Page 48 - Winter 2020

MARY KAY PAPEN
Enjoy And Embrace The Adventure By Pete Herrera
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
They are the words of Helen Keller, the author, political activist and lecturer who overcame blindness and deftness to achieve world wide acclaim and whose inspirational life story was the basis for the movie “The Miracle Worker.”
They are part of a quotation that State Senator Mary Kay Papen long ago embraced and to this day has a prominent place in her life. The quotation has for nearly two decades occupied a prominent place in Senator Papen’s legislative office in Santa Fe. It is part of the decor in her Las Cruces home and she has spoken it so often she knows it by heart.
In its entirety, the Keller quote reads: “Security is mostly a superstition and does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
It’s safe to say Senator Papen’s 88 years on this earth have afforded her one daring adventure after another.
As the mother of daughters Susan and Allison, as a twice-widowed wife, as a staunch advocate for those who don’t often have a voice and as one of New Mexico’s most prominent lawmakers for the past 20 years, Senator Papen’s legacy has been one
of unrelenting quest for the greater good on issues ranging from mental health to the state’s horse racing industry.
On the horse racing front, Senator Papen,
a Democrat, has frequently teamed up with Republican State Rep. Candy Ezzell to sponsor horse racing friendly legislation. Through
their bipartisan efforts the state has improved testing of horses and fostered the safety of jockeys and horses by enacting into law regulations and standards of the Association of Racing Commissioners International.
“I’ve ridden horses all my life and I love the racetrack,” said Papen, who will leave her post as President-Pro Tem of the State Senate when her current term ends in January. She lost her bid for re-election to another term in last June’s Democratic primary.
Together, Papen and Ezzell formed a formidable duo as advocates for racing.
“She has such high principles and she’s a person of her word,” Senator Papen says of Ezzell. “Whether we agreed or disagreed, we always worked to find some common ground.”
A decade ago Senator Papen joined supporters of horse racing to defeat an effort by Jemez Pueblo to open a tribal casino
in southern New Mexico, not far from Sunland Park, the state’s premier racing oval. The pueblo wanted to build a $55 million casino by acquiring land in trust along the
Texas-New Mexico border. But the federal government ultimately rejected the pueblo’s proposal in 2011.
Norma Alvarez, a horse owner, breeder and longtime board member of the New Mexico Horse Breeders Association, said
if the pueblo had succeeded in building a casino at Anthony, N.M., it would have had a “devastating” impact on Sunland Park.
“She’s always had a connection to horse racing and she’s always fought hard to help horse racing in the state,” said Alvarez.
Taking a stand, taking a chance, going against the grain--they’re all part of Senator Papen’s resume.
“Are you willing to put the bit in your teeth and start running, or are you always going to take the safe angle because it’s what’s going to get you popularity,” she asks rhetorically.
The road less traveled long ago became familiar territory for the adopted daughter of Hugo Paul and Katherine Marie Briesh. Her parents also adopted a boy, Paul, who was two years older than Mary Kay.
Mary Kay Papen was born in El Paso, Texas, on March 19, 1932. She and her brother grew up in what Senator Papen describes as a “very structured, disciplined family.” It didn’t take long for Mary Kay
and Paul to form a bond that made them
46 New Mexico Horse Breeder
“She has such high principles and she’s a person of her word,” Senator Papen says of Ezzell. “Whether we agreed or disagreed, we always worked to find some common ground.”
Candy Ezzell