Brian Greenspun interview, 2018: transcript

AN INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN GREENSPUN An Oral History Conducted by Barbara Tabach Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project Oral History Research Center at UNLV University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas ii ©Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2014 Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV – University Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Project Manager: Barbara Tabach Transcriber: Kristin Hicks Interviewers: Barbara Tabach, Claytee D. White Editors and Project Assistants: Maggie Lopes iii The recorded interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant. The Oral History Research Center enables students and staff to work together with community members to generate this selection of first-person narratives. The participants in this project thank University of Nevada Las Vegas for the support given that allowed an idea the opportunity to flourish. The transcript received minimal editing that includes the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader’s understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. In several cases photographic sources accompany the individual interviews with permission of the narrator. The following interview is part of a series of interviews conducted under the auspices of the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Claytee D. White Director, Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas iv PREFACE When Hank and Barbara Greenspun moved to southern Nevada in 1946, the vastness of the valley was dusty and brown, and the population was rapidly growing toward 20,0000. The couple had a daughter, Susan, and soon had their second child, Brian who was born December 11, 1946. At the time of that this series of oral histories begins, Brian invites visitors to his Green Valley office window and winsomely looks out while recalling his father imagining what was to happen is the vast desert of southern Nevada. The office backdrop also includes enlarged photos and other historic memorabilia, such as his father’s safe. Each represents a moment in the Greenspun family’s business legacy, the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, and the Greenspun Media Group. Suffice it to say, the family patriarch, Hank Greenspun, was legendary for his fearless involvement to secure the state of Israel, for his dedication to a liberal journalistic voice, and for his steadfast belief that Las Vegas was to become a great city. In that tradition, Brian accepted the mantle to preserve the business, to be civic-minded, and to maintain a philanthropic leadership in the community. These oral history sessions are rich with anecdotes that skim the surface of important life moments Brian shared with each of his parents, of his pride in being born and raised in Las Vegas, and of the secular and Jewish aspects of life. He remains humbled by his friendships, whether they are from his youth, his college years, or due journalist’s meeting of world-famous people. Clearly, Brian became the person he is today due his close relationship with his father, but also due to his mother’s strength and wisdom that he grew to understand. Brian takes you into his childhood, where he is a constant presence in his father’s office; quietly he listens to lively conversations between Hank and a cast of Las Vegas historical personalities. Brian recalls answering to the nickname “Little Hank”; he was with his father so often. The son’s passion remains all these years later as he ardently speaks about his role as the publisher and editor of the Las Vegas Sun and CEO of the Greenspun Media Group. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Interview with Brian Greenspun January 10, 2018 January 24, 2018 February 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada Conducted by Barbara Tabach Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………..iv Session 1 Provides overview of ancestral roots of his parents, Barbara Greenspun, Russian/Irish backstory, and raised in Dublin; Hank Greenspun, Polish/Russian family heritage and raised in New York. Tells how his parents met, married in 1944 and moved to New York; story of how the couple moved to Las Vegas, which includes Joe Smoot and a goal to build a race track. Hank and partner start an entertainment magazine, gets involved with KRAM [now KENO] radio station, and works briefly for Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel before his death……………………………………..…..1 – 6 Born at Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital, recalls childhood tonsillectomy memory. Attended Crestwood Elementary School, friends with Larry Ruvo and Sig Rogich; was bussed to a special class at Fifth Street Grammar School; Kathy Green; John C. Fremont junior high school; lived in Huntridge area, near Temple Beth Sholom; Luv-It Ice Cream store; graduated Las Vegas High School in 1964. Talks about his sisters Susan and Janie……………………………………..7 – 11 Discusses decision to attend Georgetown University; his thoughts on high school counselors; mentions Alan Bible; applying to Harvard; father’s insistence that he join ROTC; naïve and eye-opening freshman exercise that revealed the diversity of student body; first meeting of Bill Clinton at Georgetown; roommate Frank Brady; his 17-year-old visions of a life in politics and government…………………………………………………………………….……………12 – 19 Shares story of his daughter Amy, who attended Georgetown, meets Bill and Hillary Clinton in 1991; subsequent conversation with Clinton, regarding Israel and his campaign for US President; hosts Clinton fundraiser at Las Vegas Hilton; describes their friendship, Israel and Yucca Mountain being the main political issues; vacationing, playing golf and watching movies together (mentioning some of his recent favorite movies and TV shows.)…………………………..20 – 23 Talks about growing up around his father Hank’s office, which included meeting many local leaders of the 1950s; Mayor C. H. Baker, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Mayor Oran Gragson. Recalls Sundance Wells as a man of many stories and that Hank often wrote about him; Brian also vi spent hours with him; Gov. Charles H. Russell, Gov. Grant Sawyer and Gov. Paul Laxalt; Gov. Mike O’Callaghan; Harry Reid prior to being US Senator; discusses O’Callaghan running for governor against Ed Fike in 1970. In addition to politicians, there is a list of hotel CEOs such as Jack Entratter, Morris Lansburg, Major Riddle; Ash Resnick, and golf stories from the Desert Inn; Las Vegas Sun junior golf program started by his father; love of the game of golf………...23 – 28 Talks about his Jewish identity; his bar mitzvah; observing holidays and enjoying the holiday stories. About his mother, Barbara, growing up Orthodox Jew in Dublin, Ireland; how she compared/contrasted with his father Hank; his youthful relationships with his parents; explaining the importance of a round of golf to his mother; changes after the passing of his father and her reliance on him regarding the business. Explains Barbara’s role in the family business; the breadth of her philanthropy………………………………………………………………………….28 – 35 Describes Hank and Barbara’s Hebrew University trips to Israel and their dream to write a one-million dollar check to put their names on the Wall of Angels; the dream was realized years later after Hank’s death. Story about his Grandpa Joe Richey, immigration from Ireland in 1950s, died of lung cancer. Personal feelings regarding the business name of Greenspun Media; planning the donation of one million dollars to the National Jewish Hospital and wing naming after his Richey grandparents. Donations to UNLV; named Distinguished Nevadan in 1997; discussion with his mother about receiving an honorary doctorate from UNLV………………………………36 – 40 Talks about his wife Myra; her passion for education, former Head Start teacher; Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award named in her honor by Public Education Foundation; speaks about daughter Amy’s education in the Clark County School District; Superintendent Brian Cram; former principal LeOre Cobbley’s impact at Robert E. Lake ES; Supt. Claude Perkins. Recalls he and Myra meeting with Oscar and Carolyn Goodman to start Meadows, a private school; Chaparral High school, where Amy graduated………………………………………………………..41 – 45 Story of meeting his wife Myra, at his sister Susan’s wedding to Mark Fine in 1969; Joe Grasso is dealing black jack at Sands, Myra is playing at his table and they are introduced…and then re-introduced; how their paths continued to cross until an official first date. In law school; worked for Sen. Howard Cannon; courts Myra and how they came to be engaged; celebrated 47th anniversary recently……………………………………………………………………..…45 – 49 Reflects on his youth and the perception that they were a wealthy family; father’s status as owner of the newspaper; documentary about Hank; story about young Brian and his father’s would-be assassin; thwarted attempts to kidnap his younger sister Janie and how his father learned about it later. Parents’ subtle approach to protecting their children’s well-being; remembering car bombings of Ash Resnick and Lefty [Frank] Rosenthal; today’s world and personal security needs………………………………………………………………………………………...49 – 52 He discusses his father’s passionate support of Israel; mentions the historical moments captured in the photos hanging on the office walls. Mentions Reynold Silk; Al Schwimmer; Ben-Gurion; vii Shimon Peres; documentary by Nancy Spielberg called Above and Beyond about the Israeli Air Force; reflects on 1947 movie Cast a Giant Shadow, about the siege of Jerusalem and how it ties in with Hank Greenspun’s history; Shimon Peres role; about Hank pleading guilty to violating the Neutrality Acts in his efforts to save Jerusalem. Talks about his teenage trip to Israel in 1962 for seven weeks, a late night visit from Shimon Peres, and attending the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra concert; being shelled by mortars in Ma’a lot; attended Shimon Peres funeral; about Teddy Kollek, mayor of Jerusalem. Prompted by a photo in his office of Frank Sinatra, he tells a story of Arab Spring visit to Israel in 2010 for Jerusalem Film Festival showing of Hank’s documentary and another personal visit with Shimon Peres and analogy with current time of the #MeToo movement……………….………………………………………………….…...…53 – 59 Speaks about recent conversation with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud about Saudi Arabia and Israel, domestic issues, women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia; reflects on modernity and relationships in Middle East. Story shifts back to Frank Sinatra as he speaks about his father’s close relationship with the singer; of asking Sinatra to emcee a 1994 Israel Bonds event; and detailed story as told by Teddy Kollek about Sinatra’s assistance during the arms running in 1948. Story of introducing Kollek to President Bill Clinton; dinner with Clintons, Norman and Lyn Lear at the White House; Hillary Clinton’s wish to meet Kollek……………………………..….59 – 67 Talks about invitation to accept a posthumous award for Hank; the other award recipient was James P. Hoffa, whose father James R. Hoffa, he was introduced to by Hank as a person who had helped Israel years before; explains his spontaneous speech about James R. Hoffa troubleshooting the longshoremen who were dropping the crates loaded with arms for Israel…………………..68 – 72 Session 2 While looking at photos in his office, he focuses on his daughter Amy, the law degrees in the family and her decision to attend law school at Loyola in Los Angeles; story of how she came to introduce Senator Chris Dodd as speaker at her graduation; her friendship with President Clinton……………………………………………………………………………………..73 – 77 Tells the story behind the “Watergate” safe that is in his office; explains a series of Sun articles starting in December 2015 about Howard Hughes’ memos that are in the safe; mentions Peter and Bob Maheu; author Terry Lenzner (The Investigator: Fifty Years of Uncovering the Truth) and Ervin committee for Watergate hearings and the speculation that the memos were the root of Watergate; $300,000 loan to Richard Nixon from Hughes, chain of events sparked that included Herb Klein, Bebe Rebozo, and others when Hank questioned the use of the loan, and how it was ultimately a “non-story”, and keeping the safe in his office, perhaps donate to a museum, a symbol of Nixon-paranoia……………………………………………………………………….….78 – 85 viii Draws some comparisons between Nixon era and contemporary Trump era, reflects on the heaviness of Vietnam War, high spot of China trip, impact of paranoia for Nixon; chaos and narcissism of Trump presidency and democracy; impact of education. Explains how he sees stronger similarities with the Joseph McCarthy era; the need for courage in the political parties for the future………………………………………………………………………………..…..86 – 89 Talks about growing up in the Greenspun household; lessons learned when driving around with his father or sitting in on meetings; coming to work in office next to Hank’s and listening to his father read his column aloud to him before publishing. Reflects on how historians have written about his father, how most people that he was financially wealthy, but wasn’t; how it was to have a front row seat with a dad who was willing to answer his questions; that his father was nurturing him; that his father’s main family concern was not financial security, but he did pass away with “significant assets”: investments in a cable company and land. Recalls taking his father on a car ride to Green Valley and their conversation about his dad’s Las Vegas vision. Mentions Steve Wynn’s remembrance of being the kid in the room with Hank, Parry Thomas and Jerry Mack talking about Las Vegas’s potential, their important role in the growth of the valley……...89 – 95 Looks at the present and what will fuel the next decade of Las Vegas growth, for example Bill Foley, owner of the Golden Knights hockey franchise; and others. Confluence of ideas and opportunities; Barrick Gold and Switch and technology industry; recollections of relative speedy growth of the valley, McCarran Airport, Convention Authority, past and present. Recalls Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra coming to Las Vegas and Hank’s column about “culture” in Las Vegas………………………………………………………..…….96 – 101 Topic changes in journalism and at Greenspun Media Group; combining of Sunday with Las Vegas Weekly; challenges and love for journalism; Sheldon Adelson’s ownership of Las Vegas Review Journal; nevertheless the challenges of journalism are universal. Democracy hangs in the balance of what happens in journalism; use of the term “fake news” and importance of an informed electorate, newspapers, wherever they read them, as the people’s university; emphasizing content over ad generators; role of First Amendment and press. Greenspun name on UNLV building, what that means to him; naming of Hank’s restaurant after his father to honor his role in the development of the Green Valley area; mentions Dean Rob Ulmer, Greenspun College of Urban Affairs and how he stays involved; Brookings Mountain West; being driving forces in the larger UNLV community.……………………………………………………………………………….102 – 110 Talks about the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum, started by Hank in 1956; teen issues, truancy, Wildcat Lair hangout at original Las Vegas High School; Ruthe Deskin (Hank’s assistant); giving young people a forum to talk about what is important to them. The opportunities for columns written by teens; most recently about a thousand young people attended the Youth Forum; partners include Clark County School District, Barrick Gold. Parents also started a similar program called Sun Camp Fund, send underprivileged kids to camp with inspirational results………….110 – 114 ix Recalls 1 October 2017, how he learned about the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival; how it brought back thoughts of the devastating fires at the MGM and Hilton in 1981; helpless feeling as watched the news updates; friends, his niece and nephew who attended the concert; impact on the community and its leaders; his nephew remembering Hank’s lesson to know where the exits are. Remembers watching MGM fire on TV. How Las Vegas was drawn together after 1 October, the mass hooting event in Las Vegas…………………………………….….. 111 – 120 Session 3 Reflects on a list of Jewish interviews that have been conducted so far in the project; comments how first generations created a foundation for the second and third generations of the Jewish community. Talks about Art Marshall, Anti-defamation League, being an early Jewish leader of great impact. Talks about Henry Kronberg, Holocaust survivor, as a ‘conscience in the community.’ Speaks about Ellis Landau’s leadership at Boyd Gaming; with Drew Levy and his father and grandfather there is the memory of an indictment against Hank. Thoughts on Ron Lurie, a good former mayor, and his father Art Lurie; Joyce and Jerry Mack. Regarding Irwin Molasky, an extraordinary builder, who will be best remembered for the building of the hospice with his wife Susie; Michael and Sonja Saltman and the Center for Conflict Resolution at law school………………………………………………………………………………….…121 – 125 Talks about Stan Schwartz [owner of Schwartz’s Big and Tall store]; Jack Entratter and his philanthropic nature. Tells a comical story about his mother Barbara at Herb Tobman’s funeral and at the funeral of an aunt; story about movie by Karen Mack about her father Jerry. Conversation turns to memories of Louis Wiener, Jr.; law firm of Jones Wiener and Jones, aka Big Juice, Little Juice and Squirt. Mentions Hank’s five newspaper columns per week, a ‘living history’ of Las Vegas from Hank Greenspun’s perspective; how a person might end up in his column, his sister Jane’s memory of this; funny columns about the “little woman” Barbara Greenspun, or forgetting an anniversary etc………………………………………………126 – 130 Reflects on his own writing style; compares his writing to Hank’s; the newspaper as the people’s university, especially in the era of his father’s column; admires Maureen Dowd’s writing style. Christmas card column project that Hank had his children write each year; more about Hank not being a ‘critiquer’ and being an avid reader. Remembers talking to his dad for thoughts on the growth of the valley; about Mark Fine and the development of Green Valley and then Summerlin and his important impact on the community…………………………………………..…131 – 136 Talks about Bank of Las Vegas, Parry Thomas, Nate and Jerry Mack, and the leaders in Las Vegas during his youth; personal observations of Parry Thomas, his relationship with growth of Strip, Jerry Mack, Bank of Las Vegas and Jimmy Hoffa; talks about Howard Hughes, Moe Dalitz, and Hank interactions. Steve Wynn’s recent fall from grace. Then looks to the future possibilities of x Las Vegas now that Wynn has gone from visionary to an image tarnished legacy; role of entertainment in the upcoming growth spurt.....................................................................137 – 143 Talks about Merv Adelson, Irwin Molasky, Market Town, White Cross Drug Store, Nathan Adelson Hospice, Sunrise Hospital and early hospitals, La Costa resort, Lorimar Productions. Story of time spent with Merv Adelson shortly before his death, Merv’s involvement with Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, fund raising for Bill Clinton…………………….….144 – 146 Topic changes to Sheldon Adelson, his move to Las Vegas, employment of Henry Lewin and purchase Sands Hotel, the addition of the convention center to Sands, and business strategies. Recalls unions picketing the Sands and an episode when Sheldon’s house was tagged “die Jew die.” Shares his thoughts about the impact on Sheldon’s politics and timing with then Sands-attorney Shelley Berkley running for Congress and their fallout; explains the good he sees in Sheldon Adelson. Talks about Sheldon’s ownership of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and leveraging for local respect; R-J’s reporting on 1 October, MGM culpability, and story against Steve Wynn; how Sheldon has been good for Las Vegas; competition to keep Las Vegas Sun alive and need for balance in journalism……………………………………………….….…...147 – 153 Session 4 Talks about being born two weeks after Flamingo Hotel opened in 1946 and his parents attended. Recalls that his father was likely the first accredited newsperson to observe the Nevada Test site; watching a mushroom cloud from Fremont Street as a child; radioactive dust that settled in old buildings; and when the explosions went underground in the 1960s. Shares stories about Howard Hughes and his impact on the evolution of Las Vegas; Hank’s closeness to the events of the times; Hank putting up a “Welcome Home, Howard” sign outside the Landmark Hotel, Bob Maheu, Hughes’s gaming licensing, and Gov. Mike O’Callaghan; hindsights of the so-called “good old boy” attitudes of the time, Review-Journal and Sen. Pat McCarran, Robert Kennedy….154 – 161 Speculates about the mob-era and the “old days;” mentions significant players from the early period of the Strip development, such as Jack Entratter, Morris Lansburgh, magician Jimmy Grippo, Morris Shenker, Al Sachs, Herb Tobman. Stories that include Moe Dalitz, Hank Greenspun, Judge Roger Foley, Pat McCarran, Rex Bell in the 1960s. Recalls 1995 when he considered running for lieutenant governor and encounters Moe Dalitz………………….161 – 168 Talks about Caesars Palace, Cliff Perlman , Alan King Tennis tournament, boxing fights at Caesars, Jay Sarno and Jerry Zarowitz, Mentions Billy Weinberger and his son Billy, Grand Prix and Formula One racetrack at Caesars. Asked about McCarran being anti-Semitic, Sen. Herb Lehman; McCarran-Walter Act; comments on Las Vegas and racism in his past experiences locally, ethnic mix of Las Vegas historically; race riots at Western High School in the late 1960s. Recalls friendships from his youth growing up in John S. Park neighborhood; playing golf at age xi 13; mentions being Las Vegas High School class officer with Blain Yoho; school newspaper with Dale Sachs; hanging out with his father Hank and celebrity personalities such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra at the club…………………………………………………………….169 – 177 Tells story of answering a call for his dad from Vice President Lyndon Johnson. Reflects on his privilege to meet people of great accomplishments, mentions photos in his office of famous people with him, his parents and such as Muhammad Ali, King of Jordan, presidents of the United States. Mentions people he wished to have met; continued friendship with Bill Clinton. Talks about the cycles in Las Vegas’s booms and declines; growth and water; mentions Steve Wynn, Bugsy Siegel, and Howard Hughes as change-makers; importance of UNLV to the city’s future. Talks about actor Anthony Hopkins narrating the film about Hank and being the Shabbos goy…..…177 – 186 xii 1 Session 1 [January 10, 2018. Present are Brian Greenspun, Kelly McCarthy and Barbara Tabach. Recording commences with conversation in progress.] I've reached a point in my life where I can't really add much to the ability of the people who are doing whatever they're doing here [at the newspaper.] I can't remember much…and they never ask. So the combination means I can come and go as I like, and they're so much better at what they do than I am that I do other things. It's kind of the flippant way of answering your question, I understand that. I hate schedules and I hate nine-to-five. I've never been nine-to-five. Sometimes I was seven to two in the morning and other times I was eleven to two in the afternoon if it was a nice day for golf. Which is one of the hard parts about pinning me down because asking me, what are you doing a week from next Tuesday? It's the worst thing you could ask me. If you called me this morning and said, what are you doing at ten o'clock this morning or three o'clock this afternoon? You've got an 87 percent chance of getting me to do whatever you want. But asking me to pin myself down...The fun parts of my life are usually phone calls that you don't expect. Hey, could you come here? Hey, do you want to go there? Hey, could I see you now? If I look at calendar and it's all booked, then I have issues because someone has to get disappointed. Does that make sense? BARBARA: It does. KELLY: It does. It's an interesting way of looking at it. I know it's not a good way to run your life, but if you can surround yourself with people who love to come to work at eight o'clock and leave at five o'clock, it works. KELLY: And there are plenty of those. Yes, because they want to be home at five, ten or whatever it is. I don't care when I go home. 2 You work until you think you're done, and you're never done. But all that means is I've hated calendars. Now, I love that old iPhone calendar because when you find something you want to do, you can just plug it in right away and then you never book over the top of it because it's right there. But it's also easy to get rid of it; you just hit delete…Then you tell people, "Jeez, it was not in my calendar." Barbara: Your secret is out. I did start the recorder. That's okay. It's all right. I will date this. This is January 10th, 2018. I'm sitting in Brian Greenspun's office, and Kelly McCarthy is sitting with us, for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage project. Myra [Greenspun], can you keep it down a little, please? Talk softly. Carry a big stick. She has a big stick. I'm attenuated to her voice, so I hear it no matter where she is. That's a characteristic of women usually is to try to listen to two conversations at the same time. No, just her voice [coming from the next door office]. Just her voice. Well, that's loving. I'm supposed to hear it across the house. I'm supposed to hear it in the next city. I hear it in the next office. So I interrupted you, I'm sorry. No, no, no, you did not interrupt me. This is all about you. God, I love that. Such a great way to start a conversation. “It's all about you.” **** 3 Talk about your ancestral roots. That's where I always start these conversations for the Jewish project. What do you know about your grandparents or your heritage? What do I know or what did I know? Either tense that you want to go in. It's a very tense discussion. I'm not sure I know too much. I know what I've been told and I know what I've read. I haven't gone on Ancestry.com. I'm almost afraid to find out what I would learn. But, for the most part, I learned that my mother [Barbara Greenspun] was born in England and as a baby moved to Ireland with her family, so grew up Irish in Dublin, part of a Jewish community in Dublin, a small Jewish community, but vibrant. My father [Hank Greenspun] was born in Brooklyn. His parents came from Poland or Russia; put the needle in the map somewhere. My mother's father came—they were always quick to say White Russia – wherever the heck White Russia was – probably Belarus or whatever that is now. My dad's parents came to the United States through Montreal, or his mother through Montreal, and then married his father. They were both very young, sixteen, seventeen years old, or at least very young by today's standards. They moved to the United States early 1900s. He was born in 1909…from somewhere in Eastern Europe. My mother's parents: the father from somewhere in Russia—it was called White Russia; the mother we don't know about because I had always heard that she was an orphan and converted before marriage. My sister Susan tells me that she did one of those Ancestry.com things and learned that my [maternal] grandmother came from a gang of horse thieves—no—that my grandmother was born in England and was not an orphan and that's all she knew. I'm putting it together and I figured when my grandmother told her parents that she was going to marry a Jewish fellow from Russia and that she became an orphan. 4 That makes sense. That makes more sense to me and it works for my story because I don't care. I have enough trouble trying to figure out where I came from. That's as much ancestry as I know. I haven't gone deep into it because I don't need more horse thieves in my background. You know that old story. So anyway, Eastern Europe. I'm very proud of the fact that I'm half-Irish. Have you been there? Oh, sure. Yes, a few times. I love being half-Irish. When I went to Georgetown and everyone knew me as Brian. I was one of them. Then when they heard my last name, they said, "Well, that's not Irish." I said, "Who said I was Irish. I'm only half-Irish." So then I became a novelty at Georgetown; gave them something to talk about. How did the family come to settle in Las Vegas? After the war, the big one, WW-2—Archie Bunker used to say that—after the war, my dad came back. He had married my mother in Ireland, May of 1944. He was injured not long after D-Day and was sent back to [a hospital] in England. My mother, who was working for SHAEF, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in London, would come visit him at the hospital outside of London. Then after the war, he was shipped back to New York to be mustered out and they were living, I think, either in my grandmother's house or my aunt's house, one of them, neither one of them great situations, the way the story was told. My dad went to work as a lawyer in a New York firm. Since he was an older lawyer, he was a junior associate and he had a car. They had a client in the office named Joe Smoot, who wanted to come out to a place called Las Vegas and build a horse racetrack. They figured, well, Hank has a car; he could get out of the office and drive this guy across country. My dad, I recall, 5 told the story that he figured Smoot tried to promote him to come out here because he had a car; it was all about the car. So they drove out here in 1946, the fall of '46—miserable, miserable weather all across the country. My dad had trench foot; [a result of] the way he was injured. He got frostbite and trench foot. In France, they were going to cut his feet off, but my mother pleaded with the doctors and they kept his feet. But he was cold all the time and he hated New York, anyway. So he shows up here [in Las Vegas.] The day they get here they check into...It might have been the Last Frontier Hotel, Last Frontier Village; something like that. There were two places, the El Rancho and the Last Frontier. He checks in. They had a swimming pool. This is in October-ish. He goes swimming. It's 78 degrees and he goes swimming. He calls my mother long distance. My sister was a baby. My mom was pregnant with me. He said, "Pack up the kid and get on a train and come to Las Vegas, because I'm never coming back to New York." That's on the first day he got here. When you ask how they got here, that's how they got here. Mom shows up on a train. And here's the exciting part. She came from Dublin, from Ireland, the Emerald Isle. It is green. She shows up in New York, which is all concrete, and gets off a train here. Now, can you imagine what Las Vegas looked like in 1946? She didn't know where the hell she was and she shows up in this barren desert. I mean, there's nothing here, but a bunch of cowboys' boots and dust. I guess she figured she was in for a wild ride by that time. She's pregnant with one and has a kid already, so she's already knee deep in marriage, so she wasn't going anywhere. So in 1946, that's how he gets here. Now he figures he has to earn a living as long as he's going to live here. He's a lawyer, so he'll study to take the bar. What's he going to do in the meantime while waiting for the bar exam, 6 which is probably once a year then? He runs into some people he knew, a guy named Ralph Pearl. Ralph said he went to law school with my dad, so my dad accepted it. Now, chances are my dad didn't remember him, but I'm sure he went to law school with Ralph and another fellow—I’m sure it's in my dad's story. They said, "Let's start a magazine. There's entertainment. We can do entertainment." So they started and entertainment magazine called Las Vegas Life. They sold it for a nickel. I don't know if anyone bought it, but they sold it for a nickel. He started getting involved in the community such as it was, the entertainment community. He was out at night meeting the entertainers and these stars and whoever was performing here; he really loved that life and he would write about it—so that's how he tried to make a living. In the meantime, he knew he couldn't make a living with the printed word, which was no different in 1946 than it is in 2018. You can't make a living with the printed word. He got invo