Letter: Delaney a great writer, person

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002 | 8:58 a.m.

Several years ago a very wise man shared with me the insight that the downside to living a long life is that the longer you live, the more loved ones and friends you will see laid to rest.

Just months ago, that man and I were talking about a very therapeutic book given to him to help him deal with turning 80 that he, in turn, suggested I pass along to my dad, who also becomes an octogenarian this year. Unfortunately, that very wise and wonderful man did not get to experience for very long what lay ahead of the 80th birthday. This entertainment writer and the rest of the Las Vegas journalism and entertainment world lost a beloved friend when your Joe Delaney died Aug. 7.

He has not only been the most experienced and knowledgeable entertainment writer in Las Vegas during the 25 years I have been in both the journalism and hotel publicity fields here, but he has been the most sincere, fair and kindest of gentlemen. Too many to name, or even count, owe Joe a debt of gratitude.

When I was on my first assignment for the now defunct Valley Times, reviewing Engelbert Humperdinck at the Las Vegas Hilton, he went out of his way to come down to sit with me and welcome me as a new colleague. The rest of the industry knows what a unique and caring gesture that was, since Joe rarely sat anywhere but the back of the showroom, by himself. For him, the most established and respected of writers, to go out of his way to make a young novice feel accepted was just the first of many of his compassionate gestures I was privileged to witness over the years. He became my mentor and guiding light, as I'm sure he was for many, for 25 years.

I can only hope that the rest of the Las Vegas Sun's readership appreciates the service the Sun does us all when it keeps remarkable journalists like Joe Delaney at their desks, where they belong, no matter what their age, until they are, literally, no longer able to write.

DON USHERSON