Let’s celebrate the power of one man’s love

By Brian Greenspun (contact)

Sunday, June 7, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Larry Ruvo has the sizzle.

And, like his parents taught him growing up in Las Vegas, he knows when to use it and how to share it — with his family, with his friends and with Las Vegas, the community he loves.

This Saturday, the Power of Love Gala at MGM Grand Garden Arena will feature as much sizzle as can possibly be put on a stage in Las Vegas — at least since the Rat Pack took its final bow.

Each year, Keep Memory Alive raises the funds necessary to make sure the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health remains a leader in the world of brain diseases. And each year, as the population ages, diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig’s disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, take a greater toll on our loved ones. The need for cures cannot be overstated.

Two weeks ago, Larry gave the commencement address at the Meadows School in Las Vegas. His theme was not any different from that usually reserved for such occasions.

Work hard, follow your passion, make mistakes, get up and work hard some more and you will find success and happiness.

However, just like my friend Larry is wont to do, he did it a little differently. He brought some sizzle.

It was sizzle in the way he told the incredible story of how he almost single-handedly (yes, he knows he had a great deal of help from his friends and neighbors, for which he will be forever grateful) created the Brain Center and nurtured it to the point where it is a world leader, and also in the way he captured the imaginations of some of our next generation’s best and brightest students and leaders.

Last year, the Brain Center served more than 25,000 patients and their caregivers. An astounding number of mostly Nevadans who would otherwise have to go out of town for treatment and who, by all accounts, wouldn’t receive what is acknowledged as world-class care, received it right here in Las Vegas. That is the kind of sizzle that puts this city on the map for something other than being a top-notch tourist destination. And it keeps us on the map of those communities dedicated to leading the way in medical research and clinical care.

Larry treated the high school students to some all-American sizzle of their own. With the Nellis Air Force Color Guard hoisting the colors, the entire assemblage sang “America the Beautiful.” This time, however, it was accompanied by an American eagle soaring overhead. You know, those graduates and their families will never forget that day! (Something tells me Larry and his eagle will be high on the commencement speakers’ list for next year.)

Nor should Las Vegas ever forget what Larry Ruvo and the Cleveland Clinic have provided to our community. That is why we each have a responsibility to do what we can to make it better, make it bigger, and make it possible to serve more and more patients — who, unfortunately, we will have in abundance in Las Vegas as we all continue to live longer. The patients will be our friends, family members and neighbors.

This past week, the Sun’s indefatigable and incomparable Robin Leach wrote about the upcoming Power of Love Gala and described what can only be called an indescribable talent lineup. (“Robin Thicke, Isabella Rossellini, Sharon Stone added to Keep Memory Alive lineup”) Read it and drool.

Only in Las Vegas and only at the Power of Love Gala can you find such talent as Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Robin Thicke and Gloria Estefan on the same stage. They and many others will entertain the Gala’s guests, and they will do it with the same kind of passion that has driven Ruvo to build a Frank Gehry-designed building in the middle of the desert.

You just can’t buy that kind of talent all in one evening and all in one place.

But, you can buy a ticket to see it live!

Not only can you treat yourself and your loved ones to an incomparable night of entertainment, you can help in a big way toward finding a cure for these terrible diseases that eventually could affect every family in this country in one way or another.

Yes, it is not a stretch to believe that Las Vegas will not only be the tourism epicenter of the country but will be the place where treatment and cures for these horrendous diseases will be found.

As Larry loves to say, when it comes to the work of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, what happens in Las Vegas will not stay here. It will benefit the entire world.

How’s that for sizzle? Be a part of it!

Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Sun.