end up bringing us here, together, right now.”
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ON THE AIR mon
kbaq 89.5
tue
wed
FM Public Radio Schedule
thu
fri
sat
sun
midnight 1:00 2:00
Classical Music with Scott Blakenship, Ward Jacobson, John Zech and Gillian Martin
3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00
Sunday Baroque
7:00
Classical Music
Classical Music
with Suzanne Bona
with Jane Hilton
with Sterling Beeaff
8:00 9:25 The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor
9:00 10:00
Classical Music with Jane Hilton
Classical Music
Classical Music with Janine Miller
with Janine Miller
with Jane Hilton
11:00 noon
Classical Music
Mozart Buffet with Randy Kinkel
Classical Music
Classical Music
with Katrina Becker
with Jane Hilton
Metropolitan Opera
Classical Music
with Katrina Becker
1:00 2:00
Classical Music with Randy Kinkel
3:00
Classical Music
4:00
with Jon Town
5:00
St. Paul Sunday
Concert Grand
10:00 11:00 62
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with Frank Sprague
Performance Today
7:00
9:00
Classical Music
Performance Today with Fred Child and Jon Town
6:00
8:00
with Susan Mulligan
Classical Music
Southwest Season Ticket
From the Top
Classical Music SymphonyCast
ASU in Concert
with Frank Sprague
Classical Music Classical Music
with Brian Dredla
Classical Music with Katrina Becker, Susan Mulligan or Frank Sprague
Classical Music
with Scott Blakenship and Ward Jacobson
kjzz 91.5
ON THE AIR mon
tue
midnight 1:00 2:00
wed
FM Public Radio Schedule
thu
fri
sat
sun
Classic Jazz
with Paul Anderson
Classic Jazz
Classic Jazz
with Michele Robins
Classic Jazz
Classic Jazz
with Joel Spokas
with Phil Pollard Classic Jazz
3:00 Classic Jazz
4:00 5:00 6:00
Only a Game
BBC Newshour
Morning Edition National and Arizona News, Traffic and Weather Reports
7:00 Weekend Edition
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 noon 1:00 2:00
The Diane Rehm Show 1-800-433-8850
Car Talk Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!
Here and Now
Car Talk
Talk of the Nation 1-800-989-8255
Whad’ya Know?
Fresh Air
This American Life
The Splendid Table
WireTap
Best of Public Radio
On the Media
3:00 4:00
All Things Considered
All Things Considered
5:00
A Prairie Home Companion
Marketplace
6:00
BBC’s World Today
7:00
PRI’s The World American Routes
8:00 9:00
Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!
Those Lowdown Blues
with Bob Corritore Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz
Classic Jazz with Blaise Lantana
10:00 11:00
A Prairie Home Companion
Riverwalk Jazz Classic Jazz Classic Jazz
with Paul Anderson
with Michele Robins
Classic Jazz
with Michele Robins
Classic Jazz
Fall 2008 63
Crossword By Fred Jarmuz
“Tune In and Listen” Across 1. Sidewalk eateries 6. “Who __ kidding?” 9. Driving hazard 14. Solitary 15. Society girl 16. Duck down 17. Get wind of 18. Hole card 19. Conserve, in a way 20. KBAQ fare 23. Aquarium fish 24. Turner channel 25. 1984 World Series champs 28. Bert Bobbsey’s twin 31. Mentalist Geller 32. Short-lived mayflies 38. 63 Down presentation 42. To lie beneath 43. Plastic __ Band 44. Classical beginning? 45. Rushes 48. New newt 51. Nobel Prize winner Derek 55. 63 Down presentation 60. Boston skater 61. Tire filler 62. __ a high note 64. 10% taker 65. U.N. labor agency: abbr. 66. Cut corners 67. Wild West show 68. Battlefield for many a vet 69. Copying machine additive
Down 1. Ripken of the diamond 2. Actor Guinness 3. Stable baby 4. Rile up 5. Light-detecting device 6. Oil well firefighter Red 7. Islamic holy city 8. Construction girder 9. Virus 10. In __ of (replacing) 11. Dried or darkened as by heat 12. Pine tree product 13. Vertical 21. Prefix with pend 64
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22. 25. 26. 27. 29. 30. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 39. 40. 41.
It’s kept in the closet “Swan Lake” skirt Turkey’s neighbor Decorate expensively Physicians’ grp. Badminton need LAX listing N.L. East team, on scoreboards Barnyard layer Mob action Top-notch “Dukes of Hazzard” deputy Barbie’s guy Shaft deposit Gone by plane
45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 52. 53. 54. 56. 57. 58. 59. 63.
__ polloi Swear (to) Three sheets to the wind Put in jail Do without Made straight One more time Girl rescued by Don Juan PC drive insert Cat-o’-__-tails Toward the center Norse god Iditarod terminus Where to hear 38 and 55 Across
PuzzlePLAY In our spring 2008 issue, we featured a profile of Fred Jarmuz, a KJZZ listener with such a penchant for crossword puzzles that he proposed to his wife via a custom puzzle. Fred kindly offered to create a public radio-related puzzle for Wavelength, and we jumped at the chance. Do you like having a puzzle in the magazine? Drop us a line at wavelength@fpraz.org and let us know!
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