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Tryon, John G.
John G. Tryon was born December 18, 1920 and grew up in Washington, D.C., the oldest of three sons. His father worked with the National Bituminous Coal Commission during the Depression and his mother was editor of the American Association of University Women's Publications.
Person
Amie-Pilot, Ruby, 1932-
Ruby Amie-Pilot was born April 03, 1932 and raised in Karnack, Texas. In 1952, Amie-Pilot boarded a train with her two young sons, Curtis Rufus Jr. and Herbert, to join her high school sweetheart and husband, Curtis Amie, in Las Vegas, Nevada. His family had moved to Las Vegas in the 1940s, seeking better job opportunities. Upon arriving, however, Amie-Pilot found the living conditions quite appalling.
Person
Cohen, Gil
Gil Cohen was born August 26, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1957, his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. His father, Yale, had been recruited to work at the Stardust Hotel and Casino, which opened its doors in 1958. His mother, Toby, stayed at home to raise him and his sister, Debbie. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, Cohen turned down several golf scholarships to attend the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR).
Person
Baller, Mike, 1939-
Michael Baller was born December 1, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan. In 1954 as a teenager, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and grew up in the Crestwood area. He attended Las Vegas High School, where he met his wife, Susan Lockitch. The two were married in 1960 at Temple Beth Sholom, once he returned from his service in the United States Marine Corps.
Person
Harris, Otis
Otis R. Harris Jr. was born May 19, 1941 to Otis R. Harris Sr. and Florence Harris. In the early 1940s, after an argument with a white person, Otis Harris's father decided to relocate from Texas to California. During the trip west, he stopped in Las Vegas where they were hiring at the Basic Magnesium plant. Though he only worked there briefly, Las Vegas became home to the Harris family. In this interview, Otis talks about his father's hard working nature and being raised with seven siblings in Las Vegas.
Person
St. Denis, Ruth, 1880-1968
Modern dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis, nee Ruth Dennis, was born on January 20, 1879 in Newark, New Jersey. Her training began as a child with the practice of physical exercises developed by Francois Delsarte. As a teenager, she appeared in Broadway musicals and was a protégé of David Belasco, a theatrical producer. She combined spirituality, eastern culture, and religion in her dance routines. Christian themes were also explored and depicted in her works.
Person
Cancela, Yvanna, 1987-
Yvanna Cancela (born 1987) arrived in Las Vegas the summer of 2009. Fresh off a summer internship with Sen. Harry Reid in Washington, D.C., she was hired to work on Reid’s reelection
campaign. Yvanna’s political talents were blossoming as was her affection for southern Nevada.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in Miami, Florida, Yvanna’s parents immigrated from Cuban. She received her Bachelor of Arts in communications in 2010 from Northwestern University.
Person
Austin, Nancy
Las Vegas, Nevada comedic entertainer Nancy Byrne Austin was born in Silver Springs, Maryland in 1934. She received her education at the University of Maryland, earning a degree in Education. She taught elementary school for a short time before committing full time to show business. She began performing comedy in New York City in the 1950s and moved to Las Vegas in the early 1960s. Austin made an initial impression as one of the original cast members of the popular Las Vegas daytime review Bottoms Up.
Person
Letizia, Marla R.
Marla Letizia was born January 17, 1953 and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada when she was two years old. She grew up in Las Vegas and was a former president of Congregation Ner Tamid, as well as a founding member of the board of trustees of the Meadows School in Las Vegas. Letizia founded Big Traffic Mobile Billboards in 2001 after leaving a successful broadcast journalism career to raise her two children. She met her husband, Tom Letizia, while working at KLAS-TV channel 8 as an assistant production manager.
Person
Friedman, Phyllis, 1941-
Phyllis (Herwitt) Friedman (1941- ) is the former director of the Nevada region office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the former foundation director of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, Nevada. Born July 8, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois, Friedman grew up in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois. She was the Midwest director for the American Friends of Hebrew University when she was recruited to be the first foundation director of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas around 1997.
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