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Show - THEZEPHYR/DECEMBER 2004JANUARY 2005 From the stories I've heard about Charlie Steen, it sounds like few people were ambivalent about the man. What was your take on Charlie? Goodness, we knew them quite well. We didn't go to all the parties we were invited to up on the hill, just because they were at our house more than we were up there. There were so many hangers-on, we didn't want to be in that class. But we were always invited. I don't know why some people didn't like him. They didn't even know him that well. He never did anything but good. ButI think you can't be the only wealthy person in a small community...they had to live behind locked gates; they had to protect their boys. They had received threats. But anyway, you couldn't just run up the hill to say hi and go for coffee. There was no way for people to really mingle with them. And there's always a little envy when people make money. As far as I know, I never heard of Charlie eons anything but good; he donated a lot of his money to the town. Of course, he got blamed by the oldtimers for the influx-of people. I'm not protecting him just because I know him. / Sometimes Moab received national attention. What was that like? It just went in one ear and out the other. I was in my 30s and so were most of my friends and we were just having a ball. I wouldn't like right now to live that life over, but I wouldn't mind being 30 and live it again. We did something every night. Was anyone even slightly aware of the health risks associated with exposure to uranium at the time? The danger of uranium wasn't even known then. The government sent a man to Grand Junction and they had an inkling of the radon and the dangers. He lived real low-key and ran all these experiments, but they didn't want to spread a panic because they needed the uranium. I still think ifit hadn't been for Moab's uranium, we'd be speaking Russian or Japanese today. Later they started talking about ventilating the mines and ] think Charlie's were the best ventilated mines out there. ‘FROM FOOTPRINTS 121 EAST 100 SOUTH #108 MOAB, UT 84532 800.635.5280 Top 10 ways to recognize a cowboy: 1. Thinks La Sal is too crowded 2. Has a special relationship with a horse 8. Likes to wear high heels 4. Thinks wireless network means unfenced open range 5. Sleeping with spurs on is normal 6 Puts up with a lot of BS As far as I know, I never heard of Charlie Steen doing anything but good; he donated a lot of 7. Thinks GPS stands for Gone Plumb ea | 8. Not a slave to fashionThinks the Blue Sky Initiative is OK but we need the rain money to the town. Of course he got blamed by the oldtimers for the influx of people... I'm not protecting him just because I know him. 9. Thinks a good pickup line is Ford 10. ie stronger relationship with his pickup than with his wite What made the Boom turn to Bust? Out-of-print, used and new books, documents, and ephemera relating to Grand Canyon, Colorado River, and: The Government had been buying the uranium and so They got all they needed and suddenly there was no market. It was a quick bust. There were no jobs and people who moved here just for the uranium folded up and went away. We even rented our house out and moved to Monticello. Hub was a county engineer up there because there was no work here. We stayed there for a couple of years; finally when the Texas Gulf operation started up in the early 60s, things started to pick up. It was good Colorado to get back because I was bored to tears in Monticello. We'd had a pretty exciting life in Moab and up there, there wasn't anything church. ButI did get a job with the Monticello paper for awhile. When we got back to Moab, I walked into the Times-Independent one day and he gave me a job. I stayed there for four years. I was the news reporter but it was just the title they gave me. By now Moab was back on its feet. It was during that time that the big explosion occurred at Texas Gulf. It was national news and reporters were hare from all across the country. Later, after the other reporters had left, Blackie Eslik from the company invited me in and started telling me the story. Seventeen people were killed. It was a real trauma for the town; it affected so many people. When did Charlie Steen finally leave? It was in the early 60s. Charlie's sister-in-law was a real good friend of mine. She stored some things in our basement; she was going to move to New Orleans. By now Charlie and MLL. had left. You couldn't blame them for going afford it. We missed them a PO Box 10067 Prescott, AZ 86304 5quail@GrandCanyonBooks.com 928-776-9955 Call or write for latest catalog somewhere else if they could lot. And I guess you could say it was the end of an era. The PRINTING PLACE ie38 8. On-line catalogs at: www.GrandCanyonBooks.com CARETAKER? YOU BET! I'm going to ‘take care’ of this gobbler real soon... Stationary Invitations Carbonless Forms Flyers Magnetic Signs Rack Cards Invoices Computer Forms Also offering COMPUTER SERVICE "I've saved the Zephyr publisher's sorry computer ilhterate ass many a time.” RN anyone? 2 56 ~ \ fi i + Hl Lindemann, Stevens Y PROPERTY SERVICES JOHN HARTLEY Lm alemeys caretaker services independent home inspection services \\ee East 300 South 259.2447 Bridge United States Geological Survey bulletins, professional papers and water-supply papers River guides — Belknap,aa: me es a. ey ‘ including: 23 SOUTH 100 WEST MOAB, UT 84532 435.259.1001 Bal Repairs Upgrades Maintenance Software... as Qa ( ; Plateau, ¢ Grand Canyon National Park history, hiking, etc. Colorado River exploration, river running, etc. Fred Harvey Company, Santa Fe Railroad ¢ Glen Canyon and Rainbow to do but church, and I didn't go to that PAGE 23 Po |