From the Kingdom of Nye
Pahrump’s Art Bell passes at 72
It is certainly fitting that Art Bell did not go gentle into that good night. After the 72-year-old radio host was found dead in his Pahrump home on Friday night, some members of his online army criticized the Nye County Sheriff ’s Office for announcing his demise with a Facebook video.
But the department was correct to get ahead of the speculation. Who knows what conspiracy theories could have spun out of Mr. Bell’s death had Nye County let the rumor mill fester. Alien abduction? The Illuminati? A parallel universe?
“In an effort to get factual information out to the public, prior to the onslaught of public records requests,” said a spokesman for the sheriff ’s office, “we decided to do a short press release announcing his death and the pending autopsy.”
Hmm. Have they ruled out the involvement of black helicopters?
For decades Mr. Bell entertained listeners by exploring pseudoscience and the paranormal. He began his local show on KDWN-AM in Las Vegas in 1978, broadcasting in the wee morning hours from a downtown studio. His show took off nationally when he began focusing on the mysterious and bizarre.
Nevada’s Area 51 was a favorite topic. But no subject involving the unexplained was off limits. Mr. Bell interviewed purported time travelers, Bigfoot killers, witches, doomsday advocates, vampires, UFO aficionados, government whistleblowers and undercover agents. He also had the occasional celebrity guest, including Regis Philbin, Leonard Nimoy and Dan Aykroyd.
At the peak of his fame, his “Coast to Coast AM” show was syndicated on nearly 500 radio stations and heard by as many as 15 million listeners. At one point, he was the highest-rated late night radio host in the country. He “retired” four times before finally fading from the dial in 2015.
An Air Force medic in the Vietnam War, Mr. Bell was born in North Carolina but eventually settled in Nye County, using the Silver State’s vast open landscapes as a canvas upon which his loyal listeners could indulge their conspiratorial impulses. Art Bell was a Nevada original, a master showman and entertainer.
Maybe Mr. Bell has now landed in a place where he may finally discover the definitive truth about the myriad phenomena he and his guests so eagerly explored to the delight of his many devoted followers. Or perhaps that would be his version of hell. After all, mystery and intrigue are the fuels that propel the human imagination. At one point, he was the highest-rated late night radio host in the country.
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Fax 702-383-4676 city. It completes a city. It gives us a sense of loyalty, something to root for no matter what color you are or what religion you are. It brings us all together for that one cause of a champion, something we can call our own.
I, for one, look forward to when Major League Baseball and the NBA come to our city. For now, though, go Knights. And in 2020, go Raiders. Or is it being used to line the pockets of politicians?
Where’s the transparency? A lot of us would like to know.