A JOURNALISTIC LOOK BACK AT ABQ’S PANDEMIC RESILIENCE

For seasoned journalist Joline Gutierrez Kruger, exploring Albuquerque’s journey through the pandemic felt like a natural path. Kruger delves into the devastating effects of COVID-19 for the Plath family, who were severely impacted by the virus like many families pre-vaccine, but also takes time to highlight how the city’s residents have begun to bounce back from the halting events of the past three years. Now retired from the high-stress world of reporting, Gutierrez Kruger is taking a step back from late nights at the news desk in favor of a much-deserved break.

ATM: Research is always a part of writing, but journalism can often require far more of it. If you had to guesstimate, how much time did you spend on the prep for this book?

JOLINE GUTIERREZ KRUGER: Actual prep time before writing the first word lasted about a month. I looked through every single archive I could find from late 2019 through 2020. I wasn’t given a lot of time to complete it, which is why I was told they sought out a journalist—we’re used to writing on tight deadlines.

ATM: What led you to start exploring this topic?

JGK: Put simply, I was commissioned, and I thought, ‘well, why not?’ I’m living through this historic time so why not preserve it in the way I think it should be preserved?

ATM: Of course this whole book is about Albuquerque during the pandemic, but is there a specific theme, word, phrase, or person that comes to mind when you think of the city during 2020?

JGK: I wanted there to be a thread throughout the book, and it just made so much sense to use Route 66 (Central Avenue) as that thread. It provided a great vehicle to bring some of that history to life as well as chronicle the people and events of the pandemic, the protests and the public service that took place along or near this significant route.

CITY AT THE CROSSROADS: THE PANDEMIC, PROTESTS, AND PUBLIC SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE

By Joline Gutierrez Kruger City of Albuquerque Foundation

230 Pages $19.95

ATM: What did you personally get out of writing “City at the Crossroads?”

JGK: The thing that was most illuminating and inspiring to me as I wrote the book was learning about and retelling the stories of so many people who worked so hard to keep this city running during that time when none of us really knew what was happening or what would come next.

ATM: You spent nearly 40 years in journalism before retiring last May. What went into that decision?

JGK: I always expected to retire once I turned 65 and/or was lucky enough to afford to. But oh, I had so much guilt over that decision! I felt like people in the community depended on me to tell their stories — stories largely ignored by the media — and every time I planned to tender my resignation more people would come to me with stories or just to talk or ask for advice.

ATM: Do you see yourself continuing to work on more longform ventures now that reporting is no longer your main focus?

JGK: Never say never. As long as I can remember, I have been a writer. I was one of those kids with notebooks full of “novels.” But for now, I am enjoying life without deadlines.

ATM: Knowing what you know now, what would you tell the version of yourself who had only just begun writing “City at the Crossroads?”

JGK: Don’t be crazy enough to write a book and work a more than full-time job at the same time. Ha!

ATM: In your retirement message, you said that you believe there are still stories to tell and you’d like to be the one to tell them. Are there any you have in mind at the moment?

JGK: Almost every day I come across an idea for a column and think, man, I’d like to write that. The world is even crazier and darker now, and I miss trying to bring in a little light. For now, I am reading stories, not writing them, and for now I am okay with that. ET