Local author John M. Glionna’s book “Outback Nevada: Real Stories from the Silver State,” chronicles life in those parts of Nevada beyond the metro areas. Says Glionna, “I have fun every time I head north past the Las Vegas city limits.”
What do people out there think of Las Vegas?
Some have actually lived in Las Vegas and either talk about it as a bad nightmare or are somewhat wistful for the culture and opportunities here. In recent years, many have seen Vegas as a selfish Darth Vader, trying to steal their water. But I don’t think people in rural Nevada spend a lot of time even thinking about Las Vegas. For them, Vegas is like Mars.
What was an unusual experiences you had?
Meeting a man with multiple personalities in a café in a small town that I won’t name. He had been released from an asylum in California and ended up in this town, and the people there took care of him. I never wrote about him because he was just too fragile.
Where in Nevada would you return to just for the enjoyment of being there?
A little town on the Oregon border called McDermitt. I went there years ago to write a newspaper feature about a Native American football team that rarely wins. Two summers ago I returned for nearly three months to write a book on the team, and the two coaches who have spent their lives trying to teach boys how to win, but if not that, how to lose with grace. McDermitt draws me because of the people. I now consider many of them close friends, the kind of people who personify the rugged realists who populate our state way out yonder. By the way, and here’s a plug, the book is due out next spring, published by the University of Nebraska press. It’s called “No Friday Night Lights: Reservation Football on the Edge of America.”
- For more: Listen to Glionna talk about the Nevada that exists beyond Las Vegas. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
