BIGGEST Little City by Zach Spencer
Q & A with Harry Spencer
Z. Readers, you will be happy to learn that this will be the final installment of my interview with my dad Harry about the Golden Age of Reno that occurred in the decade of the sixties. H. Ok, Zach it would probably be well for me to set the stage of what Reno was like at the beginning of the sixties. “The Harry Spencer Biggest Little City” itself was a compact four square block area known as Downtown. Most of the activity occurred in that area which was awash with celebrities from every walk of life. Also, the population was a little over 51,000, so while Reno was no metropolis any news story with the Reno dateline got as much attention as those from big cities like New York or Chicago. Z. Is that why they called it the Biggest Little City? H. Probably because you had top entertainers appearing here, sports stars like Joe DiMaggio, Rick Barry and John Brodie were in town frequently. Also, there were top entertainers appearing at four or five venues and then you had politicians like Harry Truman, JFK and Lyndon Johnson visiting. Reno was also a hot bed for boxers such as Sonny Liston, Archie Moore and Jack Dempsey.
H. The biggest one probably occurred in ‘63. Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped at South Lake Tahoe and Frank Sr. made his headquarters at The Mapes while negotiating with the kidnappers. Z. What was your role in that event? H. In addition to walking Frank around the roof of The Mapes for his daily exercise I had to handle the daily press conferences for a number of world press who journeyed from Dallas, where they had just covered the JFK assassination, to Reno. Z. What do you remember about Frank?
For the best pictorial synopsis of the Golden Age readers should attempt to get a copy of Don Dondero’s book, “Dateline Reno”.
H. Well, he was a very concerned parent and despite rumors it was a publicity stunt, he ended up paying the ransom. The last time I saw Frank was when I and an FBI agent tossed him into a potato bin as we smuggled him out the back door of The Mapes, so he could dodge the press and return to LA.
Z. Who were some of your peers at that time?
Z. That must have been a big international story.
H. Roy Powers at Harold’s Club, Mark Curtis at Harrah’s, Max Dodge at the Riverside and Vern Baker at the Chamber of Commerce.
H. Yes, when our clipping service provided news clips they came from almost every country in the world.
Z. Did you guys work well together considering you were competitors? H. Yes, because the guy who got us together to form what was called the Promotion Committee was the manager of the Chamber of Commerce, Judd Allen. Z. When did Allen appear on the scene? H. Just before the decade started. He had been a publicity man in Hollywood, so he had strong show biz connections. At first he tried to get the owners of the hotels and casinos together, but when that failed he assembled the various PR guys. Z. What other highlights of the sixties do you remember?
Z. Usually, in these types of interviews, I ask my subject to name the most unforgettable character they ever met. Who was yours? H. Every Celeb I ever met was unforgettable in his or her own way. It might be easier to name a couple of forgettable ones. Z. Who would they be? H. Mickey Rooney and Montgomery Clift for various reasons. Z. Any idea how many celebrities you interfaced with? H. That little black index card box on the desk has some 250 male names and over 50 names of the fairer sex. (Biggest Little City page 28) www.SeniorSpectrumNewspapers.com // March 2021
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