Readers
THE FINAL EDITION
We have had the Tucson Citizen delivered since I got here in 1961. It has been my “wind down” source of pleasure after a day at work; my primary source of local print news those 48 years. Often I have seen stories not covered elsewhere.
The reporters are some of the best I’ve ever read. I am going to miss walking down the drive to get it every afternoon.
Earl Wettstein
I started getting the paper in 1989 and liked the afternoon. You read a lot of news today that you will see in the next day’s morning paper. I also like the comics in the Citizen which you do not see in the morning paper. The main reason I stayed with the afternoon paper is the comics.
My subscription runs through September. Will you be switching delivery to the morning paper or am I stuck without a paper? Az Daily Star needs to use the comics from the Citizen.
Joe Undzilo
The Tucson Citizen is an old friend that has come to our house for 50 years. It is with disappointment that I will say goodbye to an important part of my life.
The Citizen was full of things that I enjoyed. I am a Wildcat supporter, so I always checked the happenings. I am an educator, so I always follow what the schools are reporting. I never miss the comic page because the day isn’t complete without Peanuts and Dennis the Menace. Also, Cal Thomas is tops in my book, and I always read his editorials. Now, where will I be able to read his thoughts on a weekly basis?
There is so much that I will miss. And now I won’t have the help hints and suggestions for where to shop for meal preparations, since I always check the ads.
Thanks to all the many people who have made this paper possible for many years. May each of the employees continue their activities to provide papers under a new name somewhere. This is a sad goodbye for me and many others in the Tucson area.
Peggy Powell
I am so sad as I have been collecting the Citizen’s articles for all the special occasions in our lives, as I am sure many people around the city does. I know my mom saved her copy of the paper when Japan surrendered and I know the Historical Society has papers from the past as that is the perfect way to track our history. I have all the copies of the paper when my kids were born.
This is a sad time for the city to see this paper go away. It is over – what? – 100 years old?
I am so sad to see the Tucson Citizen close its doors – isn’t there something the community can do to make it not close?
Beki Quintero
Just wanted to tell you about my family’s experiences with the Citizen. Three years ago, I drove my miniature horses in the Rodeo Parade. The paper chose our picture to put on the front page of one of the interior sections. That was really fun for me.
The most exciting thing happened Sept. 11, 2004. That was my daughter’s wedding day. The paper chose to put her on the front page pictured in her wedding dress. They used her wedding as a symbol of life going on after the nation’s 9/11 tragic experience. That made the day extra special for her and all of our family.
I want to thank the Citizen for their service to our community.
Becky Blankenship
For 50 years, the Tucson Citizen has been my favorite after-dinner reading. I moved to Tucson in 1959 as a young bride and always treasured that after-dinner time of learning what was happening in my town, country and world. You covered everything from astronomy to the zoo. You entertained me and helped me decide where to shop. You published our family births, marriages, and obituaries. Thank you.
Ellen A. Frank
I have lived in Tucson since 1972. Even as a freshman at Sahuaro High School, my quiet joy each day was scooping up the afternoon newspaper in the driveway, filling a bowl with far more than a recommended serving of cheapo ice cream, and settling down on the couch for my comfort moment. Reading the Tucson Citizen has remained my moment all these years; somehow the rustling of the papers smooths away the frazzles of the day as no other. I cannot imagine filling the hollow space in my sense of well-being. Curling up with a faded morning paper as the afternoon sun tilts in through the western windows will seem, hmmm, tepid. Alas,
Christy Voelkel
I just can’t believe you will not be delivered to our house every day. You are a REAL local newspaper, the kind I cut up and send to my kids in North Carolina and Los Angeles almost every week. Gabrielle Fimbres has been a favorite of mine for years. She is intelligent and sensitive. We trust your food reviews and count on Steve Rivera and Anthony Gimino to be fair and fun. I even love Mark Kimble on the radio. Truth be told, except for Argus Hamilton, I will miss you all so much. Thank you for caring about our community for all these years. I can provide albondigas to any of you who would like to come by for interviewing coaching.
Gloria Alvillar
For the past 22 years, I have kept the history of the Tucson Children’s Museum by clipping news from our local papers and any other source that crossed my desk. By far, the scrapbooks show a far larger number of clippings from the Citizen. Even nicer, in my opinion, is frequently your paper would have interesting photographs of our events – undoubtedly these catch one’s eye faster than the print data. The Tucson Children’s Museum shall certainly miss your support for this unique museum.
Dr. Evelyn Carswell-Bing
Founder, Tucson Children’s Museum
When we first moved from California to Green Valley a little over five years ago, we researched which newspaper would be the best match for us – for news, editorials – and the comic section. The comic section was the big swing vote! So, even though we both enjoy reading the newspaper first thing in the morning, we easily adjusted to “saving” the afternoon Tucson Citizen until the next morning.
We have since grown to appreciate the articles by Anne T. Denogean (straight talk), Anthony Gimino (thoughtful and educational sports insight), and Ryn Gargulinski (about-town humor) as well as the efforts by all the staff to improve the newspaper and keep it going. We will miss you!
Bob and Lois Hallinan
I learned to read by my father reading the Citizen to me, showing me the pictures and reading the captions underneath.
I got my comics habit, which lasts to this day, by reading the Saturday funnies.
While there is something good to be said about reading various newspapers online, that will never replace the actual, physical version of those papers.
First thing I do when visiting another city is to pick up a copy of their newspaper.
There is no better source to aid in finding out what’s going on in that city than their newspaper.
The Citizen is responsible for all that.
Robert Diedrich
I was a paperboy for the Tucson Daily Citizen, and I am showing my age by proudly admitting it, in the early ’70s.
It was my first job and I still have fond memories of gathering at the “drop” site at a friend’s house in midtown Tucson. There we met, folded and bagged the papers, and were off. I, on a red Schwinn, complete with baskets, purchased from Kittle’s Bike Shop. Rain or shine, or dogs, the Citizen had to be delivered . . . and it was. We were also responsible for the Sunday Arizona Star and I must thank my mom for her invaluable help and car on some of those cold, dark mornings.
The job afforded my friends and I extra pocket money for the essentials of the day. Cinnamon toothpicks, “clackers,” 8 tracks, saladitos, and mix and match sodas from Pleasure Time.
It will truly be a sad day for Tucson should the Citizen go the way of Marshall KGUN, Jácome’s and Bob’s Big Boy on Speedway. Besides, the Citizen was always a better read than The Star.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Ciaccio
I can’t tell you how disappointed my family is that the Tucson Citizen will be closing down after having been in business for so many years. We much prefer the Tucson Citizen to the AZ Daily Star for local news and information on upcoming events in town. The articles have been wonderful and interesting and the photography is so stunning on some articles that I’ve saved many of them in a scrapbook to show out-of-town visitors so they can get a feel for Tucson.
I hope that if the Tucson Citizen really is going to be closed down that the AZ Daily Star will incorporate sections of the Citizen into their (very skinny these days) newspaper and give some of the employees of the Tucson Citizen jobs!
This just seems to me like another example of Tucson not appreciating what is has got going for it and so far as articles I’ve recently read about Web readers putting other newspapers out of business, all I can say is there is nothing like sitting down at the kitchen table in the morning with your coffee (or tea) and reading a real newspaper.
A very disappointed Tucson Citizen reader,
Jan McKeighen
Years ago the Tucson Daily Citizen featured a weekly children’s crossword puzzle called “Citizen Charlie.” Upon completion of the puzzle, one would then mail it as an entry for a weekly drawing.
As many times as I tried, my winning a drawing just didn’t occur. Regardless, the process of doing the crossword with the anticipation of winning a prize gave me enjoyment.
Thank you Citizen Charlie!
Tim O’Connor
Per your request for memories of the Citizen, I can tell you many. In the late ’40s and into the mid-1950s, I sold the paper at the corner of Speedway and Park. The paper was 10 cents a copy then and I spent many afternoons yelling: “Get your Tucson Daily Citizen right here. Just 10 cents a copy. Get the paper right here.”
My very best memory of the Citizen happened in the mid-1950s. I was fortunate enough to attend the Triangle Ranch Camp through the YMCA and was there for many years, first, as a camper, then as kitchen help to our great chef Tommy Hudson. Then after a 2-year run in the kitchen, I was promoted to a tent counselor by Mr. Chick Hawkins. Chick Hawkins was the “y” and chief of Triangle Y Ranch Camp.
During one of the many summers spent at the camp outside of Oracle, a reporter and a photographer from the Citizen came to camp to do a story and take pictures of it. I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the boys to show an archery layout. I was pretty good at archery at the time and the Citizen made me the happiest alive. My picture was on the front page of the paper. With my bow and arrow at the ready to shoot at the target. WOW! The front page demonstrating archery. I am now 65 years old and have forgotten a lot over the years, but I will never forget that evening paper and I was on the front page.
Many thanks for giving me those memories and I am so very sorry to see the demise of the Tucson Daily Citizen.
Thank You,
Curt Melton
The impending demise of the Tucson Citizen tolls a note of sadness for many of us who have benefited from its place in our community. This longstanding, historic periodical offered a forum for the presentation of news and other items of a local bent. More than any other publication in this town, the Citizen encouraged its readers to contribute from their hearts and their pens.
It was quite by accident (thanks to a rather inept carrier of the morning paper) that we even developed a relationship with the Citizen – one that sustained us for over 30 years. Just 10 years ago (Thanksgiving 1998), I submitted my first contribution in the form of a guest opinion eulogizing our friend George Moffat, a Tucson businessman and singer who had recently passed away.
Subsequent articles I was motivated to write included pieces on the National WWII Memorial and the Greatest Generation, eulogies commemorating the lives and contributions of Rudy Thompson, O.M. Hartsell, Rex Redhouse and Maggie Dixon as well as articles praising the giving spirit of high school students who collected items for our troops in Iraq. From a selfish standpoint, favorite musings included Flag Day tributes to my dad and an article I wrote reminiscing about my 35 years as a student and teacher at Sahuaro High School.
The Citizen published numerous letters to the editor that allowed me to express my opinion on matters of personal interest and concern. Most especially, we will cherish the Tucson Citizen articles that chronicled our two boys’ athletic and academic endeavors, their graduation and wedding announcements, and other features that revealed programs in which my wife, Joan, and I have been involved.
Thankfully, the Citizen provided an outlet for me, and others, to engage in a hobby away from our normal professions. To all those who have filled the pages of our evening newspaper with provocative, heartwarming and challenging verbiage I offer a sincere word of thanks and best wishes for the future.
Dr. David Ashcraft
For many years, there was no other paper in town, so far as I was concerned, and Don Schellie’s column was one of my favorites. So, when a copy came that said it would reveal “The Thing,” which was then featured at a roadside attraction near Willcox, I could hardly wait, the next night, for that paper to come. I had always been curious about The Thing but my (then) husband would never stop, even though we had gone past it a number of times. Of course, many people gave me descriptions of what it was. One guy even said it was Hitler’s old Volkswagen.
So, I was eagerly waiting for that copy of the Citizen to arrive. But instead of a picture of The Thing, there was nothing but a full page of black ink! Boy! Was I disappointed! So disappointed that I wrote a letter to Don Schellie telling him about my page of black ink. I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when, one evening, I read a front-page teaser that said “Sorry Dodie”! The front of Section B included my letter plus a picture of the real Thing. I have still never seen The Thing in person, even though my husband, Curt, and I later lived in Willcox for a number of years. We went past that attraction hundreds of times – usually at night after it had closed. But, at least, I knew what it was.
I truly mourned Don’s passing, and really missed one of my favorite Citizen features.
It was great to have my 15 minutes of fame.
Dolores D. (Dodie Leifheit) Melton
It was February of 1947 when my parents, with me and my toddler brother, moved from Albuquerque to Tucson.
We moved into a brand-new home on East Lee Street, three blocks east of Country Club.
El Rancho Shopping Center didn’t exist yet; neither did Catalina High School.
“Karl” delivered the Citizen on horseback! The size of the Citizen allowed you to “fold and tuck” it into a square of about 8 inches to 10 inches – and that baby could fly! Failure to “porch” your deliveries was inexcusable!
Good memories? Oh yeah. Am I going to miss “my” Citizen? You better believe it!
Chuck Putney
The Tucson Citizen has been a guest in our home since we landed in Tucson. I remember the early Citizen, the one before the Gannett purchase. The date of that purchase, I do not recall; however, I didn’t notice the violent lurch to the “left” until the summer of 2004. However, this is a time for fond remembrances.
As we recount these miles gone by, it was very much appreciated the coverage our high schools received. Spotlight game of the week (football) profiled on Thursday, great coverage on Friday and then the write-up on Saturday. We so looked forward to that and read the coverage, even when we (CDO) lost. I still have some of the articles.
Why? you wonder!! Don’t we all clip and save when our children are mentioned and lauded? Oh yea!!!
Corky was a must read. Always positive and wrote in a way that we felt we knew him. One of his most memorable columns was about his daughter who had been diagnosed with cancer. Such a beautiful and heartfelt column. Thank you, Corky. We miss you.
Jeff Smith. Some of his columns were laugh-out-loud funny, especially those written during his first stint at the Citizen. The columns he wrote while recuperating from his horrible accident were not humorous, but were informative. Jeff, here’s hoping this finds you well and practicing your trade with gusto.
Such gifts Corky and Jeff are blessed with. Both of you have been sorely missed.
Mark Kimble, another gifted writer. The columns I choose to remember are the ones he wrote about his family and growing up in Tucson. However, the one he wrote about the loss of his brother was chilling and heartwrenching. Tragic.
I hope many of you were treated to the remembrances of Mr. Roy Drachman. The Citizen did itself proud when those columns were run. I eagerly awaited each installment. Mr. Drachman brought the Old Pueblo alive as only one who could have lived those days so very long ago when Tucson and Mr. Drachman, et al., were young.
Don Schellie (RIP). Such a talent and gone much too soon. His columns were terrific, as were he and his family.
I’ve bloviated enough, but you invited us to write; therefore, I have.
In summary, before the summer of 2004, the Citizen was a welcome guest in our home. Since that summer, so much of the time it felt like an intruder.
Thank you and all kinds of good luck to each and every one of you.
Helen Nicola
Never in my 66 years of life have I formed a true relationship with my newspaper, like I have the Tucson Citizen.
Only living here in Tucson for four years, however, I am still so saddened to hear that it will be discontinued very soon.
This paper appears to be much more conservative than your morning paper, and I will have to find something good about your alternative.
But I will never find a cartoon more enjoyed than BUCKLES. I always felt so happy to see this cartoon as he is exactly (with expressions and all!) my own dog. I would even cut the cartoon out for other dog lovers, as these series exemplify our family dogs being a real part of our families.
So very sad to see you go
Lyn & John Kilian
I moved to Tucson in 1975. I liked getting the afternoon paper so I read the Citizen. Losing the Citizen is like so many things that have made Tucson home for me.
One of them is kind of a combination of Tucson Citizen and the Tucson Toros. This has special meaning and memories for me as back in April of 1978 I took my 4-year-old daughter, Christina, to a Toros game. When I got to Hi Corbett field, a guy took Christina’s picture. The guy asked my name and I thought no more about it. The next day my mother-in-law called to tell us that Christina’s picture was on the front page of the Citizen. It sure made our day.
Thank you guys for being here all those years.
Allen P. Stark
Continued from 4A
Citizen was part of readers’ lives