Bob Maheu Luncheon

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In 2003 I saw Bob Maheu at a wake following the death of his wife Yvette. We talked about our friendship of so many years, and that we should commit to a luncheon together once a month. John Laxalt, brother of Paul Laxalt asked to be included, as did Jerry Dondero, Senator Paul Laxalt’s former Chief of Staff as Governor and U.S. Senator, and Reese Taylor, former Public Utilities Commission Chair, and former Chair of the Interstate Commerce Commission under President Ronald Reagan. We agreed to meet on the first Wednesday of each month at a place Bob enjoyed called “the Swiss Cafe” on East Tropicana. Soon after, Clyde Turner, Terry Graves, and Ted Quirk joined the group. I decided to limit the group to those eight men, as I didn’t want to dilute the crowd. There was one firm rule: You were never to interrupt Bob Maheu when he was telling a story – because his stories were so incredibly interesting, and full of adventure and intrigue! We enjoyed lunch and generous glasses of Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay. Bob alone had nearly a bottle to himself!

The lunches continued for about five years until Bob died in August of 2008. A few days after Bob’s funeral (at which I had the high honor of delivering his eulogy) I had breakfast with Jerry Dondero, and I expressed my sadness that the monthly lunches with Bob were no more.

Jerry then suggested that I keep up the tradition – that I continue to have monthly lunches with interesting people to discuss timely subjects and relate compelling or fascinating stories. So, we began having a small group for lunch at the Sterling Club in October of 2008. After a few months, we switched locations to the Las Vegas Country Club and then the Ahern Hotel in 2020 due to Covid restrictions. We have now had 184 consecutive Bob Maheu lunches since his death. I believe he would be very pleased!