Voices of the
BIG BEND
Jim Glendinning continues the tradition of his popular radio interviews from “Voices of the Big Bend,” an original production of KRTS,
Marfa Public Radio. The program continues to be broadcast occasionally throughout the region at 93.5 FM.
Story and photographs by Jim Glendinning
CAROLYN ZNIEWSKI
Born in March 1944 in Rochester,
MN to Joe and Rebecca Brown,
Carolyn Brown enjoyed a comfortable
home life in this affluent community that
had excellent schools and numerous cul-
tural attractions. Her father, Dr. Joe
Robert Brown, was a distinguished and
innovative neurologist who worked all
his life at the Mayo Clinic. Her mother,
known as Becky, was a vigorous com-
munity activist, politically, socially and
culturally. Carolyn came second in the
family between brothers Hugh and
Steve.
Carolyn remembers Rochester as “a
wonderful place to grow up in.” She
remembers that the Unitarian
Universalist Church was a huge part of
her life at that time. She loved working
in Community Theater and later started
a summer theater group. Her interest
was in play directing and she relished
the challenge of handling the overview
aspect of theater production. She gradu-
ated in 1962, the year after the Civil
Rights movements heated up.
The family was known for its liberal
views, and attracted hostile reactions
from local John Birch types. In addition
to anonymous phone calls accusing the
Browns of being Communists, a cross
was burned in their front yard. The FBI
was called in, and the incident was not
repeated.
In 1962, Carolyn attended Stephens
College in Columbia, MO, a small liber-
al arts college. She took a course in
Creative Writing and graduated with an
Associate of Arts degree two years later.
Ignoring her parents’ wishes that she
continue her education, she took a num-
ber of short-term jobs over the next four
years, the most memorable being in a
bookstore. She also travelled around the
USA. And she continued to be active in
18
CAROLYN ZNIEWSKI
Marathon
the anti-war movement and social con-
cerns.
By 1970, Carolyn had connected
with a group of 12 or so like-minded
friends in Minneapolis, where they
opened the New Riverside Café. This
was more than a coffee house, it was
where people went to enjoy stimulating
intellectual conversation and argument.
It was here in 1971 that she met Zach
Zniewski, a self-educated, intelligent 21-
year-old from rural Minnesota.
They got married in Rochester and
had small reception in Carolyn’s family
home. In 1972 a daughter, Maya, was
born. The Vietnam War ended in 1975
but there were other causes to get
involved with: high energy power lines
and the appropriation of land; alterna-
tive energy projects; and the plight of
Native Americans in Minneapolis’ inner
city. “I never got on the Making-Money
Wagon,” says Carolyn of those days. “I
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2013
DANIELLE GALLO
Marathon
was part of a large community of social
activists.” For income she and two
friends opened an espresso and sand-
wich shop.
In the 1980s-1990s Carolyn contin-
ued to live in Minneapolis. She decided
to go back to college and attended the
University of Minnesota for two years
studying Housing and Architecture and
earning a degree in Urban Studies
(1986). During these years she also
worked as a realtor, as manager of an
apartment building for disabled people
and later worked full-time for an office-
staffing agency. Finally, in 1999, she
retired and worked part-time in a neigh-
borhood used bookstore, The
Bookhouse.
In 2001, Zach and Carolyn separat-
ed but remain good friends. Zach head-
ed for the Big Bend, where two years
later he suggested that Carolyn might
like to visit the area.
Her first visit to Marathon was in the
spring of 2003. Her first impression was
of the quiet, the good weather (com-
pared to Minneapolis), easy-to-meet
people and of course the stunning desert
and mountain scenery. A few years ago
she bought a little pink house in the
southwest corner of Marathon. She
divides her time between Marathon and
Minneapolis, where her daughter
Maya, an herbalist by trade, is bringing
up her son Ian, who follows in the fami-
ly’s intellectual tradition. She also keeps
in touch with her brothers, now retired.
When she heard Cenizo Journal was
for sale, she acted. Not normally impul-
sive, she bought the magazine in 24
hours, first having worked out with
Danielle Gallo of Marathon to be editor.
She says it felt like a good fit. Asked
about the future of Cenizo Journal,
Carolyn says “I love it as it is.” She adds
that there will probably be a focus on
alternative food sources, some updating
of links, and later she may write herself.
She considers editor Danielle Gallo and
herself partners and is determined that
Cenizo Journal’s reputation, achieved
under Dallas Baxter, be maintained and
built on.
DANIELLE GALLO
As Danielle Gallo, with her six-
month-old daughter Daisy in her lap,
speaks of her unusual education and
work experience, it occurs to me that she
has done more varied and successful
things in 30 years than many people
achieve in a lifetime. She was born on
May 29, 1982 in Albuquerque, NM, the
younger of two daughters of Daniel and
Jayne Gallo, formerly of Manhattan,
NY.
In 1990 she enrolled in a private, co-
educational Catholic day school in