Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

No ordinary Joe: Former colleagues recall days with Delaney

Editor's note: Joe Delaney covered entertainment for the Las Vegas Sun for 35 years. He died of a stroke Wednesday morning at the age of 80. Following is a collection of thoughts and anecdotes from his former colleagues:

It wasn't long ago, about a year and a half, that I had my first and only out-in-public, verbal Pier-6 brawl with a member of the Accent staff.

It was with Joe Delaney.

The point of contention is hardly relevant; what matters most is that I was right.

And so was Joe.

It was an otherwise uneventful Tuesday morning when Joe approached my desk and asked me pointedly about a facet of my job. Clearly, the facet was not being executed to his liking. Having been the Accent editor for many, many weeks, I responded as would any other composed and mature newspaperman I gritted my teeth and leapt into an argument with a nearly 80-year-old Las Vegas legend.

Adrenaline wiped out my memory of all the specifics, but it seemed this fight lasted, oh, 40 minutes. At one point the Accent assistant features editor at the time, Lisa Ferguson, quietly got up and sought asylum in the break room. Finally, after exhausting my point, I growled, "Look, I am through fighting about this!"

Joe angrily lurched off, but moments later my phone rang and the caller ID displayed the name "Joe Delaney."

He wasn't finished.

So we went at it some more, needlessly holding phones to our ears, our sniping audible from desks 30 feet apart. We eventually battled to a cease-fire, Joe walked out and I started suffering an uneasy emotional hangover that lingered through the night.

The next day, Wednesday, was the day Joe brought doughnuts (we called them "Joenuts") to the office. He did this every week. I had been anxiously anticipating his arrival all morning, and as he walked in he spied me, tucked the box under his arm and made like a Philadelphia Eagles fullback.

"I come in peace," he said with a laugh. "Me too," I said. We ducked into a nearby conference room and had a long talk. Hardly any of it had to do with the day prior, or even the newspaper. It was a long, honest and heart-warming discussion. I came out of that experience with so much compassion for that man.

I don't pretend to have known Joe for particularly long, just a few years. But I do know what it was like to work with him each day, and to the very end until last Friday afternoon he was a vibrant component of this staff. He had pride and passion and in many ways was the cornerstone of this department.

As I write this I look over at Joe's desk, where he used to be, and the eyes well up. I sense his spirit, and I miss him already.

I am not alone.

"Over the last 25 years I have probably spent a thousand hours listening to Joe's stories about entertainers of all kinds, but particularly musicians and comedians. I will always treasure that backstage view of a world I love as told by an absolute master storyteller.

"Joe and I also shared a love of jokes, and couldn't wait to share new material with one another as soon as a fresh joke came to our attention. I am very proud to say that we finished the joke contest just about even."

-- Danny Greenspun, Sun vice president; president Greenspun Media Group

"Joe's kind eyes reflected what was in his soul. He proved time and again that good guys are winners. Joe has only friends waiting for him in his next life."

-- Mike O'Callaghan, Sun executive editor

"If there was one thing Joe Delaney loved more than anything else, it was being a father. His son Shay (Seamus) was 1 year old when Joe brought him to the Stevens home. Joe was busily engaged in conversation with us when Shay decided he had been ignored long enough and took his first steps in an attempt to reach his father on the other side of the room. This wee slip of a boy had found the one action that could stop Joe, who loved to talk, mid-sentence."

-- Muriel Stevens, Sun food, shopping and travel editor

"Joe was a huge sports fan. He was proud to have witnessed Roger Maris' 61st home run in person. He was fanatical about tennis -- if there was a place he held more dear than Ireland, it was Wimbledon. He loved boxing and every four years would get all lathered up over the Irish team in the World Cup soccer tournament. Joe could recite the entire ATP money list, but he had more trouble recalling the names of those he worked with. For years, he called me 'Tiger.' I think the last person who called me that was an uncle I didn't know I had.

"But Joe eventually learned my name and we became friends. We chatted about many things -- Irish pubs, the music industry, and of course, Anna Kournikova."

-- Ron Kantowski, Sun sports editor

"I used to work nights on the Metro Desk and Joe would come in between 9 and 10 every Thursday night to write his Friday column. He always brought candy bars for the night crew, along with a joke or two. At the merest of mentions of anything that would trigger his long and rich memory, he would launch into a story that would have us all gathered around, hanging on every word.

"We could all be pretty stressed with deadline pressure, hating to lose a minute as we raced the clock, but for some magical reason our conversations with Joe always brought relief, relaxation. It was like getting a massage. After a few minutes talking with Joe, we could go back to our work, refreshed, all traces of writer's block or editor's block having vanished."

-- David Clayton, Sun editorial writer

"Having been his immediate editor at the Sun and later, ShowBiz Weekly, I've never met anyone whose passion for their work surpassed Joe Delaney's. For all of his experiences, knowledge and insight gained through the years, a childlike joy remained. He was a big, snowy-haired leprechaun, still as engaged with life as ever. When I arrived in Las Vegas, even though I was his new boss, he took pains to look out for me. I'm glad I counted Joe Delaney as a friend."

--Steve Bornfeld, Senior copy editor, Greenspun Media Group; former Sun features editor

"I am uncertain how long it will take for me to realize that Joe will not be paying me his twice-weekly visit. He would appear at the door, have a seat and I would offer him a mint or two. We would begin to talk about all matters of things. I will desperately miss him as we shared 35 years at the Sun. I am a much better person for knowing my friend Joe."

-- Rex Taylor, Sun production manager

"I was at a birthday party for Buddy Greco and his wife Lezlie Anders when I heard he had collapsed Saturday morning and had been rushed to the hospital. Most of the guests at the event were Las Vegas old-timers, such as Sonny King, Freddie Bell and Nelson Sardelli. All of them had known Joe for decades. I knew him for five years. I'm grateful to have at least known him for that long. Over the past couple of years he became my mentor and my resource for information about entertainment in Las Vegas."

-- Jerry Fink, Sun columnist and feature writer

"A true friend is among those you can count on one hand -- and Joe was my friend. A wonderful, caring and gentle man. I'll miss our talks about Quincy (a dog Joe adopted from me) and the sparkle those conversations brought to his eyes. I am truly blessed to have known and worked with Joe."

-- Cindy Robinette, Sun executive secretary

"Even though he was much more a San Francisco Giants fan, Joe was my Cubs buddy and we talked about the Cubs because they were my team. Just about every time we saw each other from April until October it was to groan about a Cubs loss. Last year we thought we'd gotten a reprieve and Joe chalked it up to the hat I'd brought back for him from Wrigley Field. But once again there was no post-season for the Cubs and again Joe reminded me, 'There's always next year, kid.' That was Joe, my Cubs buddy. And an eternal optimist. I'm gonna miss Joe and he'll be the first one I think of when the Cubs win the pennant."

--Sarah Walters, Sun graphics artist

"I could always count on a smile and a hug from Joe. Joe was my co-worker for many years, but I also always ran into him at the grocery store and the restaurants around my neighborhood. One Christmas I was rushing around in the grocery store doing some last-minute shopping and ran into Joe at the checkout stand.

"He asked me if I was OK, Joe was always concerned about other people's happiness. I told him I was just feeling a little overwhelmed and rushed with the holidays. He gave me a hug and told me to enjoy life and not stress out too much and that getting a hug from me had made his day. I left with a smile. Joe always brought a smile to my face. I'm going to miss that voice coming out of nowhere, 'How's my girl? Give me a hug.' "

-- Pam Killinsworth, Sun graphics editor

"Joe was a link to an important thing for me: the past. He taught me to love and appreciate old Vegas -- backstage stories, unspoken codes, entertaining people, taking care of people. In that way, he shaped the way I look at Las Vegas then, but also how I feel about it now. And because a city is mostly a reflection of its people, past and present, I feel good about my home just for having known Joe."

--Phil Hagen, editor Las Vegas Life/Las Vegas Weekly; former Sun features editor

"Working with Joe was like having a tour guide to the Las Vegas as it was. He knew all the people, places and events that made Las Vegas so colorful. Because of that, the E! Channel routinely used him as a source for when "E! True Hollywood Stories" would focus on a Las Vegas entertainer. I'd worked here for several months, when an E! camera crew appeared at the old Sun office on Valley View. They were profiling Wayne Newton and, of course, wanted to talk with Joe.

"The crew was looking for some interior shots of Joe at the Sun. The Accent department was crammed into a small room, with all the reporters' desks facing each other. They set up the shot where Joe would walk into the room, hand me a piece of paper and say, 'Here are the papers you were looking for.' I would then turn to Joe, take the papers, replying robotically, 'Thanks, Joe.'

"It took two shots to get this acting feat to where it was acceptable to the TV crew. I never thanked Joe for my 'big break' into the TV medium."

-- Kirk Baird, Sun features reporter

"Joe was always willing to help out other reporters. He had background information on just about everybody who was key to early Las Vegas. By the time you finished writing the name of the person he suggested you call, he was halfway through that person's bio. And no matter which band member, celebrity or casino figure Joe was talking about, he'd often end the story with, 'You should give him a call -- real nice guy,' or 'class act.' "

--Kristen Peterson, Sun features reporter

"The two things I remember most about Joe were our conversations about jazz and motion pictures. He turned me on to cats such as Cal Tjader and other performers from the 1950s and 1960s who were not as well known as Miles Davis or John Coltrane. I used many of his recommendations to supplement my jazz CD collection. When I told him I was writing a screenplay with a satirical plot, he told me good comedies shouldn't last more than 85 minutes -- 90 max."

--Steve Kanigher, Sun reporter

"When I was a reporter at Channel 8, Joe could be found feeding the homeless every Thanksgiving at St. Vincent's. Most celebrities wandered in, usually took up a ladle long enough to get their pictures taken, and then quietly left. Joe was there from the preparation through the cleanup."

--Dana Gentry, executive producer "Face to Face With John Ralston"

"Imagine, after working at a place for decades, walking into the office one day to find some 18-year-old kid fresh out of high school sitting at your desk and calling it her own. But that's what happened to Joe Delaney in September of 1991. I was that kid.

"Accent's then-editors decided the best place for their new part-timer to set up shop was at Joe's desk, which he occupied only a couple of days each week. Guess they didn't count on us ever being in the office simultaneously. But there we were one afternoon, trying to decide which of us should stay and who needed to find another desk to sit at that day (I didn't stand a chance).

"Rather than throw around his seniority, Joe extended a heartfelt welcome to this timid reporter, wished me well and explained if I ever needed help with a story -- names of trusted sources, a quick primer on some facet of local history -- to ask.

"That I did, countless times during the nearly 11 years I worked with Joe. He offered insight into the local entertainment scene that I certainly never would have otherwise learned."

-- Lisa Ferguson, former Sun assistant features editor

"Joe was a huge baseball fan and took every opportunity on his trips to and from the coffee pot to stop at my desk and razz me about how much better his San Francisco Giants were doing than my Colorado Rockies. We both relished Barry Bonds' home run pace and how great the Yankees-Diamondbacks World Series was. I guess I was always struck by how it was as easy for him to talk to office colleagues as it was for him to chat with Vegas celebrities. He was a very approachable guy."

-- Rick Velotta, Sun business reporter

"I met Joe in 1984, and that winning smile I saw then was never absent in all the years since. Wherever he is now those Irish eyes are still smiling because if ever a man packed every bit of living into every minute, it was he."

--Vern Salamone, Sun copy editor

"As a 20-year-old cub reporter, I always had to ask a lot of questions, and Joe Delaney was always kind, answered any question I had ("Joe, what were the Beatles really like?") and was a gentleman to the core. In all the years since then, he never changed. If I needed a Las Vegas phone number for a celebrity or an agent, I called Joe at home, even on nights or weekends.

"Since we both shared Irish blood, he told me about Ireland after one of his frequent trips there, how endearing the people were and their wit. And no matter how late at night I stayed in the newsroom, Joe was there, staying at the typewriter, banging away on the next day's column when I went home."

-- Mary Manning, Sun news reporter

"I started writing for the Sun in 1997, shortly after I'd started working at Vegas.com. At that time Vegas.com was in the same building as the Sun -- in fact, it was directly downstairs from the Accent department, where Joe was the undisputed elder statesman.

"He would visit Vegas.com often, always polite and friendly. 'New faces, new faces,' he'd grin as our department grew. When my concert reviews started running in Accent, he began stopping at my desk during his weekly jaunt through the department to compliment me. When I left the Sun last month Joe told me that he'd always enjoyed reading my pieces, and that's one of the biggest compliments I'll ever receive."

--Geoff Carter, former Sun and Greenspun Media Group music and film critic

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