Voices of the
BIG BEND
Jim Glendinning The Galloping Scot, Author, World Traveler and sometime tour operator.
Story and photographs by Jim Glendinning
JOHNNY CALDERON
Johnny Calderon describes himself
as a “war baby.” He was born in Marfa
in 1942, the first son of Fay and Johnny
Calderon, who served with the U.S.
Army in Okinawa. He still keeps in
touch today with his younger siblings,
Jimmy in El Paso and Hazel, who lives
in Marfa.
In his early years, after his parents
got divorced, Calderon lived with his
grandparents. He was a poor student at
the Blackwell School in Marfa and later
at Marfa High School. But he got
recognition as a football player, and
also a musician. At an early age he was
given a saxophone, could read music in
the 6th grade, formed a band called
The Rhythm Beats and was privately
tutored in music. This got him into the
high school band. There was plenty of
racial prejudice in those days, but
Calderon’s personality carried him
through.
Graduating from his school in 1961,
he first tried trade school in San
Antonio and, when that did not work,
joined the Air Force. He was in the
Military Police, stationed in Okinawa
and later in Denver, for a total of
almost five years. He met his wife Rosie
from Valentine in 1961, married and
had two children, Bonnie and Johnny,
whose own children he is especially
proud of. Nevertheless, in 1963 he and
Rosie got divorced.
In 1983, Calderon left the U.S. Air
Force and returned to Marfa where he
took a variety of jobs. He then
embarked on a career in insurance. He
had an engaging personality, dressed
well and sported a full head of hair. As
a result he was a successful salesperson,
going door to door. Even today, in the
interview, he will break off from the
current discussion and, with an engag-
ing smile, launch into a local anecdote.
“You can’t do without people,” he says.
In 1984 married Gloria Valdez of
24
Cenizo
JOHNNY CALDERON
Marfa
Marfa, with whom he still shares a
home.
On retirement at age 60, he next
worked as Executive Director at the
Marfa Chamber of Commerce, but
became embroiled in local politics and
quit. However, he continued to play
music at occasional functions with his
band, Johnny & the Cadillacs.
Ever active, Calderon then
launched, with no publishing experi-
ence, the Marfa Magazine. He started by
asking tourists and local people if they
had any interest in a magazine about
Marfa people. In rapidly-changing
Marfa, with many newcomers chang-
ing the town’s demographic balance,
the answer from the locals was yes.
Since 1962, when he owned a $175
camera and took pictures in Okinawa,
he had enjoyed photography. So he
was now publisher, editor and photog-
rapher.
Marfa Magazine, a large, glossy,
Second Quarter 2015
MARJIE ERKKILA
Fort Davis
multi-color magazine, featured many
group photographs of local persons
and events, sometimes running to over
100 pages. The colors were brilliant,
and the reader never quite knew what
would come next. After eight issues,
the future of Marfa Magazine is some-
what in doubt. The ever-energetic 73-
year-old editor needs to think about his
future.
MARJIE ERKKILA
Marjie Erkilla was born in
Gloucester, MA in 1948 to Barbara
and Onni Erkkila, a second-genera-
tion Finn. Life at home was lonely in
her early years, but at school she
excelled. She started to read early and
gained straight A’s in class. She loved
English and remembers how her
English teacher, Miss Beebe, encour-
aged and praised her, attention she
did not get at home. She entered writ-
ing competitions, and won poetry
JIM KEAVENY
Terlingua
prizes on three occasions.
Graduating from Gloucester High
School in 1966, she enrolled briefly at a
college in Kentucky. This ended early
when she quit. Instead, she took up a
two-year apprenticeship in metal-
smithing with a local professional in
Gloucester, Merv Rudow. She learned
quickly and became good enough to
finish some of Merv’s pieces.
In 1967, she married her high school
sweetheart, Paul Saalmi, a gifted musi-
cian. A daughter, Lisa, was born the
next year. Marjie felt suffocated and
bored with marriage and in 1969 she
was divorced. She was now a single
mother, and needed to find a job.
She found three jobs: cleaning work
at a local stable; continuing her silver-
smithing work, which she was good at;
and bar tending. But she needed a real
job, with prospects, and joined the
Gloucester police department in 1975
as the first female officer.