Sometimes the simplest ideas turn into something more. Since I hadn’t been out for a few days, I thought it was time to play tourist. Looking around, I found that the Town of Paradise Valley had a memorial to former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. Little did I realize, after a bit of reading upon return just who this guy really was.
When I was growing up, Barry Goldwater was, it seems, always in the public eye. He was Arizona’s Senator from 1953-65 and again from 1969-87. This monument to his life is on a sliver of a corner at Tatum Boulevard and Lincoln Drive. The centerpiece of the park-memorial is an over-sized statue of Mr. Goldwater. It shows him with his trademark horn-rimmed eyeglasses and cowboy boots. At his side is a camera case–he favored Rolleiflexes, as I read later. A ribbon of marble featuring several quotes from him leads the visitor up to the base of the statue. Another wall shares his accomplishments as a public servant, adventurer and supporter of native and underserved peoples.
After my visit I was intrigued by who this guy was–beyond what I thought I already knew about him. Considering he really was the “father” of modern Republican Party Conservatism beginning with his being the party nominee for President in 1964. However, I learned that he was an early supporter of the NAACP, National Urban League in Arizona and integration of the military (with the formation of the Arizona Air National Guard in 1945, it was integrated a full two years before the US Military). As for equality, I did find this quote from his later years:
“You don’t need to be ‘straight’ to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.”
This guy was an integral part of the history and formation of this state. From working in his father’s dry goods store to his military service to his holding public office, he is ( and was) as big a part of the history as Carl Hayden, George WP Hunt and the Udalls. That’s quite a classy list, if you ask me.
What my visit to this memorial brought to mind was just how much history is just steps away from us here in State 48. Tucson just got me started–this Valley of the Sun has it’s own collection of things historical. And I can’t wait to see the rest of the State.
Relentless
