Fitzsimmons, David

Part 1 was recorded on December 15th, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona. It covers the following themes:  

b. 1955 

  • Family’s move to Tucson in 1957. Life at Davis Monthan Air Force Base. Brief bio of father. 

  • J. Cress Myers Elementary. 

  • Highschool newspaper job and attitudes towards media. Interest in editorial work. Cartoons versus editorial writing. 

  • Thoughts on political cartooning. 

  • Development of political attitudes as a young adult. 

  • Tucson in the Cold War. 

  • The Vietnam War, brothers’ military service, family attitudes towards the anti-war movement. 

  • Attending Rincon High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Bicycle culture. Making films. 

  • First car. Collision with an impaired pedestrian. 

  • Homelessness in Tucson. 

Part 2 was recorded on December 19th, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona.  It covers the following themes: 

  • Air Force crashes: the aftermath of the Food Giant crash, a crash near the University of Arizona. Attitude towards the Air Force in Fitzsimmons’ family. 

  • Downtown Tucson, including urban renewal and a stint working at the Tucson Community Center in the late 1970s. 

  • Construction of Park Mall and El Con Mall. Shakey’s Pizza. Cruising. 

  • Attending the University of Arizona. Joining the Daily Wildcat. Impressions of the Tucson Citizen and Arizona Daily Star in the late 1970s. 

  • Working at the Virginia Pilot-Star and the Daily Press of Newport News, VA in the early-mid 1980s. 

  • Returning to Tucson in 1986 to work at the Arizona Daily Star. 

  • Important political cartoonists of the 1980s. 

  • Lampooning Evan Mecham. Receiving criticism and death threats for cartoons. 

  • The Arizona Daily Star as a business in the late-1980s. 

  • Speaking to groups around Tucson. Growing interested in performing. 

  • Decline of the Tucson Citizen. 

Part 3 was recorded on January 11th, 2023 in Tucson, Arizona. It covers the following themes: 

  • Tucson Press Club in the late 1980s and the Gridiron Show. Arizona Press Club. 

  • Journalists at The Shanty and Rigo’s. 

  • Tucson Newspapers’ building at Park and Irvington. 

  • The arrival of the internet and revenue impact on print journalism. 

  • Arizona Daily Star acquisition by Lee Enterprizes in 2005. 

  • End of compositing. Description of printing press and the move of printing to Phoenix in 2019. 

  • Changing attitude about news after the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Reflection on the place of political cartoons. Interest in writing columns. 

  • Highlights of political cartooning: the Central Arizona Project, downtown Tucson redevelopment, Rio Nuevo. 

  • Conversations about downtown in the 1980s and 1990s.  

  • Bob Walkup and the streetcar. 

  • More about the CAP water introduction. Writing cartoons defending the CAP project. 

  • Cartoons about the early 1990s Savings & Loan Crisis, Charles Keating, AZSCAM gambling sting, and Fife Symington. 

Aengus Anderson