I think the first time I met Guy Rocha was shortly after I had gone to work for the Nevada Commission on Tourism in the mid-1980s. I don’t recall why or how I encountered him—probably checking some Nevada history detail—but he made an immediate impression.
He was passionate about Nevada history and, to me, a little bit intimidating. Later, as I got to know him better, I realized he was committed to just getting Nevada historical information right.
Over the years, I made it a habit to drop by his office at the Nevada State Library to just shoot the breeze. He always made time for me and I always came away having learned something new about the state.
I particularly enjoyed hitting him up when he was working on one of his popular Nevada Myth of the Month columns, because he loved sharing the latest historical information that he had just uncovered.
He called the tendency for some writers to conflate history with legend as “fake-lore” and refused to accept the idea that facts should not get in the way of a good story.
Like many people who wrote about Nevada history, whenever I made a factual error, I would inevitably receive a firm but friendly phone call explaining how I had got it wrong. The calls could be lengthy—I recall being on the receiving end of more than one call during which Guy would use all the allotted time on the voice recording, then call back to continue with his thought, and then call back again and again to complete his message.
Guy also introduced me to a noon-time basketball group (of mostly state workers) that played for many years in the former Nevada State Children’s Home Gym in Carson City. The games were always competitive and occasionally intense, with Guy being among the most serious of players.
In his role as the Nevada State Archivist and Historian, Guy played an important role in making the Nevada State Archives relevant. I remember him once telling me that when he first began to work for the archives, he found many of the state’s oldest official documents stored haphazardly in a room in an old building beneath leaking water pipes that had already ruined some of them.
It was through his sincere and deep appreciation of the value of such documents that he, along with others, persuaded the Nevada Legislature and Executive Branch to fund the construction of the current Nevada State Library, with state-of-the art archival facilities for storing such important materials.
Because of his enormous contributions to telling Nevada’s history factually and correctly, Guy was inducted into the Nevada Press Association’s Hall of Fame in 2025.
In 2005, I moved away from Nevada and, over the past two decades, kind of lost touch with Guy. I would still see his name in the newspapers—usually being quoted in a story setting the record straight on some historical matter.
In 2009, Guy retired from his position at the archives after an amazing 32 years in public service. At his retirement ceremony, Nevada Appeal writer Kirk Caraway shared what Guy said was his motto: “We are entitled to own opinions, but not our own facts. In turn, we are entitled to our opinion of the facts, but not entitled to our own facts based on our opinions.”
It was advice that is sorely needed these days.
Guy died on September 18, 2025 at the age of 73. Appropriately, his life and achievements were marked by a Celebration of Life event at the Nevada State Library and Archives on October 31—Nevada’s 161st birthday.
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