Tucson author's stoplight storytelling leads to children's book career

Authors learn early on that story ideas may come at any time, any place, often when they least expect it.

In this case, the light went on — literally — at the corner of North Tucson Boulevard and East Elm Street near the Arizona Inn.

“We were waiting for the traffic light to change, and my two young daughters were starting to get restless in the back seat,” Susan Lowell recalled. “To distract them, I started telling them a story. I just made stuff up as we drove along, but it started out as the ‘Three Little Pigs.’”

By the time they got home, the pigs had become javelinas. The big, bad wolf had become a coyote, and the tale got such good reviews from the back seat that Lowell began pondering a possible book.

It became “The Three Little Javelinas,” which has sold more than a million copies and launched Lowell’s career as one of the most popular authors of children’s books in the Southwest.

More recently she has turned her attention toward older readers, but her influence can be seen all around her on the children’s shelf at local bookstores. Emboldened by Lowell’s success, local authors such as Lori Alexander, Chris Gall and Adam Rex have turned Tucson into a hot spot for children’s picture books.

Now 71, Lowell is a fourth-generation Arizonan who has spent most of her life in Tucson. She has been drawn to books as long as she can remember.

“When I learned that real people like me could actually make a book, I was hooked,” she said.

Lowell’s publishing career began with crayons and staplers at age 6. By the time she walked with the first graduating class at Canyon del Oro High School, she considered herself a writer. Her degrees from Stanford and Princeton were in Victorian fiction, and Lowell seemed destined to teach the classics at a school such as Amherst or Williams.

Fortunately for us, Lowell was drawn back to her roots … and her dream of becoming an author. “Teaching was work,” Lowell said. “Writing was fun.”

Here she wrote her first book, “Ganado Red,” a novella of eight stories tracing the history of a fictional Navajo rug. She received the first Milkweed National Fiction Award, and the book was called an “exceptional collection” by Publishers Weekly.

But a funny thing happened on Lowell’s way to becoming Isabel Allende or Louise Erdrich. The light changed at Tucson and Elm.

“I knew I wanted to write books, but I’d never considered a children’s book,” Lowell said. “That came out of the blue. Who knew?”

Lowell’s daughters, both toddlers, became consultants in the project.

“Anna provided some good ideas that stayed in the story,” she said, “and Mary insisted that the coyote must somehow survive. So he did, over and over through the whole series.”

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Lowell was determined to continue her career as an author for adults, too, and has. Ten of her 20 books were written for older audiences, but she clearly has a warm place in her heart for young people

“I really like kids,” she admitted. “I love watching their minds work in fresh ways that adult minds just don’t. And the world of children’s books is just a nicer place. Kids’ books are connected by schools and libraries. You actually get a chance to talk with your readers. It’s a lot of fun.”

Interestingly, Lowell is best-known for her javelina books — even though there were only three of them. “The Three Little Javelinas” was released in 1992. “Josefina Javelina” appeared in 2005 and “A Very Hairy Christmas” in 2012.

The first is readily available throughout Arizona, and is a staple at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum gift shop. The third has become something of a collector’s item, although copies are still available on Amazon for $30.

“By 2010, 2011 I really thought I was done with javelina stories, but I wanted to do a Christmas book … and another project with Jim Harris,” Lowell said. “He had illustrated ‘The Three Little Javelinas,’ and had become hugely successful. When he said yes, it just seemed natural to revisit our original cast for ‘A Very Hairy Christmas.’”

Most Tucsonans have a javelina story. Lowell has lots of them. “I know so many javelina stories now. Everybody I meet seems to have one they want to share.”

Lowell’s most recent book was a story collection for adults called “Two Desperados.” It was selected by the Pima County Public Library as one of the Southwest Books of the Year for books published in 2020.

Lowell also remains active as a publisher. She and her husband, Ross Humphreys, co-own and manage Rio Nuevo Publishers and Treasure Chest Books. Rio Nuevo is an independent press, and Treasure Chest distributes regional nonfiction to national parks such as Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and museums such as the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Lowell and Humphreys met at the Tucson Citizen when she was a reporter and he a photographer.

They figure to have their own very hairy Christmas this year. No, they didn’t adopt a javelina, but they did just add a puppy to the family. Meet Dolly, a Springer Spaniel. “She’s our Christmas gift to us,” Lowell said, and Lowell’s books will continue to be a Christmas gift to the rest of us for many years to come.

FOOTNOTES

All branches of the Pima County Public Library will be closed Dec. 24-26 and Dec. 31 through Jan. 2. They will reopen the Monday after both holiday weekends.

Winners of this year Literary Awards Writing Contest, sponsored by the Tucson Festival of Books, will be revealed on Dec. 20.

265 authors have now accepted invitations to the book festival, which will be March 12-13 at the University of Arizona.