Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008 | 2 a.m.
Since Bob Maheu’s death last week, many have paid tribute to the man who helped Howard Hughes make Las Vegas respectable.
Every word written in praise was well-deserved even though so few of those writing knew the man very well. How could they?
Bob’s tenure as Howard Hughes’ “alter ego” in Las Vegas ended in 1970, before many of those praising him had reached the age of cognizance. The Sun’s late publisher, Hank Greenspun, knew Bob well. He wrote about him often.
The following column written on June 6, 1970, sums up the essence of Bob Maheu, his work on Hughes’ behalf and, most important, his commitment to the city and its people.
Hank Greenspun
Robert A. Maheu will soon round out four years in Las Vegas and his importance to the town has just been made evident to me although he appears to be the man who isn’t there.
Photographs taken during the American Cancer Society dinner at the International Hotel last week have just been released by NASA and in scanning through all the astronauts, other celebrities and local citizenry, I fail to find one picture of Bob Maheu.
I know he was there because we sat a chair away from each other. And somehow, the belief lingers that if he wasn’t there, neither would there have been a dinner, astronauts, movie stars or celebrities.
Las Vegas has many natural resources which have helped it find prominence in the world of travel and tourism, but always through its history its most valuable resource has been man-made.
If it isn’t a Boulder Dam or Lake Mead, it has been outstanding men who providently came along when the town needed a helping hand up the economic ladder and who filled the need.
Four years ago it was a Howard Hughes who was kind of heaven-sent to bring Las Vegas out of the economic doldrums and Bob Maheu headed the organization that came along to integrate our new resident into the economy and society of the town.
It was a healthy thing for our town to be the beneficiary of such vast financial resources. But decidedly more beneficial was the manpower that came with it to give new image and new direction to the way we were going.
All through history the politics of the world, the industry of the world and even the social life have been moved by forces which are not readily apparent or even visible to the majority of the people.
Some call it the men-behind-the-scenes while others more truly identify these people who move mountains with little fanfare.
Men of much resource who come from a school that does not graduate soft men, are the Bob Maheus who usually operate from a base whose primary power is an uncanny ability to sniff out the right road and follow it down the middle.
These are a breed of men whose mistakes do not come from ignorance or lack of courage, though they don’t make too many. This is also a source of their strength.
The past four years has brought not only new blood but new life to Las Vegas, for the town was in a most precarious state.
Of all the men who struggled through this tense four-year emotional jag with the powers-to-be on a federal, state and local level, none have made more contribution to success than Bob Maheu. And few have known he was even involved.
Although he represents a man of great prominence and means, much has been accomplished on an individual basis.
Really a friend of presidents, the most attainable man or goal is only a phone call away for Bob. And that’s the reason the image of our town has been upgraded, charity and other affairs have taken on a new dimension and the Las Vegas of today bears little resemblance to what has gone before.
His guests have included candidates for president and vice president, men of science and space and the stars of the entertainment and sports world.
The least and the greatest are only a telephone call away and few fail to heed the call.
This is power but it’s used wisely and well and all in the interests of his employer and the community he now calls home.
And in great measure he has taken the heat from federal sources off the area by directing high-level operations and surrounding himself with men of integrity and ability.
I have been a close observer because our relationship goes back in time. But his ability and influences never cease to amaze me. There are no limits to his reach and no sky to his accomplishments. And it goes on night and day.
The Hughes organization, which Maheu heads in Nevada, is far from the usual soulless corporations with which our nation abounds. With many large concerns, any betterment of the community in which they operate comes about as a by-product. With Maheu, it seems to be a primary obligation.
His aides contribute something to every aspect of community life, the chamber of commerce, fundraising for worthy causes and all manner of civic and service functions. They head cancer drives, prayer breakfasts, and take leadership in trying to combat pollution or the degradation of the environment.
Peter Maheu was in charge of the astronaut dinner and Bob’s contribution on the surface appeared to be a warm glow for his son’s accomplishment.
The story of that dinner appeared in every newspaper in the country, with full details about the visit of the astronauts, the moon flag which was purchased for $25,000 and the appearance of Cary Grant and John Wayne bidding against each other for other space mementoes.
How much better the stories appearing about our town now than what was prominently published in the past.
So we do have to acknowledge once in a while that we have in our midst those who contribute greatly to our community, because we won’t hear it from them.
My interest was sparked by the photographs of the cancer dinner that showed every celebrity and person of prominence except the man who made it all possible.
