Lance and I just watched the movie, The Hoax, about the fake biography of Howard Hughes. The story reminded me of Las Vegas Sun journalist Ruthe Deskin. (Initially, she was a women’s page editor in Reno, Nevada.)
In 1954, Ruthe Deskin was president of the Las Vegas Press Club. She was supervising the rehearsal of a skit for organization’s event at the Branding Iron Club. While there, Howard Hughes, along with some giggling young women arrived to watch. Ruthe got tired of the noise and told someone to tell the group to leave. No one wanted to speak to Hughes so she took the job on herself. According to her oral history with NPR affiliate KNPR, she said, “I don’t care who she is. He has no right to be here.” (pg 42) Ruthe was not impressed nor afraid of Las Vegas celebrity.
My article about Ruthe has been accepted by a state history journal and should come sometime this year.
