If you're among those who complain that there's nothing to do in Tucson, I invite you to check out our Fall Arts Preview in this week's issue. We have 24 pages of details about what's happening in the museums, galleries, theaters, performance halls, bookstores and anywhere else where our creative class is doing its thing. Huge thanks to Margaret Regan, Sherilyn Forrester and Emily Dieckman for pulling it all together and to TW arts and entertainment editor Brian Smith for shepherding it onto the page.
And that brings us to the bad news of the week: In my long career in this biz, I've been fortunate to work both here at the Weekly and elsewhere with so many great journalists. In some cases, I'd been reading their work long before I even knew I'd be a newspaperman; some of them are no longer with us. (RIP Chuck Bowden, Jeff Smith, Chris Limberis, Emil Franzi ...)
Brian fits into the category of legends I knew about long before we became colleagues. I'd heard of Brian's career as a rock 'n' roll star before he shifted gears and started writing for the Phoenix New Times back in the 1990s. His features were a must-read back then. I lost track of what he was up to when he moved to the Detroit Metro Times, where he ended up as the editor. But when he moved back to Tucson, it was thrill to start reading his words right here in the Tucson Weekly in his Tucson Salvage column. Regular readers don't need to be told that Brian tells the stories of people in this town that you won't read anywhere else, with a grace and compassion that will move your heart.
Last year, we brought Brian on board to wrangle our arts and music writers, so I had a chance to get to know him—and he's been an absolute joy to work with, which makes it all the sadder to have to announce that he's decided to follow his muse elsewhere. In case you didn't know, Brian's book of short stories, Spent Saints, is doing great out there in the wild and so he's off to write more fiction.
I'll miss him around the newsroom. Who else is gonna call me Foothills Dad? Who else is gonna share old war stories of the glory days of the alt-press? Who else is gonna overspend the music section budget? But I'm happy to let you know that he'll continue to contribute to our pages with Tucson Salvage and other stories as time permits. So you haven't heard the last of him.
Best of luck out there, Brian. Still hard to believe you're giving up the life of kings.
Highlights in the paper this week: Danyelle Khmara finds some people who are delivering a message of kindness in contrast to the garbage erupting elsewhere; Mark Whittaker finds a gluten-free bakery that delivers a mean selection of pastries, loaves and sandwiches; Emily Dieckman tells you all about all the alternative movie options in Reel Indie; Eric Swedlund is there for the ribbon-cutting at community radio KXCI's new downtown studio in the historic Hotel Congress; and Laura Horley introduces to up-and-coming artist Yu Yu Shiratori. Oh, and one of our columns is written in verse this week, but I'll let you find that one on your own.
Thanks for reading!
— Jim Nintzel Executive Editor
