Best Of Tucson®

Best of Tucson™ 2001

Myths and Legends

It is absolutely amazing how much our lives are influenced by myths and legends. Tales that happened, tales that might have happened, and tales that never could have happened have all found their way into our language, our customs and the way we look at our world, our past and each other.

Greek and Roman mythologies have survived for thousands of years. Norse legends have been reverberated for more than a millennium. Native American legends have been passed down by word or mouth since the time people crossed the land bridge into North America.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush's myth about an economy-stimulating "tax cut" didn't even last a summer.

Alas, myths and legends, like nostalgia, just aren't what they used to be. Words have been devalued, myths have been misused, legends have been cheapened. Indeed, all too often, legend has been replaced with hype.

Well, that's why we're here 52 weeks of the year, to answer the big questions. Who's doing what and to whom? Where's the money going and why? Really, what's going on?

And one week of those 52, we put together an issue that answers the really big questions. What's the best Mexican restaurant in South Tucson? Is UA softball pitcher Jennie Finch really myth Tucson. And which local hotshots are really just legends in their own minds?

What awaits you is 100 or so pages of the best that the Old Pueblo has to offer. The tastiest, the most talented, the strongest, the most generous. Where to eat, where to shop, where to commune with nature. Learn how to jive, how to thrive and how to find our favorite dive. Great eats, amazing feats, the best theater seats. Basketballs, waterfalls, curtain calls. Tricky climbs, tasty limes, infuriating rhymes.

Jump right in. We've separated the wheat from the chaff, the myth from the fish story, the legend from the hype. It's all right here... The Best of Tucson™.