Long before I was mayor of Boulder City, before I was a state legislator, I started a long, rewarding career as a physician. Two of the hardest things about being a doctor is, 1) telling someone that their loved one has died, and 2) sharing news about critical, potentially-fatal conditions.
The other day I saw something on how few movie drive-ins there are these days and it got me thinking about my memories of drive-ins.
If you are a homeless veteran, would you care to sleep in an abandoned automobile, in an old vehicle with no heat or A/C?
So the other day, Ron and I were talking about death.
Over the last 200 years, life expectancy worldwide has nearly doubled. Today, many live well into their 80s or 90s and beyond.
As we mourn the passing of local activist Tom Clements and celebrate his life, I want to share a few of my own treasured memories of Clements. On their face, these experiences might seem routine and insignificant. But I think they reveal a great deal about the kind of person Clements always strove to be. They also highlight some key characteristics that we would all be wise to emulate in our interactions with others.
MGM Studios’ 1965 British-made “Doctor Zhivago” has an amazing tie to Boulder City. “Doctor Zhivago” is one of three Throwback Thursday movie recommendations for today.
Anytime there is a controversial issue there are pros and cons to the topic at hand. Both sides have their merits and faults, which are often easier to see when standing on the sidelines.
Have you been wondering about the origins of those handsome “weathered steel” images of the 31ers alongside the Interstate 11 retaining wall out by the Railroad Pass Casino? Or the 3-D dam workers, complete with dog and car, that were just unveiled at roadside along the bypass? I sure have, and some helpful people at the Nevada Department of Transportation and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada kindly gave me details to at least partially dispel my ignorance.
How ironic is it that the day set aside to honor the labors of our nation’s workers is a day that many of us actually do not spend working. Yet, it also seems somewhat appropriate.
Author Joan Didion once said, “Writers are always selling somebody out.” And while some do, writers simply choose to accentuate the positive. I think writers are much like photographers in that we expose what we want others to see or know about our subjects. We can manipulate the public’s perception about someone, which is why it is always shocking when some scandalous story about an apparent squeakily clean celebrity becomes breaking news.
Last Thursday, more than 350 newspapers across the nation participated in an editorial writing campaign to promote the importance of a free and independent press in response to several tweets by President Donald Trump and allegations of fake news.
I have been asked to compose a few words of remembrance. It is at once both an unwanted yet an honorable chore. I now find this among the most difficult tasks I have ever been assigned.
It was brought up during Saturday’s unveiling of the Shane Patton Memorial Monument as to why Shane’s statue stands 11 feet tall.
Even with the mayor absent the dais was full.
Photos by Ron Eland/Boulder City Review
Long before I was mayor of Boulder City, before I was a state legislator, I started a long, rewarding career as a physician. Two of the hardest things about being a doctor is, 1) telling someone that their loved one has died, and 2) sharing news about critical, potentially-fatal conditions.
