When I am interviewed about the manner in which Reno has changed from the golden ages (1950-1970) I note that in addition to the many structures that have disappeared and the new buildings that have arisen there has been a dearth of worldwide celebrities visiting the region. Those celebrities came from the world of the entertainment, sports, politics and business … [Read more...]
Hot August Nights
Attending a special event at this year’s highly successful Hot August Nights, I chanced to run into one of the creators of the event by the name of Jim Webster. I asked Jim to clarify the many stories I have heard about the beginning of Hot August Nights, so he wrote out the following: “The very beginning! How a simple meeting between two men would become a yearly event that … [Read more...]
World’s Strongest Man
The time was April of 1957, some sixty one years ago, when northern Nevada was to receive its most spectacular appearance on television. The occasion was to occur in the Sky Room of the Mapes Hotel when strong man Paul Anderson would make a three or four minute live appearance on the famous Ed Sullivan Show. As reported in the Press, the popular Sullivan Show had an audience … [Read more...]
U of Nevada Revisited
Cruising through the University of Nevada campus recently and reviewing the current expansion and renovation, it might be a good time to reimagine what the school looked like in the by-gone era of the middle of the last century. At that time the compact little campus extended as far north as the new (Virginia Street) gym. Beyond the gym were the hilly grounds covered mostly … [Read more...]
Remembering Frank
Part 2 Recently there have been a number of flicks on the tube starring Frank Sinatra. They reminded me of the many times I interfaced with the singer in Reno, Tahoe and Vegas. The most memorable follows: An interesting side note to the local press was that unbeknownst to any of us, an enterprising young reporter Walt MacKenzie availed himself of a room service waiter’s … [Read more...]
Remembering Frank
Recently there have been a number of flicks on the tube starring Frank Sinatra. They reminded me of the many times I interfaced with the singer in Reno, Tahoe and Vegas. The most memorable follows: The jangle of the telephone around midnight usually is the precursor of bad news. When the phone rang for me at that time it was a cold wintry night with a storm in the mountains. … [Read more...]
Old News and Sports
Since this column is usually written a week before it appears in print, many of the topics we cover might seem like old news. Even though that may be true, it usually deals with items that were important at the time. Case in point would be the explosive stories that happened last mid-week. Chief among them was Trump’s overseas trip to NATO, England and a face-to-face with … [Read more...]
Golden Anniversary
As near as I can figure, tomorrow night’s Nevada athletics dinner in the back yard of the Governor’s mansion will be the 50th in the long history of the event. The main speaker will be Shaq O’Neal, basketball great, who will be the latest in the long line of celebrity sports figures at the mic. A few of those speakers would be George Allen in 1969 at the inaugural dinner, … [Read more...]