Longtime Vegas entertainment writer Pete Mikla dead at 50

When Pete Mikla was 10 years old he wrote about the latest happenings in his neighborhood, put them in his own newspaper that he printed on a toy press and sold copies door to door for 2 cents apiece.

"It seems he was writing forever," said Mikla's father, Peter Paul Mikla of Fairview Park, Ohio. "He loved entertainment, music and book collecting. And Pete was an avid baseball fan who wore his Cleveland Indians cap everywhere."

Peter Alan Mikla, who for nearly a quarter of a century chronicled the entertainment industry in Las Vegas, died Sunday at Sunrise Hospital following a four-month battle with a heart ailment. He was 50.

Services will be 6 p.m. Wednesday at Palm Mortuary Main Street. Viewing will be 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in Ohio.

Mikla was an entertainment writer and editor for the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper from the mid-1970s until the mid-80s and a columnist/feature writer for What's On magazine since 1989. The May 18-31 edition of the magazine was dedicated to him. A special tribute will be published in the June 1-13 edition.

"He was the most professional writer I ever worked with," said Stacey Hertz, editor of What's On, where Mikla's "For Pete's Sake" column was a popular feature.

Mikla also was a public relations writer for entertainers including Frank Sinatra Jr., Marty Allen, Debbie Reynolds, comedian Louie Anderson and Patsy Cline impersonator Sharon Haynes.

Born April 6, 1949, in Cleveland, Mikla was the oldest of four children of Peter Mikla and the former Cecilia Ryan. After Mikla was diagnosed with spinal meningitis at three months, doctors told his parents he may not survive infancy.

Mikla survived the disease and graduated from St. Ignatius High School. After earning a journalism degree at Ohio University, Mikla moved to Las Vegas and landed a job with the Review-Journal.

"He was just passing through and said he might like to work here," said then-Review-Journal City Editor Mary Hausch, now a journalism professor at UNLV.

Mikla started out covering the police beat and eventually was transferred to the entertainment section where he climbed to the rank of editor.

Mikla quit after being told by the paper's advertising executives that it was against policy for him to continue to write stories about entertainers who appeared at resorts that did not advertise with the Review-Journal, Hausch said.

"Pete was an ethical person who thought that policy was blatantly wrong and he wanted to bring integrity to the entertainment section," Hausch said. "Not many people would quit a job with a good salary because of their principles. But his actions paved the way for change.

"I use him as an example when I teach ethics in journalism."

Over the next three years, Mikla worked as a casino host at places like Harrah's and the Four Queens.

A longtime admirer of Frank Sinatra, Mikla had a room in his home dedicated to the crooner and was pleased to land Sinatra's son as one of the first clients of his free-lance writing and public relations business.

In January Mikla underwent open heart surgery at Sunrise Hospital and later developed pneumonia and a bacterial infection that put him back into the hospital, his family said, noting that the exact cause of death is not yet known.

In addition to his parents, Mikla is survived by two brothers, David Mikla of Ashland, Ohio, and Lawrence Mikla of North Olmsted, Ohio; and a sister, Cecilia Loper of Gahana, Ohio.

archive