If you’d like to visit the most distinctly unique bookshop in Arizona, perhaps in the entire Southwest, you don’t have to go far.
It is 45 miles south of Tucson, in Benson. Well, north of Benson. On a cattle ranch carved from the desert 100 years ago.
Just find the right dirt road, open the steel gate, and head toward the barn. Turn left at the mesquite tree, wave to the burros, and park in one of the five or six unmarked spots near the corral.
Welcome to Singing Wind!
Located on Singing Wind Ranch in Cochise County, the Singing Wind Bookshop opened in 1974. It still stocks America’s largest collection of Southwest literature. Authors such as J.A. Jance and Tom Zoellner now think of their visits as pilgrimages to a place where they can re-anchor themselves to home.
Singing Wind is so unforgettable because it is so unfathomable to find a bookstore so far off the beaten path, 5 miles from a small town in Arizona.
Located on Singing Wind Ranch in Cochise County, the Singing Wind Bookshop opened in 1974. It still stocks America’s largest collection of Southwest literature.
And that has become a problem.
Winn Bundy, the force of nature who somehow made it work, died in October 2020. The ranch is now for sale, and the family – like the customers who still look forward to making the drive – can only hope the buyer loves books.
The ranch and bookshop were willed jointly to Bundy’s son and daughter, T.C. and Sharon “Cookie” Bundy, and her granddaughter Tasha. The decision to sell was painful.
“I think we all knew it’s what we had to do,” Tasha Bundy said. “None of us live in Benson. None of us know the book business, or much about ranching, but it took months to decide because none of us wanted to let it all go.”
Their fingers are tightly crossed. In their dreams, the buyer hears the same call Winn Bundy heard, and is intrigued by the thought of owning a landmark business.
Barring that, they wonder if a conservation group such as The Nature Conservancy or Arizona Land and Water Trust would like to preserve the property – which borders the San Pedro River – from future development.
“Believe me, we think about dream buyers a lot” Cookie Bundy said.
They find hope in Bill Gates’ observation that even if you are one in a million in China, there are 1,300 people just like you.
Winn Bundy was undeniably one in a million. There are 7 million people in Arizona. The Bundys have done the math.
The 500-acre ranch has been listed for $1.52 million by Hartman Commercial Real Estate. Not coincidentally, Alain Hartman grew up in Benson and was friends with Tasha’s late father, Ted.
According to Hartman’s ad, the ranch has five wells, several pastures, a mile of shoreline along the river … and a collection of 30,000 books.
“I think we realize it’s a real longshot, finding someone who wants to keep the ranch and the store going, but we won’t know ‘til we put it out there,” said Cookie Bundy.
Cookie is a retired science librarian, Tasha a musician and artist. Both live in Tucson. T.C. Bundy is a retired minister who lives in Phoenix. All three have long, loving relationships with Singing Wind.
Tasha Bundy
“Tad (T.C.) and I were raised on the ranch,” Cookie said. “On a family ranch, everybody does everything, so we all had a job when it came to vaccinating, branding and castrating the cattle. We all had ponies. Because of mom, we all loved books and loved to read.”
Tasha lived on the ranch for a few years when she was young and developed a special bond with her grandmother.
Even when they’d left Benson to lead their own lives, the three Bundys were weekend regulars.
“My kids rode ponies there, too,” Cookie said. “My daughter Vanessa tried to teach mom how to work a modern TV.”
Only now are they learning how challenging it was for Winn Bundy to manage a 500-acre ranch … to say nothing of her Southwestern bookstore.
“She didn’t believe in technology, so almost everything needed to be done by hand,” T.C. Bundy said. “The bookstore has never had a website. For years she wouldn’t accept credit cards. One of the challenges for us now is finding a way to catalogue all the books. Winn didn’t need to because she knew where all of them were.”
T.C. Bundy
And the books? The family is finding books everywhere, in every room of the house.
“She had thousands of books that never made it onto the shelves in the store,” T.C. Bundy said.
He has been spending two weeks a month on the property, doing day-to-day maintenance and keeping things running. Cookie and Tasha Bundy are on call the rest of each month.
The store is still open, but by appointment only. Visitors should call to set up a time to stop by. The number: (520) 586-2425.
“A lot of the visitors we’ve had just wanted to tell us stories about Winn,” Tasha said. “She was something. In a lot of ways, she’s still here.”
FOOTNOTES
According to the Pima County Public Library, “Missing and Endangered” by J.A. Jance was the county’s most popular book in 2021. It led the 12-month list of checkouts by library cardholders. Next came “Dark Sky” by C.J. Box, “Daylight” by David Baldacci, “Unfinished Business” by Jance and “A Gambling Man” by Baldacci.
Adam Schiff and Noah Hawley are among the late additions to the list of authors coming to the Tucson Festival of Books March 12-13.
“Beautiful Little Fools,” the latest from Tucson novelist Jillian Cantor, will be available at local bookstores on Feb. 1. In it, she tells “The Great Gatsby” story from Daisy Buchanan’s point of view.
Get day-to-day news from the Tucson book community by following Bookmarks Arizona (@BookArizona) on Twitter.
