For Melissa Sanders, her boxy work space at Tucson Greyhound Park was not confining at all. Living in a 6-by-7-foot house atop a 43-foot pole for 517 days — now that was confining. On July 6, 1988, Sanders was back in Tucson, after she and her feline roommate, Pole Cat, completed that endurance feat in Indianapolis. In doing so, she earned a Guinness world record.
She also raised $10,000 for cancer research. The money was divided between two centers in Indianapolis and a check for $2,300 to the Arizona Cancer Center. Apparently, pole sitting was a genetic thing. Sanders' mother set an earlier record in 1959, staying atop a pole for 211 days. Read more about Tucson's past at Tales From the Morgue, go.azstarnet.com/morguetales, including today's tale about a local coffeehouse with too much exposure.
Tucson Time Capsule is a daily feature, a photographic record of Tucson as it was. If you have a memory of an event to share, please go to go.azstarnet.com/timecapsule, where you can find all the Time Capsule photos. You can also add your own historical Tucson photos to the collection. Please observe copyright laws.
Lake Mead's drops raise prospect of unaffordable Hoover Dam electricity
