Author, folklorist Jim Griffith releases book on saints of the

Author and folklorist Jim Griffith said he has "served a life sentence" at the UA.

And today, he will be returning to the place he spent nearly four decades as an instructor of folklore when he comes to the U of A Bookstore to promote and sign two of his latest books, " Saints of the Southwest" and "Hecho a Mano: The Traditional Arts of Tucson's Mexican American Community."

"Most people are not able to come out with two books at the same time," said Griffith, 65. "But we retired people can - lots of time on our hands."

Griffith came to the UA in 1955 as an undergraduate and stayed to earn his doctorate in cultural anthropology. He worked at the now inactive Southwest Folklore Center, a branch of the UA Library, which he retired from in 1998.