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Born in Chicago and raised in small Illinois towns, Dorothy Karper met her future husband, Doug Pitzer, when they went to rival high schools. She began nurses’ training in Dixon, Illinois, and immediately after her 1950 graduation, Dorothy and Doug married. Although he never had to go overseas, the Korean War interrupted their married life, and Doug enlisted in the Air Force and went to basic training in Texas. The couple arrived in Las Vegas in July 1954, when Doug was transferred to Nellis Air Force Base. Dorothy worked as a nurse at Las Vegas Hospital and Clinic 1954-1957 and later worked for a private obstetrics practice. From 1954 until Doug’s discharge in 1957 the Pitzers lived in Kelso-Turner Terrace military housing. In 1956 they purchased a new house in Twin Lakes, but they didn't move in until 1957, after the streets were put in. They remained in their Twin Lakes house until they moved into Dorothy’s present house on Burton Avenue, between West Charleston Boulevard

In this interview, Walter Weiss discusses how Judaism and boxing kept him out of trouble in his youth. Weiss grew up in the Boston area, and started boxing as a teenager. Weiss talks about his boxing training, becoming a runner for a bookmaker, and coming to Las Vegas in the 1950s to be a bookmaker for the Stardust Hotel, and working the slot machine floor. He had several different jobs in various casinos, and discusses different people involved in the gaming industry in Las Vegas.

Walter Weiss life story begins in a Malden, Massachusetts during the Great Depression. His early background was a blend of observant Judaism, secularism, and the effects of the era. He was a troubled youth whose older brother encouraged him to join him in boxing. As Walter explains: I was a wild kid and ... boxing saved my life. His aptitude for boxing led him to be a sparring partner in New York City's famous Spillman Gym. There he met and worked out with some of the greatest fighters of the era, including Rocky Marciano. He recalls how he turned professional while attending the University of Miami and how he first came to Las Vegas in 1958 to escape his personal troubles and find work with a local bookmaker. Thus began his diverse employment history in the casino industry. He details his various positions and the cast of famous and infamous characters of the times. For six years he return to New York and worked as a Wall Street broker before arriving back in Las Vegas in 1973. He talks about his property ownership, lobbying for an amendment to Senate Bill 208, his personal religious changes and a sundry of observations about the changes that occurred as the state took over gaming.