Apr 16 2008

Book Review - Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue

by Megan Edwards

Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue, by Geoff Schumacher

“It’s difficult to avoid Howard Hughes in Las Vegas.” So writes Geoff Schumacher in his new book, Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia, and Palace Intrigue. Even without reading this fact-packed volume, anybody who spends any time here will begin to notice Hughes’ lasting impact on Las Vegas. You visit Spring Mountain Ranch State Park and find that the eccentric gazillionaire once owned it. You have coffee at a Starbucks on Howard Hughes Center Drive. An old-timer makes an odd reference to unexpected screenings of “Ice Station Zebra” on Channel 8, or mentions that Summerlin was Howard Hughes’ grandmother’s last name.

Geoff Schumacher, who writes for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and is the author of Sun, Sin And Suburbia: An Essential History Of Modern Las Vegas, did an impressive job of finding and interviewing members of the shrinking coterie that actually knew and worked with Howard Hughes. Among them is Bob Maheu, who, now in his nineties, still lives in Las Vegas. Maheu, who never met his employer in person, served as Hughes’ “alter ego” for a number of years, dealing with the public while Hughes stayed closeted from view. Schumacher also spoke with Gordon Margulis, who served as Hughes’ personal aide from the time he arrived in Las Vegas until his death in 1976. Margulis also still lives in the Vegas valley.

Organized by character and event rather than chronologically, Howard Hughes reads more like a collection of newspaper stories and opinion pieces rather than a continuous narrative. Filled with insider tidbits and quotes, the book is a marvelous resource for learning about Hughes’ personal life and business dealings in Las Vegas and his interactions with other Nevada nabobs from Hank Greenspun and Moe Dalitz to Governor Paul Laxalt. A chapter profiling all the books and movies Howard Hughes’ unique life inspired is a convenient list for further reading and viewing. Another chapter reveals all the places in Las Vegas where Howard Hughes memorabilia is on display.

For a novelized approach to Howard Hughes’ career, the 2004 film “The Aviator” or one of the books Schumacher mentions might make a better choice. For background information, interviews with people who knew him, and excellent overviews of court cases, personal relationships, and the mystery of would-be heir Melvin Dummar, Howard Hughes delivers a dense and fascinating forest of information. At the end, Howard Hughes is still mysterious, but the profound effects his eclectic interests -– from film-making and aviation to casino ownership and opposition to nuclear testing -– had on Las Vegas have shaped what life is like here today.

If you’re wondering about the “Ice Station Zebra” reference above, here’s the scoop. Howard Hughes purchased Channel 8 while he lived in Las Vegas, and he loved the film “Ice Station Zebra.” In a pre-DVD age, only a billionaire could watch a movie of his choice when he felt like it, and his method made memories for a generation of Las Vegans. “You’d be watching a movie on Channel 8,” a long-time resident told me, “And suddenly, it would stop abruptly, and ‘Ice Station Zebra’ would roll.” He may have been hidden in a suite at the Desert Inn, but there were times when everyone in Las Vegas knew what Howard Hughes was doing.

With Geoff Schumacher’s book, we can all learn a little more about what Howard Hughes did. It’s information well worth having if you’re interested in understanding the underpinnings of the city he helped define.

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