Mike Tell

Michael Tell succeeded his parents Jack and Beatrice Tell in the managing the Las Vegas Israelite newspaper and became the second generation of ownership.

At age sixteen, he accompanied his father westward to Nevada. The elder Tell was in pursuit of owning a newspaper and Mike was a perfect companion as Jack took over ownership of the Territorial Enterprise. It was a short lived venture and the family settled in Las Vegas, where his father worked for Hank Greenspun at the Las Vegas Sun and then for Henderson Home News, owned by Morry Zenoff. In 1965, Jack Tell launched the Las Vegas Israelite.

Meanwhile, Mike explored the lucrative business of concert promotions and opened a teen nightclub 1961 called the Twin Lakes Twist. He hired such talents of the era as Bobby Darin and Wayne Newton. Soon his business acumen grew and he moved Mike Tell Productions to Los Angeles. He tells the story of his last concert, booking Al Green, and being held at gunpoint. Then in 1979, he returned to work at the Israelite, which had a circulation of about 2000.