Tom vezo - a true friend of madera canyon
Internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer and ardent supporter of the Defenders of Madera Canyon, Tom Vezo, passed away from a cardiac accident on Friday, July 18, after a hike in the Rincon Mountains east of Tucson.
His wife, Dorothy, has asked that memorial contributions be made to the Defenders of Madera Canyon. We thank Tom for his fine photography, his willingness to share his photos and his techniques with his amateur friends, his contributions to the Friends of Madera Canyon, his support of the Defenders, and his affable and outgoing personality for all who met him while working with the Friends and in the Canyon. We thank Dorothy for naming the Friends as a memorial and respectfully request that anyone who would like to make a donation to the Defenders send a check made out to "Friends of Madera Canyon" with a note “Tom Vezo” at the bottom, and mail it to: P.O. Box 1203, Green Valley, AZ 85622.
Comments from Carolyn Fowler on behalf of The Defenders of Madera Canyon Committee
We would like to honor the memory of one of our dedicated and compassionate members, Tom Vezo, who passed away on July 18, 2008 while hiking in the Rincon Mountains, camera in tow. Tom was a successful wildlife photo-grapher; his work is widely published in the United States and Europe and can be seen on his web site: www.tomvezo.com. Tom worked very hard to protect and preserve Madera Canyon and was responsible for the March 30, 2007 fund raiser at the Duval Auditorium which featured Tom, Jack Dykinga, and Kenn Kaufman, each giving of their time and talents for a very worthy cause. Tom was in the process of planning the next fund raiser, along with the many other activities and traveling that he did, when he was so suddenly taken from us. Those of us on the Defenders Committee will miss him terribly. If you haven’t already, read the article written by Kenn Kaufman for BIRD WATCHER’S DIGEST, November/December 2007 issue, entitled Defending a Desert Island, describing Tom Vezo, the fund raiser and Kenn’s personal feelings for saving Madera Canyon. We will go forward with another fund raiser, this one in memory of Tom and his compassion for Madera Canyon.
Tom Vezo Eulogy Comments: July 25, 2008 by Thomas F. Purdon, MD
Good afternoon, I am Tom Purdon. My wife Kathryn and I live across the street from Tom and Dorothy Vezo. At times like this mere words seem so woefully inadequate to express how we feel. So many thoughts and emotions have been flooding through all of our minds, and our hearts are heavy. Our sympathies go out to Dorothy and the families.
Kathryn and I have known Tom and Dorothy for about eight years, having first met them at an organizational meeting for our new homeowner’s association, held at the Caswell's, in the summer of 2000. We were fascinated to learn that he had left his successful printing business in New York City to pursue his real passion, bird and animal photography. Aren’t we blessed that he had the courage to do that! They had bought property across the road from ours and were already planning to build.
About a year later is where one of the stories we remember about Tom comes in; this one actually only involved Kathryn, at least at first. Some time after Tom and Dorothy had moved into their new house, and ours was under construction, Kathryn had come down to Green Valley from Tucson to check on the progress of our house. As she parked in the street, she happened to notice what looked like a hunting blind down in the arroyo to the North, not far from where Tom and Dorothy live, with a beautiful view of Madera Canyon to the East. Her first thought was could someone be hunting doves or other game down there! How this could be? We wondered for a day or two, finally called Tom and learned that it was his and he, of course, used it to shoot pictures, not shot guns! Needless to say we were relieved!
Then, there was the time when Tom called us and asked if we had any hummingbird feeders up. Of course, we did. He said he was trying to complete a photo assignment on hummingbirds and asked if we would mind taking them down for a few weeks, so he could possibly get more birds at his house! So, we did just that, for two weeks
We all know that Tom is considered to be the “best of the best" for bird and animal photography and others will likely comment on this aspect of his life and accomplishments later today. In addition to his passion for capturing perfect photos, he had a passion for conservation. I would like to pay tribute to him for this work as well, with a few thoughts and reflections. Whenever he was not away on a camera safari, he also was vigorously involved with conservation. Allow me to speak for a few moments about bulldozers and mining trucks. When the threat of a “cluster” home develop-ment in the Bajada near the entrance to Madera Canyon first surfaced, at the end of December of 2006, the Friends of Madera Canyon held a public forum. Within a week we had formed a new committee of the Friends; the Defenders Committee. Tom was an active member of this group. We had a need to raise funds for our various activities, and it was Tom who put together a remarkable event held in March of 2007, at Duval Auditorium. The event featured the photography of Tom Vezo and Jack Dykinga and the expert birding commentary of Kenn Kaufman. We could not have put such a talented group together without Tom. We also put on another public forum in the spring of 2007.
This past December, on an unusually rainy Saturday afternoon, Tom helped us bring together a number of outstanding individuals who have a passion for trying to save the beautiful and as yet unspoiled Santa Rita Mountains,- which of course contain Madera Canyon. At the risk of offending, by leaving someone unmentioned, let me just say that in addition to representatives from a number of groups such as the Hiking club, The West Desert Preservation, the Save the Scenic Santa Ritas group, and the Friends of Madera Canyon; Ray Carroll (Pima County Supervisor, District 4) was there with his friend Michael Blake, the academy award wining author of Dances with wolves. We were up in the Canyon that day at the Chuparosa Inn and with the drizzle coming down in the forest and a fire in the fireplace, it was a magical setting for planning and discussing how we should go about trying to save the canyon and the mountain range. Our efforts that day resulted in us forming a coalition of conservation groups that put on another open forum this past March at the Community Church just down the street. Since then, The US Forest service has started the scoping process for the environmental impact study on the proposed Rosemont Mine. I know you are all following that process with great interest.
Over these past eighteen months or so, Tom and I, along with the other members of the defenders, have spent many hours together in meetings with county officials and Public works people, trying to make sure that any permits that the County grants for the housing development will fully meet the letter and intent of the conservation subdivision designation, if it is granted. Whenever Tom had to miss a meeting or an event because he was in the field, he would call me as soon as he got back to get a full report. Sometimes he couldn’t wait and would call me from the field trip site, just to check in. We also had started working on another fund raising event for this fall in Green Valley. I can’t tell you at this time if we will go ahead with such an event, but I suspect we just might- as a tribute to Tom.
In closing, I would like to predict that each time we see a hummingbird darting about, or follow the glide of a Red-tailed Hawk on a hunting mission, or see a bobcat starring back at us, we will think of Tom Vezo the man and his talents; for he, and the images he made, will live on with us all for a long, long time. May God give comfort to the Vezo families. And also may God allow Tom’s spirit to soar with the birds, so that they too, each and every species, will all know he is still with them. I’ll bet they would like that.
Thank you, Dorothy, for giving me the privilege of speaking about Tom today.
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