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A LOOK INSIDE THE ARCHIVES AT ONE OF OUR CLASSIC ISSUES FROM NINE DECADES OF NEW MEXICO MAGAZINE.
September 1951
Today there are many new houses here, electric lighted and modern. Then there are still the old ones. You’ll notice that San Juan is a fascinating combination of Indian and old Spanish. In the Indian part of the village the houses huddle together in close-packed squareness. Some are stacked and terraced back upon one another. When you enter any of the older homes from the street you drop down one step. The hardpacked earth floor smells fresh and clean. On the stove a stew simmers, flavored with pungent herbs. Gay calico corn hanging in bunches waits for tourist trade or winter eating at home. On the yeso-white walls are many pictures of saints. But beside them you’ll see springs of piñon and clusters of turquoise to ward off evil, the Indian way.
Cover—Donna Hughes Photo by James R. Martin
THE LAST CURTAIN had rung down. The Albuquerque Little Theater filled with applause as the audience recalled the cast for their bows. “Ah, it’s a daarlin’ show, a daarlin’ show. I’m a new man for it,” James O’Connor, technical director turned actor, quoted from Juno and the Paycock, the Irish play just ended. The others in the cast again thanked Mr. O’Connor, who is a native son of the old sod, for his assistance with the Irish accents. But the reviews next morning noted that “all the Irish accents were very well done, with the exception of James O’Connor.” Both Kathryn Kennedy O’Connor, director of the Albuquerque Little Theater, and husband James are accustomed to people who mistake a real emerald for a sham. “Goes with show business,” they say, amused.
Desert Flower ONE NIGHT each year the desert flower, Is queen of all the vast domain; One night each year it has its hour, Before its waxy blossoms wane.
When they take to the road, the drugstore cowboys and junior-grade scatterbrains can’t resist making targets of signs and markers.
The queen of lonely desert lands Its lovely blossoms all are white; In beauty rare the desert flower, Then briefly reigns queen for a night. —Waldo O’Neal
The cast of Strange Bedfellows listens intently to the instructor, Kathryn Kennedy O’Connor.
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 9 New Mexico Magazine (ISSN 0028-6249) is published monthly by the New Mexico Tourism Department at 495 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87501-2750. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: $25.95 per year, $45.95 outside the United States. Periodicals postage paid at Santa Fe, NM, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to New Mexico Magazine, PO Box 433148, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9881. Copyright © 2015 by New Mexico Magazine. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or artwork.
72 NEW MEXICO | SEPTEMBER 2015