Art Garcia, a cornerstone of Street Roots for nearly two decades, passed away Dec. 11 at the age of 73.
Art wore many hats with the organization, from vendor, columnist, program manager and supporter extraordinaire. He was a Vietnam War veteran and a published author. A survivor, mentor and a beloved friend.
Born April 16, 1948 in the city of Hanford in Northern California, Art graduated high school in June 1966 and a few months later, enlisted in the marines. He arrived in Vietnam in time to witness the Tet Offensive in 1968. He was honorably discharged in 1969.
He wrote about his ordeals and escapades in the military in a long-running series of columns for Street Roots titled “Memoirs of a Vietnam Vet.”
He wrote frankly about a group of misfits trying to survive the absurdity of war, and he infused every story with his irrepressible sense of humor and charming humility. He remained a proud marine throughout his life, always ending his columns with Semper Fi! But he paid a steep price for his service with his health. He returned from Vietnam, still a young man in his 20s, but with a body gripped with addiction and a heart irreparably damaged by Agent Orange.
In 2007, the series was turned into his first book, “Sitting on the Edge.”
His second column with Street Roots, “The Dubious Life,” gave readers an insider’s view of the California penal system, where he spent several years. In his words, his incarceration “was just a simple case of misunderstanding. Drugs were illegal in the United States, and I wasn’t understanding.”
In 2011, those columns became Art’s second book, “Fallen Off the Edge,” which he dedicated to “all the folks who have fallen off the edge and have had the strength to get back up.” In it, Art writes of his dependence on drugs when he returned from the war. Nobody was talking about treatment in those days, he wrote, and he lamented that many soldiers were returning home in the same condition, or worse, receiving little to no help for recovery.
With every column, he addressed his reader as “ol’ friend,” and he beckoned them into challenging worlds made approachable and more understandable through his frankness and humor. He never wrote with bitterness, but with a deep compassion for people like himself — people trying to navigate systems beyond their control. It kept that same compassion even when he became homeless, which is what ultimately led him to Street Roots.
In between there were successes and challenges, a marriage and family, and countless jobs until his heart could no longer keep up.
Art once boasted he had more than a hundred jobs in his life, but at 10 years running, Street Roots was the longest one he ever held.
“Street Roots put a smile on my face,” Art wrote in 2009. “It brought me self-esteem, which was dragging along behind me most days, to a nice comfortable place where I felt like I was actually doing something with my life… This is how Street Roots saved me. You see, you don’t have to be a college graduate, or have a perfect employment history to become a Street Roots vendor. That’s the magic of it. You are accepted into the Street Roots family (that’s what if feels like to me, now) without anything, just your person.”
In the past two decades, Art was able to resolve his legal record, address his addiction and restore his housing.
Early in his career with Street Roots, Art became its vendor manager. It was an all-volunteer organization at the time, and Art helped other vendors get started, improve their sales and build their own self-esteem as a friend and mentor — and occasionally judge and jury when the need arose. He understood what people were going through from the moment they crossed the office threshold. He was both patient and stern, but he would share with anyone willing to listen to his experience and aspiration, and in so doing set the bar for vendor entrepreneurialism. Art made his income selling the paper, while his service to the organization was all volunteer.
In 2012, Art received a monetary settlement from a class action lawsuit stemming from the military’s use of Agent Orange, the chemical that did irreparable damage to his heart and mobility. He turned around the same day and handed Street Roots a $10,000 check. He helped keep our lights on, the doors open and the vendors’ warm.
Even after he stopped selling the paper, Art continued to support the organization that meant so much to him. He brought weekly supplies of coffee for the vendors, helped at the front desk on busy days, made deliveries, ferried vendors to posts, and checked in on old friends. He always brought in the candy bowl for Halloween, among other novelty holiday decorations that brought smiles to vendors’ faces. And on occasion, fresh flowers would appear on desks throughout the office.
In more recent years, Art and his chihuahua companion Migo were inseparable, often impeccably dressed in matching outfits, including coordinated fan gear for the Trail Blazers.
“I met Art Garcia more than 20 years ago when Street Roots was called the Burnside Cadillac and we were both selling the paper,” remembered John Lisifka, a former vendor. “Art had a huge heart and is extremely generous and I’m proud to call him my friend.”
In 2018, Street Roots presented Art its inaugural Keystone Award, which recognizes an individual or organization for exemplary service to the mission of Street Roots. His character and generosity were, and always will be the inspiration behind the Keystone.
Farewell, ol’ friend. We will miss you.
Semper fi!