Tucson travel writer reflects on his journey in new memoir

It should come as no great surprise to learn Tom Miller is off on another journey now, or that he has decided to tell us about it in the clean, rich, vibrant way he has reported on all his others.

What is surprising is the fact this latest journey seldom takes him beyond the front door of his midtown home here in Tucson. Miller, you see, has been struggling with Parkinson’s disease, and he has begun to talk about it in his newest book: “Where Was I?”

Miller’s memoir is much more than reflections about his condition. He recounts his friendship with Jerry Ruben and his time with the underground press in the 1960s. He recalls his gradual transition toward “sea-level” media in the late ‘70s. He highlights his dozens of expeditions into South America, Mexico, Cuba and Spain.

All that said, the narrative is uniquely personal because of Miller’s thoughts about his Parkinson’s.

“My left leg has involuntary tremors,” Miller writes in Chapter 1. “Much of the time I can’t smell or taste. I sometimes freeze, unable to move my legs, and in the middle of the night, the opposite takes hold: restless leg syndrome. Sometimes I awaken with dry mouf. I nod out for about five seconds many times a day. My vocabulary is slipping. I’m a barrel of laughs.”

Tucson has been home to any number of celebrated authors, from Richard Russo and Barbara Kingsolver to Larry McMurtry and Andrew Greeley. Don’t forget Miller, who would be featured in the nonfiction wing of any Tucson hall of fame.

“The Panama Hat Trail” enabled Miller to explore the cultures of South, Central and North America as he followed the making and marketing of a Panama hat, from the palm trees of Ecuador to a hat shop in California.

“Cuba Hot & Cold” takes readers to Havana and introduces us to the sights, sounds and people of a place few Americans will ever see.

“On the Border” explores a “third country,” the 25-mile strip that straddles America’s 2,000-mile border with Mexico.

Miller’s 12 books feature tight reporting and rich, vibrantly descriptive prose. It isn’t a coincidence. For a time, he was a weekly contributor to the New York Times, usually with stories from the border. Writing both in English and Spanish has helped Miller describe what he sees in literary 3D.

Six years ago, after an array of symptoms had been diagnosed as Parkinson’s, Miller realized he was a travel writer who could no longer travel.

“It was a shock,” he confessed last week. “If you added up all the trips I’d made, and all the time I’d spent away, I had spent years of my life on the road. To know that was over was hard.”

It was personal, as well. He met his wife, Regla Albarran, in Havana. For her, Cuba is home. For Tom, who had been leading educational groups on tours of the island for 30 years, it is a home away from home.

“Eventually I decided if I could not look forward I would start looking backward,” he said, and Miller began pondering a memoir. “I had plenty of time to reflect, obviously. When I took time to think about it, I could see how all those experiences brought me to where I am now.”

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Miller moved to Tucson sight unseen, without knowing a soul, in 1969. Like one of his favorite characters in literature, Don Quixote, Miller arrived full of adventure and brimming with youthful idealism — and totally unsure how to wield either one.

On the day he stepped off the plane, he hitched a ride to the University of Arizona campus without so much as a place to stay. He found a small room behind the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house and soon began pitching stories to underground newspapers such as the Druid Free Press, a Tucson product that flashed brightly but briefly in 1969 and ‘70.

By the time his career began moving toward traditional media, Miller was one of the few reporters patrolling the border, intrigued by the push and pull felt by residents on both sides of the line. His familiarity with the people and places there gave him the toehold he needed to advance a writing career that now spans more than 50 years.

Miller began writing his memoir two years ago, bouncing ideas and early drafts off his friend James Reel here in Tucson and his cousin in Colorado Springs.

Surprisingly, Miller’s agent could not find a publisher. It wasn’t a travel book, and an industry that had already scaled back its range of offerings grew even more selective after the pandemic.

Tired of receiving “Dear Tom” letters, Miller decided to publish the book himself late last year. “Where Was I?” was released through Amazon in March. It is also available at Antigone, Mostly Books and the UA Bookstore.

Even though he takes dozens of pills a day, the effects of Parkinson’s make Miller’s life increasingly difficult. Luckily, his mind is working just fine. There is little doubt he will keep on writing as long as he can.

Miller even has a 13th book in mind.

“Did you know Thornton Wilder lived in Douglas for a year and a half in the middle of his career?” Miller asked. “He wanted to get away, so he got in the car and drove west. His car broke down just east of Douglas and he settled in right there. It would be interesting to find out what he did while he was there, wouldn’t it?”

Footnotes

Until classes resume in August, the UA campus bookstore will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10-4 on Saturdays. The store will be closed on Sundays.

Miller was a presenting author at the first Tucson Festival of Books in 2009. He has appeared at four more in the years since.

In addition to being an author, Miller is something of a collector. He owns more than 80 recorded versions of “La Bamba” and has a bookshelf filled with various translations of “The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha” by Miguel de Cervantes.