TALKED TO DOCTORS ABOUT "STAYING YOUNG"

February 10, 2016   Wednesday

Opps! This morning, I failed to answer 4 of 5 medical questions in a short 10-minute podcast interview on the Staying Young Show with medical doctors Mark Anderson & Walter Gaman. For the one question I did answer, I did win a bottle of vitamins.

THE HOLY GRAIL OF TALK SHOWS

February 5, 2016   Friday

Last night, I had a wonderful experience and an amazing opportunity with nighttime's number 1 talk show host George Noory at Coast-to-Coast AM. It reaches over 600 stations. George gave me the first two hours. That's right, two hours of his four-hour show. The first hour he asked about subjects covered in 30 Illegal Years To The Strip, and the second hour, he opened his show up to callers. Every one of their questions was relevant about old Las Vegas and opened up great discussion. It gave me the opportunity to explain part of why I have so much respect for Benny Binion, who made the Horseshoe Club in downtown Las Vegas one of the greatest casino operations in the history of the world.  After the show, the Producer told me that during my interview the station's phone board lit up for questions.

I know people who have known George Noory for many years. They say he is truly a nice man and of course very effective. I am most grateful. He wants to know who killed Ben "Bugsy" Siegel because he knows I will reveal this in my next book in this historical series about the Nevada gambling industry. I promised him I will send him the first book, and I will reveal for the first time the killer, and the motive, on his show. George, thank you again!

ENTERING THE TWITTER SPHERE

January 27, 2016    Wednesday

Today, I entered the world of tweeting. My first tweet was "Joining Twitter to share my passion for authentic #OrganizedCrime histories & gangster involvement #LasVegas casinos." I also included a picture of the front cover of my book "30 Illegal Years To The Strip". As a newbie, I only have a few followers. It will be interesting to see how many I have a month from now, as a I plan to tweet a little more than one a day.

PITCHING 30 ILLEGAL YEARS AS A CHRISTMAS GIFT

December 28, 2015    Monday

I did two radio shows early in the month on December 8 and 9, 2015. One was a half-hour interview with a radio network host based in Salina, Kansas. This is my third time visiting with him over the past nine months.

I followed that up the next morning with a 40-minute interview with a female radio host in Los Angeles. This is my fourth with her. The timing of these two interviews gave me a great opportunity to suggest my book as a holiday gift.

This morning I did a one-hour interview with a Boston radio host. This is my fifth with her, since I did my first radio interview with her about 30 Illegal Years To The Strip on April 10, 2015. I am grateful that these hosts and their listeners have wanted me back so often to discuss my historical research findings. Now I would like to expand this base of radio hosts to reach more potential readers.

I hope each of my followers had an enjoyable holiday season, and I wish each of you a healthy and satisfying new year.

BACK ON THE RADIO AGAIN

November 30, 2015   Monday

Two weeks ago, I did an interview in the Seattle, Washington area. It was supposed to be for 20 minutes, but the host found my historical findings and career so interesting that he kept me on for 40 minutes.

Last evening, I did an hour-interview with Morgan White Jr.'s clear-channel broadcast from Boston that covers the eastern two-thirds of the country. We discussed the career of comedian Joe E. Lewis and how he single-handedly saved New York City's Copacabana from bankruptcy and transformed it into America's most famous nightclub, Ben Siegel's glamorous life in Hollywood as the most sought-after dinner guest by Hollywood's film elite, and the Chicago gang's huge, long-term extortion of the movie companies under the leadership of Frank Nitti. Morgan and I also talked about two Las Vegans who were good friends to both of us. They were my Castaways Hotel/Casino sports book director Sonny Reizner and my career-long mentor, accountant Leo Lewis. Morgan was close to both men but his friendships with them was two decades after the two were so central in my life and career.

Morgan White Jr. is a delightful and inquisitive man who bills himself as the master of trivia for his improv performances at his radio shows, club appearances, convention meetings, and private events. He can speak knowledgeably on almost any subject, but his success really derives from his being a consummate entertainer who keeps his audiences fascinated with interesting concepts as well as facts. Whenever I call to see how he is doing, it always turns into a long conversation, because of our shared interests in American history, especially the Las Vegas casino industry and entertainment in general. He can be reached for booking performances at TriviaMorganWhiteJr.com.

I was introduced to Morgan by another author, Bob Mills, who was an attorney until he became a comedy writer for Bob Hope. Mills wrote a book about his long career with Hope, The Laugh Makers: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers under his legal name Robert L. Mills. During all the years of their collaboration, Hope only woke Mills up in the middle of the night one time, when the comedian asked his writer to name Hope's just-completed manuscript about his golfing experiences. Mills shot back "Confessions of a hooker - my lifelong love affair with golf." This bestseller made more money for the USO than any of Hope's books. It is still available in pro golf shops long after his passing. I always seek Bob Mills' advice about my book titles, and now he is instructing me in how to tweet. Something I plan to begin doing in the next few weeks. Bob Mills is not only a very thoughtful and creative fellow, but as you would expect, he can be very humorous to talk to.

After last night's interview, this morning I did a 15-minute interview on another Boston station. It is my fourth interview about 30 Illegal Years To The Strip with this hostess. She has a health show, and she attends several health-product conventions in Las Vegas each year, so she is very knowledgeable about what the city has to offer. She is especially interested in the gambling experience and the problems of gambling addiction.