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We are thrilled to partner with the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill and the University of Arizona Press to present the Spring 2025 segment of the Tumamoc Author Series.
Set against the stunning backdrop of Tumamoc Hill’s golden sunsets, this series brings together voices from across disciplines, all sharing their unique visions of the Southwest. What better way to experience the magic of this region than through lively, soul-stirring conversations with acclaimed authors?
On January 14, Melani Martinez, Tucson author of The Molino: A Memoir, talks with writer and multi-disciplinary artist Kimi Eisele. Martinez’s new book takes place in the sunset shadow of Tumamoc Hill, and reckons with one family’s loss of home, food, and faith. Weaving together history, culture, and Mexican food traditions, Martinez shares the story of her family’s life and work in the downtown eatery, El Rapido. Martinez’s work documents the work required to prepare food for others, and explores the heartbreaking aftermath of gentrification that forced the multigenerational family business to close its doors.
For February's lecture, Tumamoc Desert Laboratory Director Elise Gornish will interview Tucson author Michelle Téllez about a women-centered social movement in the borderlands. Téllez will discuss her book, Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas, and how women work together to address issues of health, education, housing, nutrition, and security in border communities. This is a book about hope, struggle and possibility on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico Border.
In March, hydrologist Julia Fonseca interviews Stephen Strom, author of Forging a Sustainable Southwest: The Power of Collaborative Conservation. Strom reveals how diverse groups of people came together for the good of the Sonoran Desert in Pima County, preserving open spaces that you can see from Tumamoc Hill! Strom, also a professional photographer, will show slides of large landscapes preserved through collaboration in the southwest. We are faced today with an existential environmental and moral challenge: can we find common purpose in protecting and cherishing these masterpieces and in restoring a sense of shared responsibility for stewarding our endowment?
The series end on April 8 with Linda M. Gregonis and Victoria Evans, authors of The Hohokam and Their World, will talk with Tucson archaeologist Gail Hartmann. Tumamoc Hill is a rich Hohokam archaeology site. Learn more about Hohokam through the material that they left behind in the Sonoran Desert—pottery, shell ornaments, carved stone, and rock imagery? How did the Hohokam convey ideas about water, the Sonoran Desert, the ocean, travel, ancestors, and the cosmos?