Book tells of Las Vegans making dreams come true

Author Bickford interviewed 70 successful valley residents for project

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In his new book, "Las Vegas Dreams," Jim Bickford profiled 70 residents who created their ideal lives here. By doing so, he fulfilled his own Las Vegas vision.

Born and raised in Northern California, he moved to Las Vegas about five years ago. His degree from San Jose State University was in marketing and he had been running his own marketing business in California for years. He came to Las Vegas looking for a new adventure.

"It seemed like this was kind of the pioneering place to be if you had a pioneering idea or opportunity," Bickford said.

While living in the Bay area, he had written "The American Dreams Collection," a book profiling entrepreneurs and other powerful people nationwide.

"I really enjoy sharing positive and inspiring stories of people that are self-made that hung onto their dream," Bickford said.

He said the American dream and the Las Vegas dream are the same, but there is more opportunity in Las Vegas to make those dreams come true, compared with other cities.

"Anybody can give it a shot. If you have an idea, people don't laugh at you, they encourage you," Bickford said.

And he found encouragement as he wrote his book.

"In many other communities, you might have been shut off unless you knew somebody who knew somebody. Here you could pick up a telephone and get an appointment with Mayor Goodman," Bickford said.

He was able to do just that, and to schedule appointments with other successful and busy individuals without much struggle.

"There's so many great people in this town. You could write about thousands of them, so I tried to pick out as many as I could," Bickford said.

Geographically speaking, Bickford uses the term "Las Vegas" loosely. For example, he interviewed people such as Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, as well as people within city limits. And his focus is not on vocations traditionally associated with Las Vegas, although there is an Elvis impersonator and a stripper included in the book.

Sabrina Markey told Bickford how she worked as a dancer and then as an entrepreneur, establishing gentlemen's clubs worldwide.

She now teaches wives and girlfriends how to dance for their husbands.

Bickford also profiled people like Jim and Heather Murren, who helped establish the Nevada Cancer Institute.

He said Las Vegas is unique because the vast majority of local people are neither city nor Nevada natives. Many never had a long-term plan to come to the Silver State.

As an example, he cited Jan Jones, former mayor of Las Vegas, whom he profiles in his book. She came here and planned to stay for a mere few months.

"She's now been here for 20-plus years," Bickford said.

He said billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who helped create MGM Mirage, was probably the most well-known person he interviewed.

He also interviewed people such as U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt.

He used interviews to get interviews, always asking his subjects about people they knew who also had achieved their Las Vegas dreams.

"The thing I found about most of the Las Vegans is all of the self-made individuals never forgot their roots," Bickford said. "Meeting with Larry Ruvo (senior managing director of Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada), he treated me like I was chairman of the board."

Bickford said he enjoyed an interview with Fluff LeCoque, company manager for the topless revue, "Jubilee!" at Bally's.

He said he was surprised to hear such a powerful woman, who has worked with some amazing dancers, say that her proudest moment was giving dance lessons early in her career to a student who was mentally disabled.

"Out of all those superstars, she remembers helping that one young woman," Bickford said. "Those are the kinds of things that I like hearing."

Director, writer, and performer Michael La Fleur worked all over the world before landing a job as artistic coordinator for Celine Dion's "A New Day" at Caesars Palace, the job that brought him to Las Vegas. His profile in the book covers the time in his life when he lived in his car.

"It's going to be easier to establish possibilities," La Fleur said. "There are fresher ears here."

La Fleur's next Las Vegas dream is to establish a professional theater company.

Bickford included what he calls the Fabulous 40, profiles and photos of his favorite Las Vegas attractions and resorts.

He ended up only including 20 profiles. He plans to publish an updated version of the book within a year and include the other 20, as well as 30 more profiles of individuals.

He's hoping to market the book to local residents and to tourists. "Las Vegas Dreams" sells for $20 and is available on Amazon.com.

Bickford said what he learned was just how much work goes into building a Las Vegas dream.

"Las Vegas is the hardest-working community in America," he said.