Fluke, David, 1905-1986

David Fluke worked as a book manager for the Los Angeles News before retiring to Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1970s. In 1974, he began assembling a systematic index of Las Vegas entertainment history. Using microfilm from the public library, Fluke and his wife Neva Mae compiled steno books of handwritten lists featuring entertainers, organized by the hotels they appeared in, their shows, and their debut dates. Fluke also compiled a birthday book, listing the birth dates of a wide range of celebrities, a book listing the real names of celebrities, and a book of celebrity death dates. An article in the Las Vegas Sun on May 28, 1978 quoted Fluke’s wife as saying that his ultimate goal was "to cover in chronological order all phases of entertainment in Las Vegas." Fluke passed away in a Las Vegas nursing home in 1986.