Kaye, Norman, 1922-2012

Award-winning poet and musician Norman Kaye was born Norman Kaaihue on September 22, 1922. He and his sister, Mary, were born into a Hawaiian show-business family, and played in their father's band, Johnny Kaaihue's Royal Hawaiians. After serving in the army during World War II, Kaye and his sister formed a group that evolved into the Mary Kaye Trio. They first played Las Vegas, Nevada in 1947.

In 1954, Kaye moved to Las Vegas to work the midnight-to-dawn shift 22 weeks per year at the Last Frontier Casino. In addition, he appeared in numerous movies and television shows, which spanned over three decades. He was inducted into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame in 1999. The March of Dimes selected Kaye's song "Throw a Dime My Way" from a field of over 39,000 entries to be their theme song. Kaye was also chairman of the Las Vegas Golden Circle, an organization that helped fund the Las Vegas Community Theatre. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) awarded him eight national awards for his musical compositions, including one for "Have a Heart, Lend a Hand."

Kaye was active as a member of the advisory Board of Rose de Lima Hospital for five years, the board for Oran Gragson's Underprivileged Children's Valley Hospital, the board of the Drug Abuse Council for the State of Nevada, and many other local organiations.

As an active part of the business community, Norman Kaye Real Estate was the first brokerage firm in Southern Nevada and grew to be the largest and most successful independent operation of its kind, from 1963 to 1972. Kaye was a sponsor and committee member of the Urban League of Las Vegas among other organizations. He was appointed by Governor Grant Sawyer as the Poet Laureate of the State of Nevada in 1967.

Norman Kaye passed away September 17, 2012.