Associated Press veteran gave Nevadans his best for decades

Today is Brendan Riley's final day at The Associated Press. Whether you recognize his name or not, you certainly have read his work during his 39 years with the newsgathering cooperative, because for 37 of those years, he's covered Carson City.

If you were a Nevadan in the '70s, you might recall Riley was the reporter kicked in the shins and slapped in the face by the late state Sen. Floyd Lamb. Yet you may not recall the Riley story that sparked Lamb's fury.

Riley stripped the veil off a backroom deal Lamb was pushing through the Legislature to help mob figure Frank Rosenthal by easing gaming licensing standards.

The morning the story broke, Riley was covering the state Senate Judiciary Committee. Lamb came into the hearing carrying a newspaper. "He sees me in an aisle seat, comes walking up the aisle fast and kicked me in the shins," Riley said.

The usually unflappable Riley turned to another reporter and said, "I guess I need to write about this." He followed Lamb to the doors of the state Senate chamber, and Lamb said, "You're a goddam liar," and slapped Riley across the face with an open hand. Riley started to go for Lamb, when Senate staffer Leola Armstrong moved between the two. "She pushed me backward and told me to get out."

Shortly after that, the bill was killed. "It was a dirty bill; it really was," Riley said.

At 64, he's written tens of thousands of stories for the wire service, yet a handful remain favorites.

In 1995, Riley was tipped to a bill that included surreptitious language that would have made it possible for the Hilton Hotels Corp. to worm out of paying Paula Coughlin a $5 million jury verdict. The Las Vegas Hilton had been found culpable for not protecting Coughlin from assault by fellow Navy aviators at the out-of-control Tailhook convention.

A 1998 story helped a daughter prove her Japanese father deserved reparations after he lost his job during World War II as a railroad machinist, even though the family wasn't forced into an internment camp. The clincher: A letter detailed how the FBI ordered Japanese railroad and mine workers in the United States to be fired. His story was one of AP's Best of the Bureaus top 10. Even better, his story caused the federal government to pay out $5 million to the Japanese families in similar circumstances.

Riley was a mentor as well as a reporter. Out of 43 young reporters who helped him during legislative sessions, nearly half are still in journalism. Some are bona fide stars. Most arrived as relative rookies. Riley provided the basics and threw them into the legislative pool. "As soon as I figured out they could do the job, I delegated the responsibility to do it. I think people thrive on responsibility."

Laura Myers rose to the top as an AP reporter and editor. She e-mailed me from Egypt: "Brendan was one of the greatest, and he taught some of the best journalists to come out of Nevada. It's hard to say what his secret was except that he trusted young reporters and gave them respect. As long as you got the facts right, Brendan always stood beside you and backed you up even if you were taking on the powers that be. ... Nevada journalism will miss him for sure, but he has left a huge legacy."

Riley also deserves credit (or blame) as the journalistic leader and editor of Third House, the brutal parody of Nevada legislators started by Mark Twain in 1863. Between 1973 and now, Riley was the mockorama's guiding force.

During the one-night-only show of overdone slapstick, skits, news briefs, and songs, the news media ridicules every legislator and the governor.

One short example from this year's Third House: state Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, was slammed as the biggest proponent of no term limits, yet the best example of why we need term limits. "It was wicked, but true," Riley said.

By today's end, Brendan Riley, his shins intact, his face unscathed, will move his old roll-top desk and turn off his AP e-mail address, leaving us with one less Nevada journalist to provide accurate coverage and historical perspective, and spotlight sneaky, self-serving, seemingly innocuous bills.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.