204 Catching Up With a Snowbird – Dennis Griffin

Time to catch up with a friend of The Vegas Tourist – True Crime author Dennis N Griffin. Sazzy and I nicknamed him “Uncle Denny” because he became a very good friend and a fan of ours. He was one of the first people we ever interviewed for the podcast. On the interview, I mention he was the first person we interviewed. After going through the notes, I was wrong on that. Dr. Lonnie Hammergren was our first interview. Podcast #10. He’s affectionately known around Las Vegas as our unofficial curator of Las Vegas history. or simply as our Vegas pack rat!

The first interview we did with Denny was actually used as a bonus for our iTunes subscribers, not as a normal podcast. See links down below for that interview. However, Denny was the man who brought us Las Vegas mobster Frank Cullotta and that interview is our most popular downloaded podcast ever and still is to this day!

We talked about Frank Cullotta, Tony Spilotro, and other interesting characters that made Las Vegas famous.

If you are a lover of true crimes books, the Mob or you want to become a published author, both interviews are worth a listen because Denny explains how he went from being easily retired to a popular writer and speaker.

In this podcast, I catch up with Dennis who now is a Florida snowbird, not a Vegas snowbird. Talk about his career, some of the books he has written, the people he has met and even about Las Vegas casino treatment of African-American entertainers in the days of segregation.

Books Mentioned

How can you talk about Las Vegas and the mobsters without mentioning The Mob Museum? We talk about that!

The Mob Museum, officially the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is a history museum located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Opened on February 14th, 2012, the Mob Museum is dedicated to featuring the artifacts, stories, and history of organized crime in the United States, as well as the actions and initiatives by law enforcement to prevent such crimes. The Museum is housed in the former Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, which was built in 1933 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum is located on Stewart Avenue, two blocks north of Fremont Street, the main artery of the downtown casino district.

Lightning Round!

What do you miss most about Las Vegas?
Miss the action. Everything is on a 24/7 schedule. Miss meeting all the people. The beauty of the surrounding areas.

Favorite Hangouts?
Downtown, Fitzgerald’s, Flamingo

What’s Next?
Currently writing three books that have a Vegas connection including one book with Frank Cullotta getting the truth about Tony Spilotro. Frank was Tony’s right-hand man. So if there is anyone who should know what the truth was versus legend, it’s going to be Frank. He knew what all was going on and helped plan or commit the hits ordered by Tony and the Chicago Outfit.