R.I.P. Hal Rothman, Sin City Scholar

You don’t have to be an academic to appreciate the work of Las Vegas scholar and writer Hal Rothman, who died Sunday at the age of 48. In books like Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century and Devil’s Bargains: Tourism in the Twentieth Century American West, he explored tourism’s powerful impact on Las Vegas and the Western U.S. “He didn’t dismiss it (Las Vegas),” said one UNLV professor in an obituary in today’s Los Angeles Times. “He understood that some people loved it, others hated it, and you had to take Las Vegas seriously as a subject for study.”

Rothman was a keen observer of the culture at large, too.

In “Neon Metropolis,” he wrote: “Now that casinos are a legitimate recreation and entertainment choice, Sin City is mainstream, nowhere near as shocking as pierced privates, gangsta rap, or the admissions 14 year olds routinely make on the Jerry Springer Show. Las Vegas is still socially sanctioned deviance. Its brand is just more comfortable to more Americans than it used to be.”

Rothman was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in late 2005.

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