In Memory, Tony Hillerman 1925-2008

I lost a friend this week. He died at age 83 of Pulmonary distress. He was a friend I never met, but spent many hours enjoying his storytelling. I will miss his engaging tales of life in the Four Corners area. Most of my Utah friends will say, “Tony who?” Most of my New Mexico friends will agree. Tony Hillerman was a great story teller.

Tony Hillerman was a journalist who decided that if he was going to make up stories he might as well sell them as novels. He wrote mystery novels with a twist. The twist was the primary mystery solvers were two Navajo Policemen, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee. The books contained insights into the life and culture of the Navajo. One article said that an early book agent told Hillerman he should lose the Indian stuff.

Reading a Hillerman mystery was about traveling the Navajo Reservation and the area around it, Albuquerque, Farmington, Gallup. I can see in my mind’s eye Jim Chee’s trailer house down on the San Juan River in Shiprock. The reservation roads to the trading posts, the mountains, the canyons, the sheep meadows are not understandable to those whose life has been spent in the city. I have driven on many of those roads and hundreds more like them in the four corners. I could lose myself in a Hillerman book and day dream my way back to a simpler life.

Fiction is not my favorite read. But over the years there have been three authors whose books I bought on the day they were released. (Well at least on the day they showed up at Sam’s Club or Costco.) I didn’t even wait for the paperback version. Now one of them is gone. I will miss Tony Hillerman and the adventures of Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn.

Oh, the other two authors for those of you who don’t know are John Grisham and Tom Clancy.

USA Today with Biblical Understanding

There is an Interesting article on page 9d of USA Today, Tuesday October 28, 2008. It is about the discovery of Egyptian artifacts in a copper mine in Jordan. The article is about King Solomon, the Old Testament kingdom of Edom, copper mines, and Pharaohs.

3000 years after Solomon died archaeology is discovering one of the mines that contributed to his great wealth. I am continually amazed at the discoveries in the dirt of the middle east, findings that lend credence to the Bible.

Of course this discovery proves nothing. I don’t need it to prove anything where my faith is concerned. Just the fact that competent archaeologists find in their digs the very things you would expect them to find if God’s word had any historicity.

The Bible tells us that Solomon was one of the wealthiest men in ancient history. But when offered wealth by the Lord, he instead chose wisdom. Thus we hear “The Wisdom of Solomon” referred to as a positive thing whereas we rarely hear of “The Wealth of Solomon.”

This wise man concluded his treatise about life by saying “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NASB)

What's That Again?

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Thomas E. Woods Jr.

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
While I am not naive enough to accept everything in this book at face value, it does have an interesting alternative look at some of the major events in American History.



I was especially interested in the articles on the Civil War, (which the author points out wasn't a true civil war) WWI and the intentional methods of Woodrow Wilson to manipulate us into joining the war, and the chapter about the causes of the great depression.



The book is weak at the point of references. While the bibliography is a long one, the text is not footnoted.



Read it, you may just learn, or rather relearn some of your own history.


View all my reviews.

Head GO! vs Heart NO!

I first became aware that there is a difference between being a head fan and a heart fan during the Western regionals for NCAA basketball back in the 90's. The tournament was held in the "Pit," home of the UNM basketball Lobos. One of the teams to make it to the regional was the New Mexico State aggies.

On my way to the game my friends asked me, "So who will you be pulling for, the Aggies or UCLA"?

My head tells me it would be a great thing for the state of New Mexico basketball if the aggies could pull off a win against the heavily favored Bruins. "I will be pulling for NMSU", I confidently responded. But inside the pit, when the aggies ran out onto Bob King Court in their fringed warm ups, I immediately switched allegiance. I have pulled for the aggies in the newspaper, and even cheered them heartily on television, but my heart would not allow me to pull for them in the Pit. No way Jose.

I have the same problem today with BYU and Utah. While undoubtedly they are Mountain West Conference leaders, along with TCU, and it helps the conference where the BCS is concerned for the Utes and the Cougars to win outside the conference, my head says GO! but my heart says NO!

I try, I really try to pull for the Utes. And that is the truth. How awesome that the Mountain West Conference is 6-1 against the PAC 10. If I could just wake up in the morning and read the scores and see that Utah beats OSU 31-28 my head can say, “YEA” But if I watch the game as soon as I see that stupid helmet with the feather Logo or Swoop that ridiculous feathered mascot, or hear “I’m a Utah man sir” I immediately revert to what I was born to be.

Funny isn’t it? My head says "GO"!, my heart says "NO"! I have the exact opposite reaction to the Texas Longhorns. I don’t want to pull for them. My head doesn't care if they ever win a game, but when they run on the field and I see that awesome Longhorn Logo, Bivo the majestic live longhorn steer, and hear “The Eyes of Texas are upon you” my heart says “hook em horns"!

I am just being honest here. It is something I do not fully understand. I may never have a Lobo football team to be proud of. But I am a Lobo none-the-less and three teams Lobos don’t pull for, New Mexico State, BYU, and Utah. “I’m a Lobo fan sir, I’ve been one all my life.” And that, is the rest of the story.