Ruthe Deskin

Ruthe Deskin was an influential Las Vegas journalist. After working as a women’s page journalist in Reno, she came to the Las Vegas Sun in June 1954 as the Sunday Editor. She remained at the newspaper for decades. Much of that time she served as an assistant to the flamboyant publisher Hank Greenspun. She did a little of everything in this position, including a regular column. Deskin died in February 2004 and was writing columns up until her death. She was a stabling influence for Greenspun, who was a powerful force.

I presented a paper on Ruthe at the spring 2007 Popular Culture Association convention in Boston. My article about Ruthe is under review at a state history journal. Much of my information for the article came from Ruthe’s personal papers at UNLV.

An elementary school in Las Vegas is named for Ruthe.

Here is more information about Ruthe
http://www.onlinenevada.org/ruthe_deskin

I appreciate a SIUE Funded University Research funds to travel to UNLV.