Four decades before the masthead

A major change for me. Read about it here.

 

Comments

[Ramjet]

Happy retirement, Jon
I am glad to hear that you will continue with RC, and look forward to more novels and perhaps some nonfiction Arizona based. There are certainly plenty of available topics there.

[Cal Lash]

Good move Jon. Excellent timing.
Now after 37 years as an apprentice you can be the full professor I always knew you were after I read my first Mapstone.
"Keep scribbling."

[eddiedout]

Congratulations, Jon. Well deserved. Hope you continue your involvement with and coverage of events and history in/of Arizona, regardless of where you end up living.

[Scott Ruecker]

One of my favorites, wish you the best.

[TimBob]

Congrats.
Glad you're planning on keeping the website running.
Look forward to more AZ history.

[Mark in Scottsdale]

Congratulations, Jon! In 21st century journalism, it is quite a feat to survive all the layoffs and closing and make it to retirement. That you have done so and done so in a prime position is a testament to your skills.

May you find new passions and pursuits in the chapters yet to come.

[Phil]

Seattle resident here. Miss your Times columns, an island of sanity. Best of luck!

[Bill Pearson]

Congrats on retirement; work is way overrated. Loved the Mapstone series, though i came to it late, intrigued by RC and delighted you will keep it up and running. Are you staying in Seattle, coming back to AZ or other plans completely?

[Rogue Columnist]

Thanks, Bill. I'm still working on books and Rogue. Probably spending most of my time in Seattle.

[Bill Pearson]

Appreciate the response Jon. A little surprised given about a third of those buying in Sun City these days appear to be coming from Washington State.

I took a few moments this morning and read the 08 article on the demise of newspapers and the 11 piece on men not being readers. Wow. It was like a crystal ball into our future. Seems to me what happened in 2016 was in direct correlation to the dumbing down of America. Incredible forecasting.

Do your plans include more Mapstone? I read a lot of series and it is amazing to see how some authors ride the horse well past its death. The good ones are very selective by limiting the number of releases but maintaining the integrity of their work. Still others move on to new and better characters.

Finally a shout of thanks. I used a caption on the impact to Phoenix from RC regarding the great depression. I was doing a series on Del Webb for the Sun Cities Museum and wanted to refute the argument the depression didn't hurt us much. You were spot on as usual.

[Rogue Columnist]

My pleasure, Bill. RC is my pro bono work, providing the commentary and history not seen elsewhere.

I am skeptical of those Sun City numbers, but I'm sure some Washingtonians retire there. I remember when it was built. A friend asked my grandmother if she was moving there. Her reply: "No! I don't want to be with all those old people!"

As a native Phoenician, nothing makes me more depressed than endless sunny days. Seattle is a better fit for me, where I live downtown (Belltown), with all the urban amenities (I haven't owned a car for nearly 10 years). It's hard to imagine retiring to suburbia. My condo in Midtown is right on the light-rail line (WBIYB).

As for books, I am working on one about a PI in the 1930s. It's fun to be "living" in another era. Mapstone may be back, but "The Bomb Shelter" ends well (no spoilers, though).

[Bill Pearson]

My apologies if i seem like serial stalker Jon. I am simply intrigued by your writings, both in the Mapstone series, on RC as well as your responses. Almost everything coincides with my views moving forward.

I am a Humphrey democrat who moved to Sun City in 2003. I found politics strange, i suspect because of the arrogance of a republican party who felt they owned the right of governance.

My response was to ignore it and make the only thing that mattered, my community involvement. Sun City was built by those who showed up and put up. Self-governed truly is a beautiful thing.

Unfortunately, like most of society, it has evolved to let someone else do it. Tragic, but typical. Then i started looking at our history. Webb et al was/is an incredible story.

More importantly, it contains foot prints to our future. The challenge, as you have noted on too many occasions, is no one seems to care to understood where we came from or how we got here.

That is one of the reasons i am sort of reaching out. Don't need anything from you, but i may want to pick your brain as we move forward.

As you noted in the PBS segment, Del Webb was special. His career, legendary. History erodes the importance of the values he instilled in the company and those that built Sun City.

Our goal at the Del Webb Sun Cities Museum is to restore it, celebrate it and most importantly educate those interested, why it matters. No small task, especially given so many of those attached to it are gone.

Our 5 year strategic plan is aggressive. In the coming years i would hope to use your knowledge on AZ as a resource to fill in some of the blanks.

It appears most of your efforts both in Phoenix and Seattle are to help shape small picture solutions to the real problems we face. At 71 years old i am beyond tilting at windmills and want to make a difference where i live.

Sorry for the rant, and i appreciate you caring about what you do. So many these days don't. All too often it's about the money. Clearly RC is on a different level.

You were right by the way, it was pure hyperbole about a third of the buyers coming from Washington State. That said i dug out some recent data and WS is now the third highest state in numbers of home buyers in Sun City. AZ is first (though most of those were transplants), California second and WS just slightly behind CA.

I really enjoyed the Bomb Shelter but the entire series was exceptional. Looking forward to all of your future works.

PS. The Webb add team once did a poster with the headline: " I didn't want to live in Sun City with all you old fogies." Seriously cool.

[Rogue Columnist]

I'm always happy to help, Bill.