You hold in your hands the Tucson Citizen’s final Living section.

Starting tomorrow, it will be replaced with the first in a series of five bonus sections in magazine format in the Citizen, one for each day Monday through Friday.

Tomorrow’s section will be “Taste Plus,” a comprehensive guide to food and drink in Tucson – filled with restaurant reviews, profile of a local chef, recipes and other eating and drinking tips.

Plus, the section will include all your favorite Living section features – comics, TV listings, movie schedule, advice columnists, horoscopes and celebrity news.

Thursday, look for the Citizen’s Calendar section, with all the familiar features and events listings, but a new name – “Calendar Plus.” And in the back of “Calendar Plus” will be the comics, TV listings and everything else you find in our features section.

Then Friday, we will give you “Weekend Plus,” another magazine section filled with activities for your Saturday and Sunday, from fun things with your kids, home and gardening, pets, religious activities and, again, all the familiar items from our features section.

Enjoy the new Citizen, with many of its same features and lots of new “plus” features.

Michael A. Chihak

Editor and Publisher

Freelance

Editor’s note: This is Mark R. Sneller’s last column for the Citizen.

By MARK R. SNELLER

Last of two parts

As part of our annual summary, last week we talked about two classes of respiratory irritants: gases and particles. And we discussed the various types of indoor gas irritants such as polishes, cleaners, waxes and fragrance products.

This week we’ll discuss particles.

There are probably 50 types of particles that we inhale on a daily basis, among them: pollen, mold, carbon (six different types), plant parts, cornstarch particles (talcum powder), drywall dust, spider webs, natural and artificial fibers including fiberglass, food particles, and so forth.

Notice I didn’t mention dust. This is because all of the above make up dust and the dustier the indoor environment, the more of each the dust will contain.

The dust is circulated throughout the home, although almost all the dust in a home comes from tracking dirt in and grinding it underfoot to finer and finer particles. These are driven by air currents to pile up against walls.

Good central air filtration works to remove these particles. The 3M Company make a good pleated filter that is available at reasonable cost from most local hardware dealers.

People may breath in particles smaller than 10 microns, called PM10s by the government. The more dust we have, the more particles are inhaled. Many particles, such as pollen grains and mold spores, are larger than this, but still allergenic and asthma-triggering.

New discoveries about allergens are being made all the time. One example is diesel exhaust carbon that is constantly in our air, outdoors and indoors. This carbon is not only allergenic unto itself, but can combine with other allergens. For example, rainfall will cause grass pollen to release its inner starch granules, which then attach to the carbon, which in turn, is inhaled. Thus, we have an explanation for “thunderstorm asthma.”

Another discovery is that the cornstarch particle used as body talc is allergenic to people with a corn allergy and can pick up the latex antigen when used in latex gloves. Cornstarch particles are very prevalent in hospitals and specialty health-care settings. Public and scientific pressure is causing hospitals to use gloves that do not have cornstarch as a lubricant.

A third discovery is that when one member of the household is allergic to a food product such as wheat, it is not enough to keep wheat out of that person’s diet. If other members of the family use wheat products, bread, for an example, the particles will become part of the indoor dust and be inhaled by the wheat-sensitive person, causing allergenic or asthmatic reactions.

Reducing particle counts in the home can be accomplished in several ways: simplicity of the home, frequent dusting with special static clothes and good air filtration. Remember that the fan on the central system must operate for eight hours a day to do any good.

Mark R. Sneller, Ph.D., is an indoor air consultant and director of Aero-Allergen Research. He can be reached at P.O. Box 12023, Tucson, AZ 85732-2023.

By HILLARY DAVIS

hillaryd@tucsoncitizen.com

The models in the Ebony Fashion Fair may not be giving Tucsonans the shirts off their backs – but they are doing their part to make sure needy local women get the clothes they need.

The Ebony Fashion Fair, a traveling fashion show that bills itself as the world’s largest, swings through Tucson at week’s end to show off designs from some of fashions biggest labels and raise funds for local charities.

The show is rooted in giving. Proceeds from the Tucson leg benefit a scholarship fund for young black women, Habitat for Humanity, the YWCA’s Your Sister’s Closet and the Dunbar Project, which seeks to turn Tucson’s historic segregation-era school for black children, into a museum and cultural center.

Your Sister’s Closet, a program created by the YWCA in 1988, distributes fashionable, professional attire and personal grooming items that help low-income women looking for jobs make a good first impression.

Gina Pocock, Your Sister’s Closet program coordinator, said the money the program receives from the fashion show goes toward the purchase of new grooming items such as makeup and shampoo, and clothing in much-needed plus sizes.

Pocock said Your Sister’s Closet is set in a warm boutique environment, where clients sit in a reception area while volunteers act as personal shoppers.

“It’s not meant to feel like another social service,” Pocock said, adding that the women’s confidence soars when they pick up attractive new clothes.

Chyrl Hill Lander, publicity chair for the Tucson show, said the show is a major event for the black community.

In addition to the fashion show, attendees can partake in a silent auction and a post-show party.

“We have 700 tickets,” Hill Lander said. “We hope to have a sellout this year.”

Hill Lander said the dashing models, with their wild outfits, create an entertaining event.

“They have a certain flash and flair about them,” she said.

The local show is sponsored by the Tucson alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In the 29 years that the sorority has put on the show, members have raised about $100,000 for various charities, Hill Lander said.

If you go

What: Ebony Fashion Fair

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: Grand Ballroom at Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave.

How much: $40

Details: For tickets and more information, call Paola Harrell at 575-7086

By POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

Ask salesman Fred Edwards what the gas mileage of a given unit on the Beaudry RV lot is, and he’s likely to say: “Better than your house, but worse than your car.”

Point taken. If you’re in the market for a recreational vehicle, you probably shouldn’t be overly concerned about how much the gas will cost.

Forest Koenig, who travels yearly from New York to Tucson for the winter, estimates he spends $80 to $90 a day in gas when he’s on the road, driving his Ford 250 truck and pulling a 30-foot trailer. Fuel, the 73-year-old says, is his biggest expense.

The motorhomes that extend to 45-feet long – the max allowed by the federal government – can have 150-gallon tanks. But, really, what’s $300-plus every time you fill up compared with the cost of your behemoth itself, some of which can top out around $750,000?

The one with that pricetag is the Country Coach Affinity 770LX. Nationally, only 20 of the diesel motorhomes are produced a year, Edwards notes. Diesel-fueled RVs have grown from about 20 percent to 70 percent of the market in the past five years.

The 770LX also has electric-powered curtains, granite countertops, an office, a satellite dish, a 37-inch flat-screen TV, a thermostat for the floor (those ceramic tiles might be cold in the morning) and is covered in no less than 12 coats of paint.

It also has slides – pop-outs – of course.

Other popular features for top-of-the line RVs – many are standard on the 770LX – include night vision screens for the windshield, global positioning systems, hydronic heat systems (similar to home radiant heat systems) that are separate from the floor heating, and surround sound systems. And while heated seats are nice, they’re so much better with built-in massage units.

Perhaps you’d fancy a 600-horsepower engine to go with those fancy seats? Then we’re talking something like the 45-foot-long Country Coach Magna 630 that sells for about $661,000.

It might sound tough to navigate, but, Edwards assures, “It’s absolutely a dream to drive.”

The onboard computer helps, too, with all sorts of diagnostics, including tire pressure readings on the motorhome and your towed vehicle. This model has so many features, Edwards says, that it takes about four hours to show.

At less than half the price, the Country Coach Inspire 360, with a pricetag of $287,000, is quite popular.

“We sell two to three a week,” Edwards says, noting that 35 percent of Beaudry’s sales are to Arizona residents.

The Inspire is 36 feet long, has four slides, a color rearview monitor, electronic sun visors, four phone jacks, a computer table, a stainless steel double-bowl sink, an 110-gallon diesel fuel tank, an exterior patio light and . . . you get the idea.

If you just need the basics – bed, shower and microwave – maybe something like the Ford Pleasure-Way, a tricked-out van, will do. Edwards points to a 2005 model that’s listed at $74,000.

“A lot of people buy these, then leave it at their house.”

According to a recent National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds study, baby boomers (now in their early 40s to late 50s) and “matures” (people 60 and older), make up nearly 90 percent of RV owners. And, with more and more boomers reaching retirement age, “We’re experiencing a real boom,” Edwards says.

Maxine McClain, 65, started RV’ing four years ago, and has since moved from a fifth wheel-style travel trailer to a Kountry Star motorhome. She and her husband have spent the past three winters in Tucson, hauling their SUV from Nevada and benefiting from the mobility such travel affords.

“I can take my dog and my cat with me,” she says. “And flying is no fun anymore.”

What’s what

RVs have various classifications, important not only in terms of what you get, but what kind of insurance you need (and how much it will cost).

Motorhomes

Class A – box style

Class B – van style

Class C – with a front end that looks like a truck

Travel trailers

Conventional – wheel-mounted, meant to be towed

Fifth Wheel – like the conventional, but made with a raised front section

Before/After

The Country Coach Affinity 770LX is the crème de la crème of RVs. Like many RVs it has “slides” – or pop-outs that expand from each side while the vehicle is parked. Once extended, each pop-out adds 36 inches in width per side of the RV. Slides were first introduced in 1990, says Fred Edwards, a salesman with Beaudry RV.

- Polly Higgins

Freelance

By BABS FELIX

Dear readers: Today is my last column in the Tucson Citizen. Thank you so much for your six years of support. Please continue to call the Extension office at 626-5161 for answers to all of your questions.

QUESTION: Do you have a recipe for salmon cakes?

ANSWER: Here’s a quick and delicious recipe for you. Mix the following in a medium-size bowl:

7- to 8-ounce can of salmon, drained

1/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (or 1 teaspoon dried)

1 lightly beaten egg

1 tablespoon reduced-fat mayonnaise

2 tablespoons horse radish (or substitute chili sauce)

Form into 4 equal-sized patties. Coat a medium nonstick pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Cook the salmon cakes on both sides until golden brown. Serves 2.

- “American Dietetic Association Cooking Healthy Across America”

QUESTION: What would you recommend for cleaning tile and grout?

ANSWER: You can keep a handy spray bottle of this grout cleaner in your bathroom for frequent use. It is also good at removing soap scum and cleaning tile counters. Combine these ingredients in a spray bottle, label and shake well to mix:

1/2 cup baking soda

1/3 cup ammonia

1/4 cup of white vinegar

7 cups of water

Do not use this in combination with chlorine bleach or where chlorine bleach has been used. Simply spray it on and wipe with a damp sponge or cloth. No rinsing is necessary.

- “The Queen of Clean”

QUESTION: What is yuca that I see in the produce section?

ANSWER: Yuca (pronounced YOO-kah) is a prime crop in tropical and subtropical countries. It is also known as manioc or cassava, and has two main varieties, bitter and sweet. Bitter yuca is poisonous unless cooked. Sweet yucca is dense, softly fibrous, and starchy. Yuca have brown, barklike peel and are about 8 to 12 inches long. Do not refrigerate, but keep cool. It will only last for a few days. After peeling, cook on the stove top in butter or add to soups.

- “Shopper’s Guide to Fresh Produce”

QUESTION: How do I remove crayon marks from a painted wall?

ANSWER: Scrub with toothpaste or an ammonia-soaked cloth. Rinse and dry.

- from www.allabouthome.com

A University of Arizona-Pima County Cooperative Extension master consumer adviser can answer your questions at 626-5161 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, or, in the Sahuarita office, at 648-0808 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Citizen Staff Writer

The Tucson Citizen and the Pima Council on Aging are teaming up to help you navigate the challenges faced by older Tucsonans and their families.

Each Tuesday in our new column, Generations, we will tackle topics from senior driving to depression. We’d like to hear from you. What are the issues facing your family? Send your questions to generations@tucsoncitizen.com or to: Generations, Tucson Citizen, P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, Ariz. 85726.

Freelance

By LARRY COX

Question: My grandmother died earlier this year and we have started dividing and liquidating her personal property. We aren’t quite sure what to do with the things we found in her cluttered kitchen and pantry. In addition to mixing bowls, we have dozens of gadgets, including reamers, juicers, choppers, whippers, cookie cutters and various other cooking utensils. Should we save these things or donate them to a charity? – Sherry, Tucson

Answer: If you think there isn’t much interest in items such as the ones you listed, you should get a copy of a fascinating new book “Spiffy Kitchen Collectibles” by Brian S. Alexander (KP Books, $24.99). Throughout the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, the marketing strategy of the companies that produced the bulk of such gadgets and products was to make life in the kitchen easier and, in many cases, more colorful.

Clocks, salt and pepper shakers, Lustro-Ware, cookie cutters, cake molds and advertising premiums from products such as Aunt Jemima and Planters have all become hot collectibles. Although prices haven’t yet soared, they have increased. For example, items made by Ekco, Foley, Plas-Tex, Rubbermaid and Rival, all of which sold for pennies each at garage sales only a year or two ago, are being marketed on the Internet, where bidding is more often than not brisk. Even old product containers are being collected. A old can of Bab-O recently sold for $35 on eBay, a set of six Welch Grape Jelly glasses from the 1950s topped $45, and an unopened box of Silver Dust detergent was snapped up for $35.

One of the better groups is Kollectors of Old Kitchen Stuff, 3038 E. Woodland Drive, Fort Huron, MI 48060. One of the larger dealers is Louise Pennisi, Around the Kitchen, P.O. Box 840, Georgetown, CT 06829.

Question: I have six figural egg timers and wonder where I can sell them. Can you help me? – Bob, Tucson

Answer: I have two sources that might be helpful: Lance Kuntzman, 21 Perry St., South Dartmouth, MA 02748; and Patrick Batzler, 8118 Virginia Circle North, St. Louis Park, MN 55426.

Question: My mom worked in a bakery during the 1950s. She began collecting rolling pins and I wonder if any have any real value. They are various types and were made by such manufacturers as Meissen, Nailsea,and Harker. I even have several unmarked ones that are stoneware. – Lon, Tucson

Answer: Priscilla Hinners is a collector who is always searching for pins that are advertising premiums, stoneware, ceramic, springerle or other types of scarce rollers. Her address is 2711 Jaynia Place, Lemon Grove, CA 91945.

Question: I have a sausage stuffer. According to my mom, it belonged to her grandmother and was used on the family farm in New Mexico during early years of the past century. – Stuart, Tucson

Answer: Dale Schmidt is an expert on sausage stuffers and can help you determine the value of your tool. His address is 610 Howell Prairie Road, SE, Salem, OR 97301.

Question: I have several knife rests, probably from the Victorian era. Who can I contact to find out if they are worth anything? – Bettye, Tucson

Answer: Dean Rockwell is president of the Knife Rest Collectors Society, P.O. Box 970373, Ypsilanti, MI 48197. For a second opinion, you might contact collector Beverly Schell Ales, 4046 Graham St., Pleasanton, CA 94566.

Do you have questions about your antiques or collectibles? Larry Cox has the answers. E-mail him at contactlarrycox@aol.com.

By LARRY COX

larrycox@tucsoncitizen.com

One of the most secret units during the Vietnam war was a team of pilots whose radio call sign was Misty, the name of a popular Johnny Mathis hit and a particular favorite of the group’s commander.

The mission of Commando Sabre, part of Operation Rolling Thunder, was to monitor the North Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh trail to detect and prevent the flow of both supplies and troops from North to South Vietnam. Formed in 1967, the unit and its missions were top secret. The assignment was among the most dangerous of the war.

Little has been publicly revealed about the Mistys. It took the combined talents of retired major general-turned-CNN analyst Don Shepperd of Tucson and seasoned journalist Rick Newman to document the full and true story of this remarkable unit and the men who planned and piloted the almost impossible missions.

“Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail” (Ballantine Books, $29.95), was released last month.

Shepperd, who lives in the foothills, was an important member of the Mistys, and has the bearing, focus and demeanor of a career military officer.

Shepperd originally reported for duty at Phu Cat Air Base in December 1967 and flew 58 missions as a Misty during his four-month tour. With a total of 247 combat missions in Vietnam, he retired from the Air Force in 1998 as a major general and head of the Air National Guard.

Shepperd said one of the toughest things about writing a book was not deciding what to put in, but rather, what to leave out and still tell the complete story.

“The idea of a book didn’t really begin with me,” Shepperd explained, adding that Newman, a writer for U.S. News & World Report, contacted him after writing an article for Air Force Association magazine, a piece about another Vietnam Misty pilot, flight pioneer Dick Rutan and his emotionally charged visit to Vietnam in 2000.

“Rick thought he could write a book about the Mistys but soon realized that it might be better if he had a little help,” Shepperd said. “After meeting to talk about the book, we discovered we worked well together, and that is how the project began.”

The newly formed team agreed to deliver a completed manuscript to their publisher in one year. Shepperd laughed as he recalled that he and Newman had to get a six-month extension, because both were covering the war in Afghanistan and Iraq – Newman for U.S. News, Shepperd for CNN.

Eventually the two completed their assignments and returned to the book project.

“We divided chapters, and reworked much of the narrative,” Shepperd said.

The result of the three-year process is a crisply written, meticulously researched book – and one of the better ones documenting the Vietnam war experience, a conflict that continues to reverberate through our country even after almost four decades.

“Bury Us Upside Down” is a major achievement. The emotional punch of friendship, loss, heroism and survival are, indeed, important elements of this book but apparently there are still lessons to be learned.

Because Shepperd fought in Vietnam and has seen the quagmire of Iraq up close, he has an unique perspective of the conflict in Iraq.

“We should never go to war – any war – unless it is really important enough to kill our sons and daughters.”

Questions about how and why we got mired in Iraq and dwindling public support of the war are indications that we didn’t learn lessons that we should have from Vietnam, Shepperd said.

“I hope that my book illustrates not just the bravery of the Misty pilots, but the sheer folly of war, our frustrations, our sorrows and even our disgust with our government’s actions and, of course, the ultimate results,” he said. “The Vietnam war was an incredible tragedy and monumental waste.”

Shortly after they completed the manuscript, Newman and Shepperd agreed to share it with Rutan, pilot on the first nonstop and unrefueled around-the-world flight in 1986.

“He read it and told us later that it brought tears to his eyes,” Shepperd said.

Background

The work of the Misty pilots was among the most dangerous of the war.

They generally trolled for four hours each shift, often flying less than 200 feet above ground to get a better view of North Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh trail and spot possible troop movements. If all went well, they found their target and marked it with a rocket for the bombers that followed.

Often things did not go well, however. Because this was before computers, targeting pods, laser technology and even precision-guided bombs, equipment was primitive and the missions almost suicidal. The Misty pilots were obvious targets for North Vietnamese gunners who were positioned on the ground.

Of 157 pilots who served in the unit during its three years of operation, 34 were shot down – most were rescued, but some were not.

- Larry Cox

Book signing

What: Don Shepperd signs and discusses his book, “Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail”

When: 2 p.m. April 2

Where: Foothills Mall’s Barnes & Noble, 7325 N. La Cholla Blvd.

Details: 742-6402 or visit www.barnesandnoble.com

Freelance

By GEORGE BROOKBANK

I’ve been writing a gardening column for the newspapers since I first came to Tucson some 35 years ago, and it’s been an enjoyable activity. I like to think that it has been a useful one and people have learned good useful information from the articles.

But my story is now coming to an end. This is my last column for the Citizen.

It’s been rewarding. I felt good helping people fine-tune their gardening and landscaping skills to overcome unfamiliar desert conditions.

So, with a cheerful farewell, here is a partial personal primer on how to meet the challenges of growing plants in the desert.

• Know your soil

In my case, it began a long time ago with my soils professor at the College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad in the West Indies, stressing the need for any agricultural development to be preceded by digging inspection pits throughout the area. He had us students walk down into the pits, scraping samples of soil from different layers for visual observation. Later, the samples were chemically analyzed to confirm, or correct, our thoughts about what we saw.

He told us of a large international tire company that had decided to grow its own rubber trees. Hundreds of acres of rain forest were cleared. The soil seemed, on the surface, to be fertile, but in a short time those acres turned to a sandy waste. None of the scientists had bothered to look under the top layer of accumulated leaf litter to discover the poor soil that lay beneath. Likewise, here in the desert we need to know what we’ve got in the way of soil if we want to be successful in raising plants.

• Choose plants suited to our environment

If a plant comes to us from a long way off where conditions are different, there’ll be extra maintenance work in caring for it locally. And, in direct relationship, the greater the travel distance, the greater the trouble.

• Water carefully

Plants need adequate water, especially during a growth period, usually in the spring and the fall. During winter and summer, desert trees and shrubs are likely to be dormant and don’t need a lot of water, though they must have some. Water deeply so that the moisture lasts longer and you avoid salts accumulating by evaporation from surface sprinkling. Don’t spray foliage because our water has too many salts in it. Use “gray water” on arid-land trees and shrubs, and conserve good water for the imported kinds of plants. If your washing powders contain sodium and borax, don’t use gray water. Hold rainfall on your property by building berms and banks, to stop it from running away. Divert rainfall from the roof and driveways to your plants, that are better clustered instead of being scattered.

• Plant and garden in fall

The air is cooling and the soil still is warm from summer. The conventional spring planting is “back to front” for our desert because the soil is still cool from winter and the intense heat of summer quickly comes before new plants get their roots growing.

• Protect plants from desert animals

Depredation by desert animals is inevitable when you change the environment by growing lush plants and irrigating them. Animals will be attracted to your landscape because you provide them with food and water. Wire-mesh barriers are perhaps the best way to save your plants.

• Enjoy your time outdoors

Work wisely, and don’t overdo it.

• Never give up!

If results seem unsatisfactory, find ways to do things differently.

Goodbye, and good luck.

George Brookbank is a horticultural consultant and author of three desert gardening books. He can be reached at 4067 N. First Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719; call 888-4586; or e-mail wgeob@msn.com.

Freelance

Way back in the summer of 1992, I read that the Citizen might be searching for a replacement for Alva Torres, the woman who had been writing a very popular cooking and culture column for several years.

Thinking that I might be able to, in my own way, write such a column, I submitted a sample of my writing.

I heard nothing from the newspaper for what I thought was a very long time. But in October, I got a call asking me to report to the newspaper office to have my photo taken. There, I was told that what I had written was going to be published. Still, they said, other people were under consideration, and I might not be the final choice. As I recall, one or two other people were also published before I got the call that I would be the columnist.

It’s hard to believe that nearly 14 years have gone by since that first column.

I remember that soon after I started writing, the newspaper office mistakenly sent me a note meant for Alva from one of her disgruntled fans. She complained that I was too young to write the column. I don’t think she could have the same objection to me now.

But if the reactions from the readers are any indication, far and away the most popular columns have been those having anything to do with Mama.

Throughout the years, folks have been moved by learning about Mama’s perilous childhood, the years when she helped hold the family together on the ranch and the days when she held court as a Fremont Avenue doña.

Over the years, I have been able to share with you many of Mama’s recipes, some of her dichos, (witty sayings – seemingly one for every occasion) and her no-nonsense but loving way of dealing with everyone around her.

Mama is gone now, so perhaps it’s time for this column to come to the end of its run as well.

Telling the “little stories” about Southwest history and culture is something I have enjoyed doing and something I think has been important for both newcomers and longtime Tucsonans to read. Giving up the column was not my idea.

Most of all, I want to thank you, the readers of this column for your loyalty and kindness over these many years. You sent me cards, e-mails and letters and you called me. When you even stopped me on the street or came up to my table in restaurants to speak to me, I was not annoyed. I was moved because I knew we shared a bond.

I’ll miss our weekly chats. Perhaps there will be an opportunity for us to run into each other again, as Mama would say, “if God wishes it.”

Carmen Villa Prezelski is a native Tucsonan who wrote about the Hispanic heritage of Tucson and the Southwest. Write to her at the Tucson Citizen, P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726. Fax: 573-4569.

By SHERYL KORNMAN

skornman@tucsoncitizen.com

•

Tucson cowboy boot maker Victor Borg didn’t need “Brokeback Mountain” to help his business, but the popularity of the Oscar-nominated Western film has spurred sales at his custom cowboy boot business in South Tucson, he said.

Borg’s Stewart Custom Boot Co. has about 10 men, some working part time, cutting and stitching boots.

At least in part thanks to “Brokeback,” old Western styles are in fashion.

These days, “everybody wants square-toed boots and fancy tooling, just like the old Acme boots (popular in the 1940s),” said Linda Balser, who calls herself Stewart Boot’s “general factotum.” “It’s all coming back.”

Building a pair of boots by hand – some using equipment dating from the 1920s – takes Stewart’s workers about three months.

Among their current orders are a pair of $3,000 alligator-skin boots and a “re-foot” for an out-of-state “gentleman” wanting to match his cowboy boots to his new, cherry red Chrysler Prowler sports car.

Balser said the alligator boots were commissioned by a local man whose name she would not disclose.

“He’s your basic mover and shaker,” she said. “You know how it is. He’s one of those guys who walks in (talking) on the cell phone.”

Stewart’s customer base includes Western re-enacters from all over the country, rodeo cowboys – including bronc busters and bull riders – and workaday cowboys here in southern Arizona.

“We sell to a lot of genuine cowboys,” Balser said. “They ride all day long. It’s their job.

“You wouldn’t think so in this day and age, but they ride, and their jeans are so faded they’re almost white.”

Borg sells wholesale to only one company, Scott Colburn in Lavonia, Mich.

Stewart’s most recent catalog dates from the “Electric Horseman” (1979) and “Urban Cowboy” (1980) era that renewed interest in Western wear.

The boot maker grossed a half-million dollars in the late 1970s, according to a story in the Tucson Citizen.

There is no Stewart Boots Web site and there won’t ever be, Balser said.

“We’ve never had one. It’s strictly word of mouth,” she said. “We’re kind of a secret in a way. Cowboys know about us.”

Western wear popularized

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and silent film star Tom Mix led the first wave of Western wear popularity in the early decades of the 1900s. Then came the popularity of dude ranches and rodeos after World War II.

Tucson has its own Western fashion maven in Cele Peterson. The businesswoman designed many of the fashions for her 70-plus-year-old store and in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s her “station wagon togs.”

“The togs were meant to be casual,” Peterson told the Tucson Citizen in 2003. “I stopped designing some years ago.”

- Tucson Citizen

Looking like a cowboy – in New York City

Trendy New Yorkers and chic Los Angelinos are also in the market for cowboy boots and other Western gear.

Interest in Western wear has spiked so much that New York City and Los Angeles city slickers can shop at designer Ralph Lauren’s Western wear-only stores. Two just opened in New York City and one in Los Angeles.

His new RRL line of pricey Western wear is a retooling of his first Western-inspired wardrobe, which he called Polo Lauren, launched in 1979, in sync with the “Electric Horseman” (1979) and “Urban Cowboy” (1980) movies.

- Tucson Citizen

Boots have always kept me grounded

By LARRY COX

larrycox@tucsoncitizen.com

•

I was born and raised on a working cattle ranch and have worn cowboy boots most of my life.

In fact, my grandmother once told one of her friends that when I was born there were cowboy boots on my feet. A slight exaggeration but not all that far from the truth.

I was less than a year old and just learning to walk when my granddam took me into a Western clothing store for my first pair. Boots became the common thread of my life. Clothing fads came and went, but boots kept me grounded.

I learned to ride my first bicycle while wearing boots and attended my first day of school while wearing a pair purchased that same autumn.

I learned to ride horses, milk cows and even play baseball in boots. I danced the Twist in boots, which is not as easy as it might sound. I went to my high school prom in a tux and boots and left home for college with three pairs packed among my other clothing.

Some things improve with age. I haven’t. During a recent move, one of the packers patiently counted my boots that filled one of my bedroom closets. When he passed 50 pairs, even I was astonished. I went through my boot collection in a vain attempt to see if any could be discarded. Needless to say, each and every pair was kept.

Several years ago, my mother died. When I returned to the family ranch to help settle her estate, I discovered one of my first pairs of boots, which she had packed away in her cedar chest.

I kept them because they trigger more than just memories for me. They help define who I am.

Citizen Staff Report

The Tucson Citizen and the Pima Council on Aging are teaming up to help you navigate the challenges faced by older Tucsonans and their families.

Each Tuesday in our new column, Generations, we will tackle topics from senior driving to depression. We’d like to hear from you. What are the issues facing your family? Send your questions to generations@tucsoncitizen.com or to: Generations, Tucson Citizen, P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, Ariz. 85726.

Syndicate

By BAXTER BLACK

I like vegetarians. I like organic farmers, I like mule people, purebred breeders, heelers, bankers, equine practitioners, county agents, BLMers, cat lovers and cowboy poets.

I pick on them all, of course, because they all, at one time or another, hold their hand up in front of their face and dare me, “Bet ya can’t hit my hand before I move it!”

But, some would say the most frequent subject of my poems and stories is cowboys. They’re right. Unfortunately, it’s like shooting myself in the foot. I’ve probably written 100 stories about cowboys getting bucked off, run over, bit, kicked, stomped, throwed, butted, drug and keel-hauled, for every one story about some wacko environmentalist or animal rights lunatic.

I get an e-mail attack for carrying my dog in the back of the pickup on a TV show, a critical letter because I imply that farmed salmon is as good for your heart as wild salmon, indignant retorts from people who take themselves quite seriously. But cowboys, they just say, “Ya know that story where the cow jumps in the pickup with the guy, that happened to me, too.” Which goes to show, as Jim used to say, “That you don’t have to be humble to be humiliated.”

How could you not like a vegetarian, it would be like not liking a monk, a Libertarian party candidate or a dairyman raising Jersey cows. Ya gotta hand it to ‘em. They’re swimmin’ upstream livin’ life the hard way. But I admire them because they have to be true believers. Even though they may secretly buy a Holstein, eat a burger or vote for Ralph Nader. And organic farming? It’s just some hardworking folks who have found a niche! They have given up trying to save the world, they just hope there are enough people in their congregation to keep ‘em in business. Kinda like the Episcopalians.

The cattle business is booming, yet we’ve got cattlemen fighting with each other for the right to lead the parade to the bank.

My world is plum full of hardworkin’ people, all tryin’ to keep the wolf from the door and be a good neighbor. Sometimes life’s hard but it doesn’t mean you can’t find potholes of fun, or goofy, or silly, or kind, or caring, or poignant as you trudge along. Wade through ‘em friends, and track a little bit along the trail. It makes it easier for the rest of us.

Baxter Black – philosopher, cowboy poet and former large animal veterinarian – is an occasional contributor to National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition,” which airs from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays on KUAZ-FM (89.1) and KUAZ-AM (1550). He makes his home in Benson.

Citizen Staff Writer

We want to hear from you:

What’s you’re favorite coffee shop?

How about farmer’s market?

Send e-mails to ddoolen@tucsoncitizen.com or call 806-7714 and include name and contact information, please.

Your picks and comments could be used in an upcoming story.

By PAUL L. ALLEN

pallen@tucsoncitizen.com

Madelyn Cook builds furniture in her garage – gorgeous pieces in Art Deco, Spanish Renaissance, Georgian – many of the classic styles.

Some of the pieces will fit in your hand – and those are the larger items. Some will sit on your thumbnail.

As two large rooms in her East Side home and a sizable garage workshop attest, she builds and furnishes miniature rooms – or entire miniature homes – with tiny, unbelievably intricate furnishings that exude charm, color, warmth and class.

“My grandparents started me on this,” she says, recalling their miniature house. “They had a house probably 12 feet long. It had one side summer, one side winter, with a Lionel train, a Ferris wheel, a swing set – all miniature. They set it up at Christmastime.”

Building things, she added, is something she comes by naturally.

“My father was a carpenter and my grandfather was a tool-and-die maker,” she says. “I learned all of that.”

But at the scale she works, you cannot use power tools.

“I have books that have the exact measurements of classic pieces of furniture – especially the Spanish and Georgian pieces,” she explains.

She says husband Jim, a retired IBM executive, has been very supportive of her hobby since they met in college.

“He helps me cut Masonite (for the houses) and he does most of my wiring,” she says. “I call him ‘Jim-who-let-me-do-it.’ ”

Jim is proud of Madelyn’s skills and attention to detail.

“I would take a photo of a historic piece of furniture, and then take a photo of the miniature she made, and put them side by side. Nobody could tell them apart,” he says. “It made for some very interesting conversation.”

The couple’s travels to various parts of the globe have given Madelyn “grist” for her hobby, and many of her “rooms” are exact copies of historic palace settings.

Her creations have been on display at the Smithsonian Institution and at National Geographic Museum in Explorers Hall in Washington, D.C.

Skills of this extent surely have enabled her to sell her works for tidy sums, one assumes.

It might – but she can’t bring herself to part with them.

“I don’t want to ever sell them. When you make them, they’re yours,” she says. “Selling them is not something I like to do, because you would have to make more than one.

“I wrote in the field for 25 or 30 years, and I taught classes. I thought I could do more that way than to sell.”

She has had articles published in about a dozen publications that focus on miniatures.

In building a themed room, she both creates and acquires items, combining her own original works with pieces made by other artisans from around the world. Every detail – from furniture, draperies, carpets, parquet floor inlays to paint schemes – is calculated.

“This floor,” she says, pointing to one, “is all faux-finished – tape and paint, tape and paint.” It looks like marble in several colors.

“Jim’s father was a dentist. He had people’s fillings he’d saved. I gave them to a silversmith and dared him to cast miniature candlesticks in gold. He took a year to make a set of tiny candlesticks for me.”

Much the way husband Jim has helped her with her hobby, she has assisted him with his – model railroading. He has a garden railroad in the couple’s backyard, and required a “town” to add realism to his layout.

Madelyn built the town by creating about six dozen houses, garages, public buildings and other structures of Styrofoam and stucco – admittedly much less detailed than those she creates for her own hobby, but entirely appropriate for her husband’s requirements.