With no formal writing background, Tucson native Jim Clarke set out to record and share his family's deep ties to a town close to his heart — Arivaca.
Clarke's book "Arivaca Out Yonder: A Novel of the Bar-V-Bar Ranch" became available about a month ago on Amazon, and he's already found some success during the Festival of Books in Tucson on March 4-5.
Clarke, 80, initially found taking on the project a bit intimidating, adding he had to take his first-year English class twice while at the University of Arizona.
He said he didn't feel relief after writing the book until he found himself holding a printed copy following the editing and production process.
"I told Chris, the publisher, if we get it done in time, I'm going try to rent a space at the Festival of Books in Tucson," Clarke said. "So, I did — rented a space. Now, I'm not relieved anymore. I'm all stressed because I'm trying to get ready for this festival. I've never been to one of them before, you know."
Clarke initially ordered 70 copies to sell at the festival — 20 hardcovers and 50 paperbacks. After hearing from others that a story featuring local Southern Arizona History could bring much interest, he stocked up with 105 mixed copies, eventually selling 92 during the festival.
Clarke is also working on getting the Pima County Library to add his book to its collection.
Clarke, now a Caldwell, Idaho, resident, found the historical fiction based on the life of his grandparents, Phil and Gypsy Clarke, provided a great story to highlight life in Arivaca and Southern Arizona ranching communities along the borderlands.
Phil was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1888, eventually immigrating to New York City with his family. But Phil didn't like the city and, in time, went west to become a cowboy, telling his mother he planned to head "out yonder."
Gypsy, born in December 1887 in Sweet Home, Texas, was two weeks older than Phil. She eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she tried to find work as a school teacher but came up short on job prospects. As luck would have it, she received an offer through a teaching agency to fill a position in the small Southern Arizona town of Arivaca, where she would meet her future husband, Phil.
The two eventually fell in love, although Clarke said the rough-and-tumble city kid turned cowboy Phil and prim and proper Gypsy were opposites at first.
From ranch hand to shop owner to rancher and banker, Phil and Gypsy led a storied life, spending time in Arivaca, Ruby and Tucson. Clarke grew up in the county southwest of Tucson on a farm near Irvington and Mission roads, but he spent a good part of his early life in Arivaca.
"Phil Clarke and Gypse started the ranch in 1910 and created the Bar-V-Bar brand in 1913," Clarke said. "So, the ranch name, or brand, is actually over 100 years old and still registered in Arizona."
Clarke's father, Dan, and his uncle Mike ran the ranch for Phil later in life, eventually taking over its ownership. Clarke said some family members still own a section of the original ranchland but added the bulk of it is no longer with the family.
Clarke moved to Idaho about 40 years ago, eventually becoming a John Deere dealer. Clarke said he regularly visited Tucson and Arivaca over the years since, especially during the last 2.5 years while working on the book.
"Surprisingly, it's very similar," he said about Arivaca compared to its past. "Believe it or not, Arivaca is about the same size today as it was in 1910."
Clarke found that Arivaca remaining cattle and mining country is the area's biggest similarity with its past.
Clarke also had a winter home in Green Valley for about nine years before selling it.
He always found a special interest in Southern Arizona history among Green Valley's winter and permanent residents. Clarke also hoped to find some interest in the book's story after he got the idea to turn his grandparents' lives into historical fiction with a western theme.
"Everybody in the Clarke family has been talking for 50 years — 'Somebody should tell this story. Somebody should tell the story of Phil and Gypsy. How they came together and where they came from and why and what they did,'" Clarke said.
Clarke said he thought about it for a long time and eventually decided it was something he wanted to do now that he was retired.
"I got a couple of my cousins and nieces involved to help me gather research data from the Historical Society in Tucson," he said.
Clarke also found a lucky break when he met with a former librarian and Arivaca historian, Mary Kasualitis.
"Boy, she just got right on it with me," he said. "She just got to helping me."
Kasualitis said it's nice to see a story set in Arivaca that provides a slice of life during the early 1900s. While many events and names remained the same, Kasualitis said readers should look at the story as historical fiction when appreciating it due to some changes along the way.
"I wrote stories about them in the Arivaca paper, which has now folded...," she said about Phil and Gypsy. "So, I knew something about them. One of (Clarke's) cousins gave me a bunch of papers of his grandmother's, copies of her stories, and I had a book that she wrote in the '30s that my aunt had saved."
While Clarke said he learned plenty of new things from Kasualitis, she said she also picked up some new things from him, like Phil and Gypsy's time in Ruby during the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920.
"It was pretty dangerous because it was during the Mexican Revolution, and there's a lot of banditos back and forth," Kasualitis said. "But nobody messed with his grandfather ever because his grandfather was just really tough and had exhibited toughness from the day he walked into the Arivaca store because he came from New York and was a tough Irish kid."
Kasualitis noted how Clarke captured the area's willingness to speak Spanish through Phil and Gypsy learning the language to communicate with fellow residents.
"That I think is real good to realize," she said. "I know that's what happened to my family... And I can remember my dad, if he ever encountered somebody who, especially people that he knew who spoke Spanish and English, they would always speak together in Spanish. And I think he thought of it as a respectful thing. You know, respect their language."
Clarke will return to Green Valley in May to speak with the local Westerners International group, where he's looking forward to talking about his book and Phil and Gypsy's story.
He said he would be lucky to make back half of what he invested in the book and doesn't anticipate cutting a profit. But Clarke found his primary goal is telling and preserving his grandparents' story while giving people in Southern Arizona a look back at the ranching life along the borderlands.
"For me, right now, I really just want to share this story," he said. "That's what I want to do."