April/May 2019
Take it or Leave it: THIRTY YEARS (“It’s not the years. It’s the mileage”)… by Jim Stiles
by stiles • • 4 Comments
This is what’s happened between blinks of the eye…. Shortly after The Zephyr’s first issue appeared on newsstands, in mid-March 1989, I was at the old Main Street Broiler, eating one of Debbie Rappe’s wonderful cheeseburgers and overheard a spirited…
April/May 2019
Sowing Clover: Ringer and the Road…by Tonya Stiles
by stiles • • 5 Comments
You’re either a person who can sit still or a person who can’t. A person who loves what you can already see, or one who wonders what you might see around the bend. Probably the former type lives the more…
April/May 2019
The New West and the Problem of Affluence…by Stacy Young
by stiles • • 4 Comments
In The Affluent Society, John Kenneth Galbraith suggests that the field of Economics has not sufficiently evolved to account for widespread material abundance, which is itself a recent condition anywhere in the world. Galbraith argues that the affluent society is…
April/May 2019
Vlachos’ Views: HOME…Words and Photos by Paul Vlachos
by stiles • • 3 Comments
Paul Vlachos is a New Yorker who understands The West. And he is a New Yorker who understands New York. Wherever Paul goes, he finds signs of life… I’m going to grab a coffee now, then just get on I-95…
April/May 2019
From There to Here: Meeting Jim Stiles and Writing for The Canyon Country Zephyr…by Damon Falke
by stiles • • 0 Comments
It can be problematic writing about how we grew-up, about people we met in our younger days, and about those places that meant something to us. Essentially, many of us believe we are not capable of objectivity when reflecting upon…
April/May 2019
RANGER STILES’ WILDLIFE OBSERVATIONS #3 (Arches NP 1975-1986)
by stiles • • 1 Comment
“The Devils Garden Overlord & Cactus Ed” (photos by the author except where noted) Author’s Note: For more than three years , I have spent most of my keyboard time writing “informational/investigative” long form articles (some might suggest ‘long-winded’) about excruciatingly…
April/May 2019
The 1891 Gustaf Nordenskiöld Explorations: Part I—Mesa Verde …by Harvey Leake
by stiles • • 7 Comments
Early in July 1891 a young scientist from Sweden, Gustaf Nordenskiöld, showed up at the Wetherill family’s Alamo Ranch near Mancos, Colorado and requested that they guide him to Mesa Verde to see the cliff dwellings. This was the beginning…
April/May 2019
‘DESPICABLE’ BEHAVIOR REVISITED: UTAH DEMOCRATS PREP FOR 2020 ELECTIONS AMID DEEP DIVISIONS…by Bill Keshlear
by stiles • • 5 Comments
Rebecca Benally and Rob Miller are civic-minded: Benally, as a Navajo deeply engaged in developing a more prosperous San Juan County, Utah, and preserving her heritage independent of powerful forces beyond the county that, in her opinion, would permanently damage…
April/May 2019
ED ABBEY: THIRTY YEARS LATER…by Jim Stiles
by stiles • • 3 Comments
Two weeks ago, many of us remembered and commemorated the 30th anniversary of Edward Abbey’s death on March 14, 1989. What would Ed think of our world in 2019? And what would the World think of him? Here are a…
April/May 2019
‘A SENTIMENTAL TOUR of MOAB: What else is gone? Who else is missing?’ …by Jim Stiles
by stiles • • 3 Comments
(from the 2008 archives) Note: This is Part one of ‘A Sentimental Tour.’ It was first written in 2008 and is re-published here. Look for the sequel or sequels to it in upcoming issues of the Zephyr… The demise of…
April/May 2019
HOW LONG HAVE YOU READ THE ZEPHYR?
by stiles • • 8 Comments
As we approached our 30th anniversary, we asked some of our readers how long they’ve been reading The Zephyr and how they first found us. Here are some of the responses. We’d like to add your memories to our list.…
April/May 2019
“We HATE the Zephyr, but we LOVE the ads!”
by stiles • • 4 Comments
For 20 years, The Zephyr was a print publication. We needed almost $5000 in revenue each issue just to break even. The printing cost alone, for 15,000 copies, was over $2500. Consequently, we had to sell a lot of ads.…
April/May 2019
“I Can Still See Everything:” Herb Ringer’s Remarkable Life…by Jim Stiles
by stiles • • 3 Comments
“Let me show you something.” Herb Ringer paused a moment, then pushed his chair slowly away from the table and stood up. He turned and walked down the darkened hallway to the bedroom of his trailer, the same travel trailer…
April/May 2019
(From the First Zephyr) Edward Abbey’s Last Words: Hard Times in Santa Fe…by Edward Abbey
by stiles • • 6 Comments
The Chamber of Commerce calls it “The City Different.” Different from what? Different from the typical American city, the chamber means. But more and more Santa Fe comes to resemble every other city, and not only American cities in general,…
April/May 2019
BRAVE NEW WEST (The Comic Strip) Episode #5: MOABLAND…The ‘Rich Weasel Vortex?’…by Jim Stiles
by stiles • • 0 Comments
Click Here to Read the Previous Installments of Brave New West (The Comic Strip)… Jim Stiles is Founder and Co-Publisher of the Canyon Country Zephyr. To comment, scroll to the bottom of the page. Don’t forget the Zephyr ads! All…
April/May 2019
“You call this ‘ART?'” (cartoons from the archives of The Zephyr)
by stiles • • 0 Comments
To comment, scroll to the bottom of the page. Don’t forget the Zephyr ads! All links are hot!
April/May 2019
THE FACES of MOAB…and BEYOND
by stiles • • 1 Comment
For 30 years, I’ve been cartooning Zephyr readers’ great faces and some of them are featured more prominently on another post in this anniversary issue. Many of them were from Moab and Grand County but many more extended beyond Southeast…
April/May 2019
A Full Year of Backbone Supporters! Please Join!
by stiles • • 0 Comments
The Zephyr Backbone is what keeps us alive! Click Here to Join! *Note: The Cartoonist screwed up in Feb/March. In a subconscious attempt to escape the world’s news, he changed one of our Backbone Member’s names from “Michael” to “Richard”…
February/March 2019
The February/March Issue of the Zephyr!
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February/March 2019
Take it or Leave it: ‘Laws v Grayeyes’ (The war grinds on in San Juan County)…by Jim Stiles
by stiles • • 6 Comments
“It’s our stuff. We made it and we know best how to use it and care for it. And now we’re going to get it back.” John Pretty Man, Crow Indian “The entire corner of Utah is a stronghold of…
February/March 2019
Sowing Clover: Long Live the World Wide Web…by Tonya Stiles
by stiles • • 2 Comments
Join me, if you will, in a little time travel. Let’s go back thirty years, to March of 1989. A gallon of gas cost about a dollar. The average American income was under $30k. On March 6th, the Yankees beat…
February/March 2019
RANGER STILES’ WILDLIFE OBSERVATIONS #2 (Arches NP 1975-1986)…by Jim Stiles
by stiles • • 6 Comments
(photos by the author except where noted) Author’s Note: For more than three years , I have spent most of my keyboard time writing “informational/investigative” long form articles (some might suggest ‘long-winded’) about excruciatingly serious topics…Moab politics, San Juan County politics,…
February/March 2019
MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS: THE SAN JUAN COUNTY SAGA CONTINUES…by Bill Keshlear
by stiles • • 0 Comments
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitutionTake a bow for the new revolutionSmile and grin at the change all aroundPick up my guitar and playJust like yesterdayThen I’ll get on my knees and prayWe don’t get fooled again “Won’t…