Collectible Christmas Steve Maze injects a glowing ‘it’ factor into his basement full of holiday fun
Story by Seth Terrell Photos by David Moore
T
here is a certain “it” factor that gives any story life. Sometimes there are heroes so memorable they are interwoven within the reader’s consciousness, perhaps forever. Sometimes a rarefied and elevated prose bears a story upon its angelic wings toward a transcendent plane of euphoria where time and place flourish unbound. And then there are some tales with plots so delicious and twisted and thrilling that the reader becomes a willing captive in the throes of the story’s sheer, beautiful force. As I stand in Good Life Magazine writer Steve Maze’s basement south of Arab, surrounded by an insurmountable number of Santa Claus blow-molds and rusty Coca-Cola signs while also trying to admire a handmade replica of a two-story outhouse (yes…an outhouse), I’m not sure about any delicious, twisted plot, or rarified prose, but one thing’s for sure – there’s plenty of “it.” My eyes attempt to take in my surroundings as I pour over this trove of memorabilia. My problem is not finding enough words to describe it, but rather finding words adequate enough. A well-kept, wall-to-wall, palace of nostalgia … no. How about a down-home depot of reminiscence? … no. A whimsical, walk-in time capsule … maybe. “I always feel like the hardest part of writing a story is figuring out how to start it,” Steve says, as the two of us sit on a couch amid his basement world of memorabilia. “Yeah, I agree,” I say. And usually I 52
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would, but as Steve becomes my tour guide through what feels like a DIY museum of Americana (bingo, that’s it!), I think to myself, “Nope. This story’s going to crank right up.”
M
y first familiarity with Steve Maze came when he was the writer and publisher of his former magazine, Yesterday’s Memories, a regional
