About 12 years ago, photographer Larry Prosor (formerly of Truckee, CA, now living in New Zealand) and I were fortunate to publish the first book ever produced by Stephens Press of Las Vegas, a coffee-table photo/essay book entitled "Endless Nevada."
The book was an updating and complete revamp of an earlier book Larry and I had put together that was published by a Truckee-based publishing company called Fineline Production (that book was called "Desert Highs and Mountain Lows"). While the book was elegant, we were financially stiffed by the company before managing to regain the publication rights to our work.
I'd read about how the Las Vegas Review-Journal was starting a new book publishing division and contacted Dale Wetenkamp, who was the company's publisher at the time. Dale was excited about the idea and soon offered us a contract to publish the book, which came out in 2002. The book was beautiful and we were extremely pleased with how the whole project came out.
Recently, I was asked to contribute a pair of essays for a new Nevada book called "Nevada: 150 Years in the Silver State," to be published by Stephens Press to commemorate Nevada's Sesquicentennial, which is on October 31, 2014.
The book, edited by Geoff Schumacher, a longtime Las Vegas newspaper writer and editor, and now publisher of the Ames Tribune in Ames, Iowa, is a collection of essays and photos by a number of Nevada writers, historians and photographers that offer a visual, cultural and historical portrait of the state. The book is scheduled to be published on June 15, 2014 (it can be ordered on amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Nevada-150-Years-Silver-State/dp/1935043773/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_tnr_7)
It will also be the last book published by Stephens Press, which announced it is closing operations in 2013.
I guess I feel kind of honored to have been associated with both the first and last books published by Stephens Press—but it's a bittersweet feeling because I'm very sorry to see them go. The company published some quality books and it will be missed.
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