Lots of people think Las Vegas is a cultural wasteland – that its residents seldom read anything more sophisticated than a keno ticket. That's just not true. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of many caring organizations, southern Nevada is experiencing a burgeoning interest in the arts. The Vegas Valley Book Festival, now in its seventh year, is a case in point. I popped in on some of this year's programs to see for myself. Continue reading »

The tough thing about this topic is limiting myself to only ten. But here goes, in no particular order: 1. Banking with Elvis. I was so tickled the first time I waited in line at the ATM behind an Elvis impersonator. Now I'm much more used to seeing colorful characters and local celebrities, but it's still fun to see Penn Jillette working on his laptop at Starbucks... Continue reading »

Clark County Library on Flamingo Road Lots of people write about Las Vegas, but that doesn’t mean people think of it as a literary kind of place. In fact, when I’ve mentioned how nice the public libraries are in Clark County to people elsewhere, they look at me with suspicion. How could a city full [...] Continue reading »