Love, hate and all that jazz
“I think Bill Whaley was the most important person in Taos, for decades,” Jeff Northrup opined.
For years Northrup and his sister Pat, had their respective businesses under the same roof. His Jack Wrappit and her Southside Copies also shared a landlord. A nasty lawsuit between the siblings put an end to that. Northrup went on to become Taos’ infamous “sign guy” picketing everyone and everything he disagreed with until COVID put a stop to it.
“I knew Bill a long time, “Northrup said, “I met him in Chicago when my sister Pat first started seeing him, after she divorced Gene Sanchez.”
“They were in Chicago on their way to Boston to visit my mother,” he recalled, and we all went to the race track (Northrup raced horses) club house for dinner.”
Gene Sanchez, along with Arsenio Córdova, were perhaps the closest friends Whaley made in Taos during his half century in this valley.
Sanchez, an architect who designed public schools, government buildings and private homes throughout New Mexico, like Whaley, had served in the National Guard, and was rumored to be involved in international undercover surveillance work in Juarez during the leftist insurrection. He served on the Town of Taos Planning and Zoning Committee and on the town of Taos town council. After retirement, he and his wife, Julienne, managed Gallery A, which was started in 1962 by his mother Mary and a group of artists. He authored the two-volume hardcover edition of the Gene Kloss’ A Raisonné with 482 of Kloss’ cataloged images, plus many rare uncatalogued prints, sketches and notes spanning 1924 to 1985.
Arsenio Córdova had an MFA from New Mexico Highlands University and a degree in Pastoral Administration from the Institute of Pastoral Life in Kansas City, Missouri. He retired as a Bureau Chief/ Administrator with the State of New Mexico and continued to work in the cultural arena. He became a part-time college instructor at Northern New Mexico College, New Mexico Highlands University, UNM-Los Alamos and UNM-Taos. He founded Sangre de Cristo Liturgies, devoted to preservation of the Northern New Mexico culture, and directed the Sunday Spanish choir at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. He also composed church music and produced and directed drama productions through Sangre de Cristo Liturgies, including the annual Los Pastores. New Mexico’s Office of Cultural Affairs/State Historic Preservation Division awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. As a community activist he received many other honors.
“The three of them were as thick as thieves,” Northrup recalled, “and very much on the same page, politically.”
“They were like the Three Musketeers in a way,” he observed, “and a strong force in this town.”
“It was a wonderful thing for all of them to be that close.”
Northrup noted that all three of them were his staunch supporters when he was served with multiple tickets for picketing. “They would all show up in court.” He said.
“Bill always understood my intellect and activism – he wasn’t so sure about my signs though.” Northrup recalled. “Before 2003, I really only knew him in passing,” Northup said, “but since that time, we became very good friends.”
“I took several of his classes,” Northrup said. “He was a wonderful teacher who really was a magnet for equally interesting students. And people also need to know he was a big animal lover; he loved and cared for his dogs so well until they died – he had been taking care of Gene’s dogs since he passed away.”
“We had a love/hate relationship,” Northrup mused, “as most good friends do, but I feel lucky to have known him; he was a unique human being.”