Jan Cleere - Never Dont Pay Attention: The Life of Rodeo Photographer Louise L. Serpa

J an Cleere is an award-winning author of four historical nonfiction books, three of them published by TwoDot. More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Nevada Women was a 2006 finalist for the Women Writing the West WILLA award. The Nevada Womens History Project elected Cleere to its Roll of Honor for her work on Nevada womens history. Outlaw Tales of Arizona was recognized nationally as the winner of the 2007 National Federation of Press Womens literary competition for historical nonfiction. Amazing Girls of Arizona: True Stories of Young Pioneers was named one of the best books of 2009 by the Arizona Book Publishers Association and awarded best young adult nonfiction by the same organization. Levis & Lace: Arizona Women Who Made History (Rio Nuevo Publishers) received recognition from the 2012 Arizona/New Mexico Book Publishers Association. Cleere also writes a monthly column for Tucsons Arizona Daily Star newspaper, Western Women, detailing the lives of early Arizona pioneers. She lives in Oro Valley, Arizona.

H ow does one acknowledge the kindness and charity of so many individuals who knew Louise Serpa and were willing to share their memories and recollections? Without a doubt, the three people who made this project possible were her immediate family: daughters Lauren Serpa and Mia Larocque, plus Louises grandson, Taylor Grammar. Without their generous contributions and their vivid memories of their mother and grandmother, this book would not exist. They went beyond the mere interview but were always there to answer my questions as I probed deeper into Louises life.

Lauren and Mia, of course, have a wealth of knowledge about their mothers professional and personal life, particularly since they had to ride in the backseat of their station wagon from one rodeo event to the other during their childhoods, often being awakened in the middle of the night to get on the road to the next competition. Their unstinting kindness in allowing me complete access to their mothers vast collection of materialssuch as her calendars, handwritten travel journals, letters, magazine and newspaper articles that have been written about her through the years, plus her photographs, both professional and personalbrought this project to its ultimate conclusion. Thank you for allowing me into your mothers life.

Louises half sisters, Anne Brown and Wendy Donoghue, also gave me insight into their big sisters time back east in New York and New Jersey.

Tucson Rodeo manager Gary Williams time and again answered my questions about rodeo in general and my numerous inquiries about Louise and her association with La Fiesta de los Vaqueros.

What would I have done without fashion photographer Bruce Webers knowledge of Louises expertise with a camera? He thought of her as more than a professional colleague; he considered her his big sister.

Artist Barbara Rogers, professor emeritus of painting and drawing at the University of Arizona School of Art, also understood Louises knack with a camera and gave me much-needed background on content and composition.

With my limited knowledge of cameras, I called on my photographer daughter Sue Cleere to teach me the intricacies of Nikon cameras, exposure, motor drives, film sizing, and a lot of other camera nomenclature that left me feeling more than a little ignorant.

Beatrice Bea Mason, owner of Lewis Framing Studio in Tucson, became a fast friend of Louises and was even allowed to frame some of her photographs, although she readily admitted Louise was a very demanding customer.

Author Betty Barr provided me with copies of articles she and Louise had jointly written and photographed detailing Arizona ranch life. She also gave me intimate, often amusing details of their travels together from one ranch site to another. In addition, Betty generously edited a first draft of the manuscript.

I met with rodeo clown Chuck Henson and his wife, Nancy, who gave up their Fourth of July celebration to talk with me at a tiny Mexican restaurant in Oro Valley, Arizona, the only place we could find open on the holiday.

Charlotte Bell, owner of Graham Bell Gallery in Tubac, Arizona, spoke to me at length about her long association with Louise and the numerous showings of Louises work at Charlottes shop.

Jack and Aline Goodman invited me into their home and regaled me with stories about the many years Louises friends all partied together in each others homes. Other longtime good friends such as Marty Lynch and Eleanor Smith, along with childhood friend Mary Wheelwright, provided much-needed background on Louises life both before and after she moved to Tucson.

Brenda Griffins association with Louise was short, but she felt the older woman had practically adopted her. She was a frequent guest in Louises home and readily shared memories of their time together.

My thanks to Melissa Harris, Louises editor at Aperture Foundation Publishers, for allowing me to use many of Louises quotes from the book Rodeo. Throughout this manuscript, quotations of Louises not otherwise noted are from the text of Rodeo.

To all the newspaper and magazine writers who found Louise a fascinating subject and continually wrote about her career and her lifestyle, I thank you for bringing this wonderful woman into the limelight so that others could appreciate her strength and endurance.

Many people had their hands on this book before it was published. To my editors, Erin Turner and Lynn Zelem, I appreciate your kindness, expertise, and attention to detail. Readers such as Betty Barr, Barbara Marriott, and my dear husband, Bob, found discrepancies that I missed even though I must have read the manuscript at least a dozen times.

Other people who contributed to this book with their memories of Louise prefer to remain in the background. I appreciate all of them for sharing their reminiscences and recollections along with their laughter and their tears as they related story after story of Louises influence on their lives.

To my husband, Bob, thank you for supporting me in my literary endeavors, tolerating dinnerless evenings, and reading every word I write.

Published Sources

Ault, Louise Larocque. Bit Free Space. The Chapin School Alumnae Bulletin, 1988, 23.

Barker, Scott. Rodeos to Rossini: Louise Serpas Home Rounds Up Her Many Passions. Tucson Lifestyle, February 2005.

Barr, Betty. Louise Serpa, Rodeo Photographer. Sonoita Weekly Bulletin, September 5, 2001.

De Landri, Carla. More Rodeo Days. Vassar Quarterly, Spring 1995.

Doggert, Janet. Getting Close to the Action. Taylor Talk, Winter 1998.

Duarte, Carmen. Rodeo Photographer Far from Negative. Arizona Daily Star, March 4, 1984.

Ehrenstrom, Art. Vassar Girl Risks Ribs, Lens. Arizona Daily Star, July 16, 1967.

Fimbres, Gabrielle. Riding Her Dream. Tucson Citizen, February 19, 2005.

Flick, A. J. First Out for the Shoot. Tucson Citizen, June 7, 1997.

Gangelhoff, Bonnie. No Guts, No Glory. Southwest Art 33 (May 2004).

Hamilton, Christine. Dust and Light. American Quarter Horse Journal, January 2011.

Haynes, Kevin. Western Exposure. Mercedes Momentum, Winter 1998.

Hutchings, David. In the Art of Catching Rodeo Action on Film, No One Stands Taller Than Louise Serpa. People, October 3, 1983.

In the Eye of the Hurricane. Pro Rodeo Sports News, February 22, 1984, and March 7, 1984.

Laird, Cheryl. Eye of Action: Louise Serpa Zooms In on Rough-Ridin World of Rodeo.