Karie Dozer on Grant Woods

Karie Dozer, who served as the Public Information Officer for former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, speaks about her recollections of Woods and her time spent working for him.

Dozer, a close friend of Woods and the entire family even when he left office, is still struggling with the shock of Woods’ passing.

“I got the details of the funeral service last night, the date and time, and I couldn’t hit ‘add’ on my phone,” Dozer said. “I could not save it, it just did not seem real.”

Dozer said she loved to bounce ideas off Woods and described him as her “favorite boss.” She says she followed Woods in an elevator at a radio station when she was 24 years old and asked if she could work for him. Woods, of course, responded with an emphatic “Yeah. As a matter of fact, I need someone like you right now!”

Dozer worked for the former Attorney General for five years.

“It was the coolest job I ever had. I learned more every day at that job than I learned in years at other jobs,” Dozer said. “I was just there to answer media calls and I worked with the most phenomenal group of people.”

Woods often liked to mix it up publicly but Dozer said he would also do that behind the scenes. He was himself and whatever he did he thought it was the right thing to do.

Woods won a second term by a large amount but did not run for a third term. Dozer wanted to explore other things in his post-Attorney General career.

“I just loved that he was honest about everything,” Dozer said. “He didn’t cater to everybody, his heart was in the right place.”

He had a lot of interest in his job and was optimistic.  Dozer said he believed in the goodwill of the people.

“He just loved to go after the bad guy and the ‘scumbag’ he would call them,” Dozer said. “He was fascinating with those type of people.”