Author (along with Sheila Swan), of Neon Nevada
This week, Ira spoke with Peter Laufer, author (along with Sheila Swan) of Neon Nevada, who will be having a book signing for the updated and expanded edition of his book at the Neon Museum, September 7. In this episode of “Talk About Las Vegas With Ira,” Peter talks about how he and his wife first met above a neon sign; what started the couple on their journey of writing a book on the subject; the merging of neon as high and low art; the magic of the light with its flicker, glow, colors and messages; why neon is ideal for drawing attention; why it was in jeopardy; why the new and expanded edition not only shows the historical neon, but also what’s out there now; the joy of walking through the Neon Museum; challenges for existing historical signs; gases and images in motion; the tube benders (craftsman and artists); its commercial value; “Neon means Nevada”; his favorite piece in the Neon Museum; and the future of neon.
Journalist, author and professor Peter Laufer reports on borders, identities and migration along with the relationships of humans to other animals. A former and longtime global correspondent for NBC News, he’s covered the requisite wars and earthquakes, coups and elections. His NBC documentary on Americans in prisons overseas received the James Polk Award and his broadcast journalism has won a plethora of other prizes.
His books include studies of the Mexican-U.S. frontier crises, the collapse of the Iron Curtain and a natural history quartet that looks at turtles, butterflies, exotic pets and animal abuse. His most recent book is Up Against the Wall: The Case for Opening the Mexican-American Border and he currently is researching and writing O Say Can We See: Two Extraordinary Decades. That work is based on his cross-America trips immediately after 9/11, ten year later and in the midst of the Trump/pandemic era. Laufer talked butterflies on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, traded migration opinions with Bill O’Reilly on Fox TV, lectured passengers about butterflies on the Queen Mary 2, held forth of CSPAN’s “Book TV” about soldiers opposed to the Iraq invasion and headlined at regarding turtles at Toronto’s Ideacity conference.
Peter holds the inaugural James Wallace Chair in Journalism at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication where he was awarded the Marshall Prize for teaching innovation. He lives in Eugene, Oregon, and Marin County, California.
Leave a Reply