The Chuck Bowden Mount Lemmon Community Center — named for the award-winning reporter, author and environmental advocate who died last August — will be dedicated Saturday at a ceremony in the village of Summerhaven in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson.
Bowden, who lived much of his life in Tucson, died in Las Cruces, N.M., at the age of 69. He was known for books on topics ranging from the Catalina Mountains to water issues and drug-related violence in Mexico.
His book “Frog Mountain Blues,” with photographer Jack Dykinga, provided a deep look at the Catalina Mountains, known historically to the Tohono O’odham people as Frog Mountain.
“We thought it was appropriate to name the Mount Lemmon Community Center for him because of his devotion to the Catalinas,” said Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the renaming of the center for Bowden in April.
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“Chuck was a journalist’s journalist and was highly regarded by many renowned writers for drilling deep into subject matters where few dared to go,” said Carroll, a longtime friend of Bowden. “Whatever Chuck Bowden did, he did with all his heart. He was a man full of grace and guts.”
Carroll said Bowden was strongly supportive of the county’s conservation plan and other environmental efforts.
“Southern Arizona could always count on Chuck to lend a hand, give a talk or recruit others,” he said.
Bowden won numerous awards for his newspaper writing at the now-closed Tucson Citizen and was a one-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
He wrote more than two dozen nonfiction books and numerous articles for magazines including Arizona Highways, GQ and Esquire.
“I hope to see people take part in literary events up at the Chuck Bowden center — things such as read-ins and symposiums,” Carroll said.
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